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The 15th DCE Judges college 2016 took place in Newcastle under Lyme, UK, on 14th and 15th May. College is an intensive program over two days, a full day session on the Saturday, with a half day Sunday morning, allowing Judges time to travel home in the afternoon.

A report fy Field Visual Judge Brendan Hoye.

It's also the only time of year all 30 or so Judges get together, welcome the trainees, review progress on the previous year and set expectations, paradigms and process for the coming season.

I missed last year’s college due to a family commitment, and I noticed quite a difference in the way college has evolved. Much less time is now spent on setting paradigms, with caption heads each having prepared their respective categories for the year ahead. Instead more time was given to much deeper technical discussions than previously possible, which in itself is an indication of the growing maturity of the college.  As a Field Judge I was surprised how much I learned from the Visual Effect discussion and how ‘effect’ was ‘affecting’ my Judging Process.

This year’s theme was 'Recognising & Valuing Content'. DCE judges are already good at identifying any issues with achievement, so the focus for judges in 2016 will be developing their ability to reward technical and creative brilliance.  Additionally in our feedback, we have been encouraged not to just state the What & How, Content & Achievement, but the "Why". By focusing on causes rather than issues, Judges can add value to their critique and help the Corps’ development.

On Sunday we visited Kidsgrove Scouts during a training session. There was a very beneficial Q&A with the corps staff before moving onto the field , with judges splitting up to sample Percussion, Brass and guard individually before sampling combined rehearsal. This brief time is incredibly valuable to judges, providing Judging captions our only opportunity to discuss aspects of performance together in real time, which is not possible at competitions.

Thanks to Director of Education Bob Thomas and new Music Liaison Dave Cooksey for leading the program, DCE Adjudication Manager Mark Bassett and Judges’ Administrator Ann Legon for organising the logistics, and Kidsgrove Scouts for allowing us access to their rehearsals and facilities.

Roll on Roosendaal!

Just a few days left before the European Music Games 2016 kick off in Roosendaal - The Netherlands. Drum corps fans can start preparing for another Summer season in five European countries.

Social media is teeming with messages about successful rehearsals, camps and new shows. Everyone seems to be looking forward to the European Music Games. The season will start in the Netherlands on Saturday, as is tradition.

This year, the European Music Games include fourteen contests in the Netherlands, the UK, Ireland and Germany. The full schedule can be found in the schedule.

After an absence of 21 years, the IMG SoundSport Glasgow show brought the competitive Marching Arts back to Scotland with a bang. The Bellahouston Sports Centre provided an excellent venue, which ironically had also hosted the first Scottish Drum Corps Show in 1982.

A report by Andy Hewlett

Hosts Blue Barons had publicised the event well, particularly amongst the Scottish Drum Corps Alumni community and spectators started arriving early, eagerly anticipating for what many of them was their first experience of a marching event for 20 or 30 years.

Comparing today's event was local boy Rob Steel who can now add announcing to his long list of Drum Corps talents. Rob set the scene by explaining what the Indoor Music Games were about and how the SoundSport system worked.

First group on this afternoon were the Tin Soldiers from Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Most of the members are alumni of Concord and other Sheffield corps, some of whom had appeared with Concord at the last Scottish DCUK show in 1996.

The Tin Soldiers appeared with a smart new look, in black shirts, red ties and white braces which really complimented their show of music from the 1920s and 30s. With the inimitable Glyn Boyington acting as a fine Master of Ceremonies, Tin Soldiers created an excellent Dance Band style mood with a concert performance which really connected with the crowd. The major part of their show was a clever arrangement of music from the musical Chicago, which gave the opportunity for an experienced brass line to show what they could do.

The group concluded their performance with an entertaining version of Big Noise from Winnetka, featuring a well played trumpet solo which was very much appreciated by the Drum Corps fans watching.

Making their IMG SoundSport debut today were the 2nd Port Glasgow BB from Renfrewshire in Scotland. Featuring 13 Eb Cavalry trumpets and the only marching percussion section of the day, Port Glasgow dominated the arena with a well rehearsed marching display. Their show began with the horns facing downwards before moving into a programme of Eb favourites.

