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M ARCHING A RTS C ORNER A ARON W ITEK , C OLUMN E DITOR I NTRODUCTION TO THE M ARCHING A RTS BY A ARON W ITEK October 2020 • Page 69© 2020 International Trumpet GuildOctober 2020 / ITG Journal 69 W ayne Bergeron, Alex Blazek, Peter Bond, Christo- pher Martin, Michael Martin, Travis Peterson, and Adam Rapa—what do they all have in com- mon? Yes, they are amazing trumpet players, but what you may not know is that they all participated in the marching arts. Welcome to the Marching Arts Corner! This new column will focus on different aspects of the trumpet/ bugle in the marching arts. Some topics that will be covered here include interviews, his- torical information, education, and equip- ment. This column is intended for every- one—not only those who are enthusiastic about the marching arts, but also for anyone who wants to learn about and gain a deeper appreciation for the activity. I am excited to share that Peter Bond of the Metropolitan Opera and Ryan Darke of the Los Angeles Opera will be writing articles for the column in the coming year. Marching arts … what are you talking about? The marching arts activity is a unique expression of music that incorporates move- ment and visual modalities. It encompasses marching band, drum and bugle corps, pep band, winter guard, indoor winds, and indoor percussion. Examples can also be found in such award-winning theater shows as Blast!, STOMP, and Odyssey. We can also see the march ing arts in the military with such groups as the United States Army Old Guard Fife Drum and Corps and “The Commandant’s Own,” The United States Marine Drum & Bugle Corps. How did this column come about? In March , ITG Publications Editor Peter Wood app - roached me with the idea to write an article that would be of I NTRODUCTION TO THE M ARCHING A RTS BY A ARON W ITEK M ARCHING A RTS C ORNER A ARON W ITEK , C OLUMN E DITOR Marching Arts Corner seeks to present information related to drum corps, marching band, and all aspects of the marching arts. Topic suggestions and article submissions should be directed to Aaron Witek (marchingarts@trumpetguild.org). Averi Parece, Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps. Photo credit: Joshua Clements “This column is intended for everyone—not only those who are enthusiastic about the marching arts, but also for anyone who wants to learn about and gain a deeper appreciation for the activity.”© 2020 International Trumpet GuildOctober 2020 / ITG Journal 71 interest to trumpet players involved in or interested in dci (Drum Corps International). I said I would think about it, but I delayed responding to him for a few reasons: 1) To be honest, I did not know if I wanted to link my involvement in dci to my academic profession, as there is a lot of negative stigma around the activity from those who have either been removed from it for a long time or know very little about it. 2) Because of the negative stigma, I felt that a good amount of the article would need to focus on educating the reader about the march- ing arts and trying to dispel myths and misinformation sur- rounding the activity. I felt that all of this would detract from an article on more interesting and relevant topics about the marching arts. In the January ITG Journal, Marc Reed wrote an arti- cle entitled “I Hate Drum Corps.” Despite the title, the article was about how Professor Reed realized he had been judging drum corps for years on skewed notions, and after seeing a show live realized the benefits of the activity. The article was extremely well received, and I highly suggest going back to read it. After this publication, Peter Wood once again reached out to me and said that the ITG board really wanted to add a column to the ITG Journal dedicated to trumpet in marching band and drum corps. They asked if I would be the column editor, and I thought this would be a great way to expose the numerous positive aspects of the activity and present topics from people who have performed, taught, and/or designed in the marching arts. Competitive marching arts circuits A large number of states in the us have their own competi- tive high school marching band circuits. The two largest are Bands of America (boa), which serves more than , music students, their families, and music teachers each year, and USBands, which currently has over participating ensembles. Currently in North America, there are two circuits of com- petitive drum and bugle corps, also referred to as “drum corps” or just “corps.” Drum Corps Inter- national (dci), also known as “Mar - ching Music’s Major League,” is the governing body for junior drum and bugle corps (performing members years of age or younger). Drum Corps Associates (dca), is the gov- erning body for all-age “senior drum corps.” dci and dca are not affiliat- ed, but they do work together on some ventures. Both serve as the governing bodies responsible for enforcing rules voted on by the membership and providing standardized adjudication, among other responsibilities. There are also other corps circuits all over the world, including Drum Corps Europe (dce), Drum Corps Asia, Drum Corps United Kingdom (dcuk), Dutch Music Games, Drum Corps Japan, All Japan, and Indonesian Drum Corps. Crash course about drum and bugle corps The largest circuit in participating organizations, fans, and performers is dci. In , over days, dci featured corps participating in competitive events in states. More than , fans packed stadiums across the country. That is