3 marching glockenspiels greatly added to the performance which included The Entertainer and Lord of the Dance, before a Scottish medley of Scotland the Brave and "we're no awa to bide awa" which was very well received by the local fans. Whilst watching I realised that it must be over 25 years since I last saw an authentic Eb band and Port Glasgow are a credit to this fine tradition. Talking to their bandmaster Willie Hamill afterwards he said that they are looking for some Eb baritones to add to their lineup, so if anyone has one tucked away in the attic, please get in touch.

Another group making their IMG SoundSport debut today were the Buccaneers from Billericay, Essex who flew up to Glasgow, rather than making the long road trip from the South East. Consisting largely of Drum Corps Alumni from the Essex area, Bucs took the floor in Corps polo shirts, giving them a casual look which suited their style perfectly.

From the first step off to a tune entitled Phoenix, it was clear that these experienced performers were going to give us a real Corps style performance, ably complimented by a guard and static percussion sections.

Neil Sadaka's Breaking Up saw the guard make good use of streamers before moving onto fans which again worked well. Buccaneers completed their show with a very entertaining version of Legend of the One Eyed Sailor, which got a great reaction from the crowd.

Blue Barons entered the arena to rapturous applause from the home fans. Wearing a modern version of their traditional uniform, the Barons featured 11 horns, 6 guard and 3 static percussion and presented a show entitled A Night Out with the Barons.

The show got underway with There May be Trouble Ahead before moving into Moondance complete with moon and star props from the Drum Major and Guard, as well as featuring an excellent baritone and contra trio. The finale of All Night Long really sold the party atmosphere with a very well played baritone solo and the guard on multi colour flags interacting with the horns.

The Barons got a great crowd reaction with a performance that was a big improvement since their first outing in Dublin back in February. With the contest now concluded, it was down to the DCE judging panel of Twan Trienekens, Barry Davis and Marco Harder to decide the results.

The retreat got underway with all four groups returning to the arena, whilst being piped on by a traditional Scottish Piper in full regalia, giving a splendid Scottish feel to the event. The Barons wowed the audience with a special performance of their "Wall of Sound" signature piece, which had everyone on their feet. Then it was down to the results which were as follows:-

SoundSport
Tin Soldiers - Gold

IMG Premier Class
2nd Port Glasgow BB - 59.2
Buccaneers - 79.7
Blue Barons - 88.65

The day concluded with encore performances from both Blue Barons and Buccaneers, which brought the first Indoor Music Games season to a fitting end. As the clearing up began, talks were already underway for dates for next years contest. Congratulations to show organiser Iain MacMillan and everyone at the Blue Barons on a successful and thoroughly enjoyable day, which was capped off, in what is fast becoming an IMG tradition, with a social evening.

With talk that a third Scottish corps is currently being set up for next season it looks like the activity north of the border is really on its way back.

Beatrix Drum & Bugle Corps from Hilversum has a new board. The newly appointed management has stated that it wants to put expand the corps and put it back on the map.

In the recent members' meeting, Alfred Middendorp (chairman), Bram Koot (secretary) and Hans Mol (treasurer) were chosen as the first board members in the new structure. The three-headed board will outsource many of the executive and directive tasks to management teams.

"The board will mainly play a role in the area of general vision and the facility services," stated Middendorp, Koot and Mol. "We try to keep the lines of communication to our members as short as possible and to actively listen to them. This allows us to work on the new direction of Beatrix and further develop Jong Beatrix and the youth education programme Kids in the Band."

The new board members would like to thank their predecessors for all of the work they've done. "Without their perseverance and love for the club, Beatrix would not be where it is today."

On Saturday 21st May at the Bellahouston Sports Centre the sights and sounds of bands, will be a trip down memory lane for those that attended the Scottish Marching Band Championships there in the very early 1980’s. Here is a list of the performers.

The Tin Soldiers: A drum corps alumni group from Sheffield, a northern powerhouse of marching music. Their second SoundSport event, having performed at Bristol last year.

2nd Port Glasgow Boys Brigade Band: Recently this E-flat band was runner-up in the Championship Class of the Scottish Brigade Bands Contest.

The Buccaneers Mini Corps: Based in Essex, has alumni of some high quality drum corps such as Dagenham Crusaders, Mayflower and Basildon Blue Eagles and are the pioneers in developing the mini corps activity in the United Kingdom.

The Blue Barons Mini Corps: Performing for the first time in Glasgow, this twenty-two member corps with alumni from all of Scotland’s drum corps from the 1980's and 1990's has worked very hard to prepare and perform a great show.

The event will take place at the Bellahouston Sports Centre, Bellahouston Drive, Glasgow, G52 1HH. Tickets are available at the door. (Source: MBAUK)

Last year, it took a month before the Super Seats were sold out for the DCE Championships. This time, nearly all of the luxury seats in the Parkstad Limburg Stadium have been reserved in no-time.

There are only a few seats left. Since their introduction in 2011, the Super Seats have been hugely popular with the drum corps fans. These special seats offer a magnificent view on the field, and the hosts of Drum Corps Europe ensure that guests don’t want for anything. Drinks, snacks, lunch and dinner are included in the price of € 125, as well as a subscription to the DCE Video Vault, which is a great memory of the ultimate drum corps day of the year.

Section A has also sold out. For the other sections there are still tickets available, but some of them are rapidly filling up as well. Be quick to get good tickets in areas like section 'A low' (the first row of the middle section) or section B (right next to section A, with business seats). You can order tickets through the DCE Ticket Store.

As the first season of the Indoor Music Games draws to a close, the Blue Barons Mini Corps invite fans to attend the last contest of 2016. It will take place at a special venue.

Witnessing the sights and sounds of bands and corps at the Bellahouston Sports Centre in Glasgow will be a trip down memory lane for those that attended the Scottish Marching Band Championships there in the very early 1980s.

The blend of IMG and Soundsport groups attending this event is sure to provide something for everyone to enjoy. The organisation has several groups currently going through the registration process and they’ll announce the final line up once registration is complete.

Tickets are currently on sale through the DCE Ticket Store.

Millennium Drum & Bugle Corps, which will be participating in the DCE European Championships this summer after four years of absence, has will have an Italian show theme. The corps has based its show on Giacomo Casanova.

The famous adventurer and womaniser Casanova is both the theme and the title of Millennium’s production. The show is not only about the life of Casanova, but also his links with Venice, and his imprisonment and escape after the Inquisition in Venice accused him of possessing occult books.

The atmosphere of the romantic city of Venice will also be conveyed by the programme. This allows Millenium to bring Italy to the contest fields. The music will be written by composer Stefano Sacchi, who has written music for orchestras such as the Hollywood Studio Symphony, the Brandenburg State Orchestra and the Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra.

The first IMG SoundSport event to be held in the Royal Forest of Dean proved a big success with participants and fans alike, when this new series of shows rolled into Lydney, Gloucestershire. The Forest, which is a rural area on England's border with Wales, has long been the home of many successful Brass Band contests. But this was something new and different.

Fans arrived early to be sure of a good seat in the Forest Oak Arena, a new venue that proved a comfortable and welcoming setting for this type of event. With camping available on site, some people made a weekend of it in this popular tourist destination.

The show opened in ceremonial style with a fanfare (which would have been very recognisable to Blue Barons fans) that was well performed by hosts Cinderford Academy. Paul Morgan then gave an explanation to the audience of what the Indoor Music Games series is all about and how the SoundSport scoring system works.

The contest got underway with the first ever competitive performance by 614 Lydney ATC Drum Corps, resplendent in their crisp RAF uniforms. Lydney presented a traditional performance of 'Long Way to Tipperary', 'Great Escape', 'Walzing Matilda' and 'Highland Cathedral', interspersed with drum solos, which was complimented by a mace bearer Drum Major that added to the overall effect. The highlight of the show was an excellent cornet solo by 15 year old Rebecca Jessop in Highland Cathedral which brought a very successful first outing to a memorable end.