the equivalent of David Geffen Hall, home of the New York Phil- harmonic, selling out over times. Large shows like the World Championship Finals attract around , paying spectators. In addition to live attendance at the stadiums, spec- tators can also watch shows via FloMarching, a subscription video streaming service offering live and on-demand coverage of the top marching arts competitions. Also, dci’s Tour Pre- miere and World Championship preliminary competitions are broadcast in more than movie theaters across the us. Corps that participate in dci use only brass instruments, percussion instruments, and synthesizers. G bugles used to be utilized, but now it is most common to use brass instruments pitched in B-flat, with mellophones pitched in F. In , a rule that allows for the entire brass family was passed, includ- ing trombones and concert horns. The use of B-flat trumpets, tubas, euphoniums, and F mellophones help bridge the gap between traditional school band programs and the drum corps activity. The training a student receives in school and corps helps one another. Drum and bugle corps are similar to, but also different from, marching band. Obviously, both are marching/visual musical ensembles. In the United States, most marching bands are affil- iated with schools. Corps are independent, self-financed organizations normally not affiliated with a school. They rely on fees from participants, sponsorships, fundraising, and dci. Most scholastic marching bands receive their funding from school budgets—usually tax dollars—student fees, and fund - raising. Marching bands allow almost any instrument to be used, while corps use only spe- cific, approved instruments. Marching band circuits normal- ly do not have a limit on the number of participants, but dci has a limit of . As you can imagine, getting eighty brass musicians to play together, in tune, and with a good sound while running and dancing around a field takes a lot of work and rehearsal. November through April, corps typically have camp (rehearsal weekend) once a month. During these winter camps, a lot of focus is spent on developing brass playing fundamentals, basics of movement, fitness and health, learning songs that will not be played in their competitive show, and reading sketches of their competitive show music. In addition to camps, members turn in playing recordings multiple times between rehearsals to receive feedback on how to improve. A good amount of corps’ brass teaching fac ulty are professional teachers and/or per- formers. A few trumpet professors and professional players currently teaching corps are: Alec Blazek (Nashville Sympho- ny), Ricardo Brown (University of Connecticut), Alan Chez “More than 330,000 fans packed sta- diums across the country. That is the equivalent of David Geffen Hall, home of the New York Philharmon- ic, selling out over 120 times.” Facing page: Averi Parece, Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps. Photo credit: Joshua Clements72 ITG Journal / October 2020© 2020 International Trumpet Guild (formerly with Late Show with David Letterman), Cameron “Chip” Crotts (Georgia Tech), Kris Hammond (formerly with Axiom Brass Quintet), Clark Hunt (Indiana University), Michael Martin (Boston Sympho- ny), Mark Metrinko (Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps), Scott Whitford (Fulton Theatre), and this author (Ithaca College). Drum corps shows have come a long way from just playing a med- ley of popular songs. A great deal of coordination between a team of designers is put into pacing, visual design, staging, effect, technical moments, applause moments, etc. Original compositions have been commissioned for drum corps, including works by Jay Bocook, Gordon Goodwin, Chuck Naffier, Richard Saucedo, Andrew Shanefield, and Robert W. Smith, among others. Each year, a corps learns a new show that is approximately eight to twelve minutes in length. Throughout the summer, a junior corps in dci spends about twelve weeks practicing and performing their show all over the United States and sometimes travels overseas. Update on the marching arts today Unfortunately, due to the covid- pandemic, a good number of marching arts organizations and ensembles have canceled their season. dci’s voting membership unanimous- ly decided to cancel the season. There are numerous factors that contributed to this decision, including partici- pant health and safety, travel requirements, logistics, and venue availability—to name a few. The voting membership also agreed the age-outs would be granted an additional year of eli- gibility. I am excited about this opportu- nity to lead this new column in the ITG Journal and look forward to bringing you many more stories and articles in the years to come. I hope you enjoy it! About the author: Aaron Witek is assistant professor of trum- pet at Ithaca College, in Ithaca, New York. He is active as a performer and educator while maintaining a demanding per- formance schedule. He has performed and given masterclasses throughout the us, China, Australia, and Bangladesh. Two noteworthy publications of Witek’s include Gordon Mathie: The Treasured Legacy of a Master Teacher and Performer and Solo Duet Training for Trumpet. Witek earned his dm and mm degrees from Florida State University and a bmed degree from the Crane School of Music at suny Potsdam. “I am excited about this opportunity to lead this new column in the ITG Journal and look forward to bring- ing you many more stories and articles in the years to come.”Next >