Parkend Silver Band made their SoundSport debut with an entertaining show entitled 'A Disney Tribute', featuring music from Beauty & the Beast, The Lion King, The Jungle Book and Mary Poppins. A well balanced Brass Line produced a quality sound which proved very popular with the audience, who were pleased to welcome Parkend back into competition after a few years absence.

As Thurrock Marching Brass set up for their show, it was clear that we were now in for something completely different. Lavish scenery and props set the scene for a show entitled 'Under New Managment', inspired by the film Bugsy Malone. Thurrock featured the only colour guard unit and marching percussion section in this evenings show, which was well integrated into a total 'Brass Theatre' style program that was total entertainment. The crowd were left wanting more and many of us wondered if we had just witnessed a blueprint for IMG SoundSport shows of the future.

Cinderford Academy took to the floor with great applause from their homes fans. Performing a specially written show, by conductor Clive Lewis, entitled 'We Sail the Ocean Blue', the Academy set up looking like they meant business. This nautically themed program featured music from HMS Pinafore, Pirates of the Caribbean and Captain Pugwash. Rod Stewart's 'Sailing' featured a very well performed euphonium solo by 14 year old Louis Thomas who is certainly a player to watch out for in years to come.

Cinderford Town Band performed a concert exhibition with an entertaining program featuring 'Valero', 'Cinderford March', 'By the Time I get to Phoenix', 'Stop All the Traffic' and 'The Angles Sing'. Featuring a quality sound, Cinderford were ably served by soloists Matt Kibble and John Butson who both drew good applause from an appreciative audience.

All the groups reassembled on the arena for the Finale which featured a Massed Band performance followed by the results, which were as follows:-

SoundSport Festival Class (exhibition)
Cinderford Town Band

SoundSport Medalist Class
614 Lydney ATC Drum Corps - Bronze
Parkend Silver Band - Silver
Thurrock Marching Brass - Silver
Cinderford Academy - Gold

The results were followed by a superb rendition of the SoundSport Anthem 'Raise Your Voice' by the massed bands and concluded with the National Anthem. The IMG series now moves on to Glasgow for its final show of 2016 on 21st May. But with the success of the Forest Show, preparations are already underway for a second show next year.

It's becoming a real tradition: ticket sales for the DCE European Championships, in Kerkrade on Saturday 24th September, have once again started with a huge run on tickets. Within a few minutes block A, which has 1,000 seats, was sold out.

Drum corps fans have had Saturday 24th September marked in their diary for months. All of the European top corps will be in attendance. In total, there will be more than 30 fantastic drum corps shows in the Parkstad Limburg Stadium in Kerkrade. Did you forget to order tickets? There are still plenty of seats available in the other blocks. All blocks are in the main stand. So visit the DCE Ticket Shop now and make sure you have a seat!

The seat prices range from 17.50 to 32.50 Euros, and admission tickets allow visitors to access the stadium all day and in the evening. Super Seats are also available. If you prefer to attend the event in complete luxury, you can order a Super Seat for 125 euros, with optional extras of hotel stays in the stadium hotel. As well as your own seat in the best location in the stadium, a Super Seat also comes with free drinks, lunch, dinner and a one year subscription to the DCE Video Vault.

Go to the Ticket Store >>

Marching Band Activity United Kingdom (MBAUK) is celebarting its third anniversary today. MBAUK is an online area for anyone that loves music and marching to share positive stories and to share information.

Founded by John Butler in May 2013, MBAUK now has a combined Facebook and Twitter following of approaching 10,000. In 2014, MBAUK partnered with Thurrock Marching Brass to attempt a new World Record for the Longest Fanfare Line using valved instrumentation. An attempt that saw success in setting a new World Record on Sunday 6th September 2014.

Also in 2014 the charity Autism Plus contacted Marching Band Activity United Kingdom in regards to their social enterprise Mayfield belllyres, since then many connections have been made through the charity including the launch of an Instrument Campaign, helping to connect music to autism users with many instruments already being donated.

Always looking for new and exciting ways in which to promote all that is good about music and marching a new web site has been created to start to share connections and contacts from across the United Kingdom and to create a central pool of information that is really useful for everyone to tap into. Band lists and locations, trusted suppliers, local and national events across the UK all form part of this ventral pool of available information.

As part of the promotion of good work that everybody does, MBAUK runs, amongst many other campaigns, marching band awareness and weekly recruitment campaigns for all groups, and uses its increasing reach to share that information with the wider audience. This doesn’t just stop at the Facebook, Twitter or website areas as they have also started to open up channels through local and national radio stations.

The team consists of John Butler (founder), Paul Morgan (since 2013), David Harvey (since 2015) and Eddie Burridge (since 2015).

The ticket sale for the DCE European Championships will start tonight at 8 pm GMT / 9 pm CET. We know from experience that the tickets will sell incredibly fast in the first few hours, so be on time if you want to secure a seat in the middle of the stand.

Every year thousands of drum corps fans come to the DCE European Championships for the best that Europe has to offer in drum corps. Are you coming too this year? Order your tickets Sunday night via the DCE website and enjoy 30 amazing drum corps shows at the Parkstad Limburg Stadium in Kerkrade on Saturday 24th September.

Prices for seats range from 17.50 to 32.50 euros, and tickets give access to the stadium throughout the day and evening (a maximum of 20 tickets per order). If you want to attend the event in complete luxury, you can order a Super Seat for 125 Euros, with overnight stays at the stadium hotel as an optional extra. In addition to your own seat with a great view on the field, a Super Seat also offers complimentary refreshments, lunch, dinner and a free subscription to the DCE Video Vault.

Orders can be paid using PayPal, credit card, iDeal (The Netherlands), Mister Cash (Belgium) and SofortBanking. Payment costs will be added to the order. The DCE Ticket Store will open at exactly 8 pm GMT / 9 pm CET.

Section A: € 32.50
Section A low: € 30.00 (row 1 and 2)
Section B: € 27.50
Section C: € 25.00
Section D: € 22.50
Section E: € 20.00
Section F: € 17.50

Percussion Unlimited won the Premier Class of the Indoor Music Games in Middelburg on Saturday. Beatrix won the gold medal in SoundSport.

It was the first time that an Indoor Music Games event in was held in the Netherlands, and it was a collaboration with Juliana Drum & Bugle Corps in Middelburg. Five participants competed in Middelburg, three of which competed in the IMG Premier Class. Showband Calypso from Zwevegem and Harpe Davids Indoor Percussion from Zoetermeer were in close competition. Calypso scored slightly higher and came second with 67.85 points. Harpe Davids finished third with 66.55 points.

Johan Friso was the only participant in the IMG Junior Class and was rewarded by the jury with 76.8 points. In SoundSport, Beatrix Indoor made its debut. In this entertainment concept, which was set up by Drum Corps International, there are no scores given but groups get a bronze, silver or gold medal. Beatrix went for the highest achievement and was awarded the gold medal.

The show night in Middelburg had everything needed to make it into a wonderful evening: beautiful, great and highly varied performances, a full stand, and a good atmosphere among visitors and groups. After the event, Chairman of Juliana Hiels Oving said that he hoped to run it again next year.

The European indoor show circuit landed in Dublin in February, and after Middelburg there are upcoming events in Lydney (this Saturday) and Glasgow (Saturday 21st May).

The ticket sale for the DCE European Championships has started for VIP members. VIP Members can order tickets before the general ticket sale starts on 1st May. No VIP Member yet? Join now and secure the best seats at the Parkstad Limburg Stadium in Kerkrade on 24th September!

Drum Corps Europe introduced their VIP Membership in 2013. For a fixed amount per year, drum corps fans will get free access to video platform The DCE Video Vault and the opportunity to order tickets (up to 2 per person) for the DCE European Championships before the official ticket sales start.

The VIP Membership is the perfect opportunity for those hard core drum corps fans to enjoy watching European top drum corps both at home and in the stadium. You can be a VIP Member for only 29.95 euros per year. Get the VIP Membership now! You can then order tickets for this year by emailing to info@drumcorpseurope.org.

As always, the standard ticket sales for the DCE European Championships will start on 1st May at 8pm (Ireland/UK time).

Become a DCE VIP Member now - click here!

Kadoudal Drum & Bugle Corps from Quiberon - France had a very succesful Spring Music Camp earlier this month. They are working towards their come-back at the DCE Championships in Kerkrade on 24th September.

Kadoudal will make a come back at DCE grass with their programme 'Samurai'. Kadoudal will compete in DCE for the sixth time in their history. Ludovic Sueur (Jubal 2016, Unik Star Percussion Ensemble) joined the Kadoudal's drumline staff, and Benjamin Vandemoortele (Black Knights, Unik Star Percussion Ensemble) will lead the front ensemble.

Corps director Yvan Boscher is very pleased with the progress of the members during the camp that took place from 3rd to 6th April. "The new recruitment policy is a success, the efforts are now paying off", Boscher said. "The corps has been renewed for 80 percent. The corps will present 34 members on the field this year, more than ever. No fewer than 80 people including staff, parents and Kadoudal fans will join the group on their trip to Kerkrade for the DCE Championships 2016."

In 2018 the corps will celebrate their 10th year's anniversary. Preparations for this celebration have already started.

European X finished in seventeenth place at the WGI Semi Finals in Dayton - Ohio, on Friday. The score was only a few tenths too low to compete in the Finals of the Independent Marching Open Class.

European X scored 85.875 points in the Semifinals, more than a full point higher than their score in the Prelims (84.625). This left the Europeans 0.663 points short of participating in the Finals, finishing seventeenth. The top fifteen of the Semi Finals went through to the Finals.

Vigilantes Indoor Percussion are the 2016 WGI Independent Marching Open Class champions, they scored 97.475. Spirit Winter Percussion came second (95.050) and River City Rhythm ended in third place (94.750). In the Scholastic Marching Open Class, the gold medal went to Sparkman High School.

Cinderford Academy are pleased to announce the line up for the first IMG Forest of Dean show to be held in the Indoor Arena, Forest Oak Farm, Lydney, Gloucestershire on Saturday April 30. The groups appearing are Thurrock Marching Brass, Parkend Silver Band, 614 Lydney ATC Drum Corps, Cinderford Academy and Cinderford Town Band.

The competition will be followed by a mass band of all five bands, who will perform a selection of entertaining crowd favourites, culminating in the first UK performance of the SoundSport Anthem 'Raise Your Voice'.

Parkend Silver Band will be making their first appearance in SoundSport at Lydney with a show entitled 'Disney Tribute", which will feature music from Disney favourites including Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and Mary Poppins. Band Secretary Sharon Thomas said "I saw SoundSport for the first time last year in Bristol and thought it would be a good thing for us to get involved with. The venue at Lydney is ideal for this sort of event so I think that we will have an excellent day."

Hosts Cinderford Academy have also announced their show entitled 'We Sail the Ocean Blue' which features a nautical theme, including music from HMS Pinafore and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Doors open at 7pm with the show commencing at 7.30pm. Refreshments are available along with a function bar.

The members of Thurrock Marching Brass set themselves at the top of Wembley way to start a procession all the way to the Bobby Moore Statue situated at the Bobby Moore entrance of the world famous Wembley Stadium.

Joined for the day by members from High Voltage Big Band and Essex Marching Corps, it was an inspiring community effort which saw the band lead young fund raising extraordinaire Jonjo Heuerman and some of his close friends on the last leg of his journey to bring a replica of the Jules Rimet World Cup trophy all the way from Germany to its final resting place at Webley Stadium, celebrating 50 years of England winning the World Cup at this very location and at the previous stadium. Jonjo walked or cycled the entire journey, some 450 miles to complete this ‘March to the Arch’ fundraising effort.

Jonjo has now raised in excess of £250,000 for the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research, having lost his Nan to the disease. Something that also took Bobby Moore away from us. An avid West Ham fan, the band arranged a special tribute of I’m forever blowing bubbles which they added to their repertoire for the day alongside other march tunes like London Bridge is Falling down, Oh When the Saints go Marching in and part of the new Football Crazy series of tunes the Match of the Day Theme. All were well received by a Wembley way flanked on either side by hundreds of 1960’s vespa motor cycles, giving the whole atmosphere one of celebration befitting such an occasion. At the Bobby Moore statue, a service of remembrance was given by West Ham’s Chaplin and as hundreds surrounded the statue to pay their respects to Bobby and all those who have lost their lives to cancer, Thurrock Marching Brass Chairman, Paul Morgan played the Last Post to honour each and every one of them.

Speaking of the day, Corps Director, Jay Lindner commented “To be asked to attend such an important landmark occasion as celebrating the 1966 World Cup win, as well as to honour all those who have lost or are indeed braving their battle with cancer was an incredible thing. With some members of my staff already joining in to play and march alongside the members, I also decided to reach out into the community to see if anyone would like to come along and join us for the day, and to have some representation from two amazing groups like High Voltage Big Band and Essex Marching Corps come along was something I will remember for a long time. That is what we are about here at Thurrock Marching Brass."

"The tribute Last Post, played by our chairman today was incredibly emotional too. The community means such a great deal to all of us here, and to give our very young members (some were performing for the very first time today) such a performance opportunity that they will remember for a long time to come, makes all the hard work preparing so well worthwhile. Huge congratulations to everyone who has played a part in preparing the youngsters for this event, and I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Donna, Jonjo’s Mum for inviting us. Given that Jonjo himself has only just turned 14, it demonstrates collectively just what great things our youngsters are really capable of, especially the youngsters here at Thurrock Marching Brass.” 

The United States-based electronic magazine Drum Corps World is hoping to expand coverage of European competitions in the DCUK, BYBA and DCE circuits this season and into the future. Reporters and photographers are needed.

In the past there have generally been only reports on the season-ending championships, but readers worldwide are interested in events leading up to the final competition. "We are looking for writers to submit one or perhaps two articles describing the venue, crowd, atmosphere and the performances of each participating group, including numbers in each section, uniform descriptions, visual highlights and music played", publisher Steve Vickers of Drum Corps World says. "We want to see positive reviews that describe the productions, rather than a list of people and tunes."

You can go here to see examples of regular-season coverage that appeared in an issue last summer for examples of what DCW is looking to include in the eight summer editions. The issue contains a report on a DCUK show and a press release about Thurrock Marching Brass. It isn’t necessary to have any journalism background, simply a desire to publicise the European corps and bands to the 30,000+ readers of the publication in about 60 countries around the world. "We will make any changes to text to ensure the article reads smoothly, so your report doesn’t need to be 'professional' or perfect", Vickers emphasises.

In addition, DCW would like to also receive a selection of photographs of the units that compete in BYBA, DCUK and DCE. "We prefer close-ups showing an individual or small number of members performing, showing their intensity, passion and excitement to be in front of a crowd of fans. The specifications for submission of electronic images includes keeping the file size to around 1MB, inclusing the name, section, image number, two-digit year and the first initial and last name of the photographer.

If you are interested in writing or shooting, DCW can provide an official photo ID from Drum Corps World, along with an assignment sheet spelling out details of the event (date, location, contact person). The circuit representative will receive the original copy of the assignment so they know who will be at the event to represent the magazine.

Send inquires to Steve Vickers, Publisher, publisher@drumcorpsworld.com.

The programme has been announced for the Music Indoor Games/SoundSport in Middelburg on Saturday 23rd April. The ticket sale has now started.

Five participants from the Netherlands and Belgium will appear on the floor at the Indoor Music Games in Middelburg: Beatrix Drum & Bugle Corps from Hilversum (SoundSport), Percussion Unlimited from Loon op Zand (IMG Premier Class), Harpe Davids Indoor Percussion from Zoetermeer (IMG Premier class), Showband Calypso from Zwevegem (IMG Premier class) and Junior Drum Corps Johan Friso from Middelburg (IMG Junior class).

In addition, several ensemble performances are also scheduled, Beatrix winter guard will perform their show, and Juliana will present their new summer production. Tickets are now on sale via the Drum Corps Europe website.

Tickets are available at www.drumcorpseurope.org/tickets