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In Memoriam

Front Cover

Front Cover

From the Publisher

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ver the last four editions since we introduced the long-awaited responsive and accessible version that makes viewing on a mobile phone or tablet possible, it’s encouraging how the number of readers has expanded significantly. We’re also reaching fans and participants in more than a dozen countries around the world because of the change. This is, in part, because the responsive version supports on-demand translation....Read More

Stanbury Uniforms

Stanbury Uniforms
Michael Carlson, DCW Staff

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nly six months away and we'll be enjoying stadiums filled with the smells of hot dogs and nachos, cheering fans and the 2026 drum corps competition. In the meantime, the corps are in high gear wrapping up auditions, establishing membership lineups, and beginning the hard work of shaping up productions....Read More

ChopSaver

ChopSaver

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our important sections to this article:

...Read More

DCI 2026 Tour

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heck out what Drum Corps International is planning for its 2026 tour...Read More

Friends of DCI

Friends of Drum Corps International – Encourage & Experience Achievement at a Higher Level

Getting the Most From DCW Mobile

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his article provides details about our new DCW responsive and accessible version—perfect for desktop and mobile devices—including options for device and browser settings to enhance your reading experience. While you need not do anything to enjoy this edition of DCW, there are optional settings for Text Size, Light/Dark Mode, Read Aloud (your device will read articles to you), and Language Translation...Read More

Fred J. Miller, Inc.

Fred J. Miller, Inc.

Publisher's Note: This article, by Ben Henderson, Director of Strategic Planning & Budgeting, Office of Arizona Governor, appeared in an e-mail I recently received from The Academy. I thought it was one of most eloquent descriptions of what drum corps means to a former marching, staff, and board member. It is included here with the permission of the corps’ executive director, Josh Thye.

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he Arizona Academy of the Performing Arts (The Academy) has made my life better in immeasurable ways. For more than 20 years I was involved in this organization -- as a student, as a staff member and as a board member. This organization has set a strong foundation of excellence, teamwork and leadership. I can honestly say that any success I have had can be attributed back to the lessons I first learned in The Academy......Read More

Kevin Russell

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'm standing here at my kitchen counter with large awning windows overlooking the Mill Brook with a breakfast beer in hand, a custom blend of Focal Banger and Luscious from the Alchemist in Stowe, Vermont, just north of here. I am crying. I am not sure whether this is a sign of aging and man-a-pause or the activation of a highly emotional connection that I have established with a certain competitive activity, Drum Corps International (DCI) and a particular organization that is currently leading it, the Boston Crusaders (BAC), organized by Inspire Arts and Music, Inc...Read More

UK Vido Portal

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n September 2013 the UK Fan Network, the brain child of WGUK Hall of Famer Lee Court, first came into being and was managed under the Drum Corps International "The Fan Network" streaming portal. In late 2015 the DCI portal was closed and so at the beginning of 2016 Marching & Performing Arts UK officially launched its own dedicated portal at www.ukfannetwork.org, covering the video history of both Drum Corps United Kingdom and Winter Guard United Kingdom. 2026 sees us celebrate its 10th anniversary. We now have over 3,000 videos available covering 95% of our history back to early 1980s [if you happen to find any videos from the missing years hidden in a cupboard please let us know)]and is a lasting legacy of the 1,000s of shows and performers that have been part of our activity over the past 45 years....Read More

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he New Jersey Drum Corps Hall of Fame may soon induct two of the most influential innovators in drum corps videography into the class of 2026, Charlie and Jackie Haas. Their groundbreaking contributions to the activity transformed how performances are viewed, evaluated, remembered, and enjoyed...Read More

Dinkles Footwear

Dinkles Footwear

In Memoriam

UK Vido Portal

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us Barbaro has been affiliated with a number of the best-known corps in upstate New York and several in other areas. At various times he was associated with Geneva Appleknockers, Auburn Purple Lancers, Rochester Crusaders, Rochester Empire Statesmen, Erie Thunderbirds, Dutch Boy, Connecticut Hurricanes and Chicago Cavaliers...Read More

Sky Ryders

Drill Master

Charlie Poole, Jr.

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hen one attends a Drum Corps International event it is readily apparent that there exists a vast array of percussion instruments lining the front sideline as well as on the field. From traditional battery and mallet instruments to ethnic and electronic instrumentation, the options afford current percussion arrangers wide latitude in creating a full variety of tonal colors and textures as well as idiomatic and ethnic presentations...Read More

Drum Corps Digest, February 1967

 

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n this issue from May 1967: FANTASY IN BRASS - HUGE SUCCESS IN CHICAGO, MORE OR LESS THE TRUTH, NORTHEAST CIRCUIT, NORTH NEW JERSEY, and ED ROONEY's Corps-dially Yours...Read More

Fruhauf Uniforms, Inc.

Fruhauf Uniforms, Inc.

David Hill

Spotify, schmotify (is that how you’d spell it?)

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his past Spring, The New York Times spent a full 10 days unreeling the top movies of the 21st Century—at the quarter mark—as chosen by actors and directors, first; then by readers.

Prompted me to do the same thing for drum corps shows. My list of 25 is in this thread. But then, while acknowledging my 71st birthday, I realized that I saw my first drum corps show, on film, in 1971. Could I do the same thing for my drum corps history? Seventy-one at 71?...Read More

EPSScentral LLC

EPSScentral.net

Carl Latchaw

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efore the creation of DCI in 1972, there were other drum corps governing bodies, each one having their own national championships. Some of them were Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), American Legion (AL), World Open Championships, the Canadian Championships, Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) Nationals), U.S.Open, and Drum Corps Associates (DCA) Championships, to name a few.

In the Pacific Northwest (WA and OR) we had our own local organizations like the Washington State D&BC Assn (1928 – 1966) and the NW Drum Corps Association AKA: NWDCA (1965 – 1985)...Read More

Artwork of Don Daber

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rum Corps World is proud to display vintage artwork by the late Don Daber, who left this world on April 4, 2019. Don had a tremendous impact on drums corps with his artwork that appeared throughout activity publications...Read More

Nine Books on Kindle

Nine Books on Kindle

Moe Knox

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or five remarkable decades, Moe Knox traveled extensively, capturing the essence and spirit of thousands at drum corps shows. He became known as the eyes of the drum corps community, a title that resonated deeply with those who had the pleasure of working alongside him. Drum Corps World is proud to share some of his amazing work. Moe left this world at age 89 on May 2, 2025, but gifted us a treasure trove of drum corps' glory days...Read More

Brian Tolzmann, DCW Staff

Ouch

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uring the first DCI season in 1972, the First Federal Blue Stars defeated the Anaheim Kingsmen six out of the seven times they met each other. Unfortunately for the Blue Stars, the lone Kingsmen win was at the first DCI Championship finals...Read More

Jim Claytor, DCW Staff

Ouch

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ey guys! It's that time already! Here's some of the latest on what's poppin! When you think of California drum corps, it's almost impossible not to think of the legendary Santa Clara Vanguard. Known for their rich history and innovative performances, SCV has been a powerhouse in the drum corps world for decades...Read More

Style Plus Band Shoes

Style Plus Band Shoes

Announcements

 

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atch up on the latest corps team annoucements, including staff, caption heads, program coordinators, visual and color guard instructional leaders, design staff, educators, directors / assistant directors, arrangers, administrators, creative teams, and...Read More

Madison Mexico

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he Madison Scouts proudly sponsored Camp Tampico, a two-day marching arts training clinic designed to support and grow the rapidly expanding marching arts community in Mexico.

The clinic brought together eager student performers and world-class educators for intensive instruction across multiple disciplines. Madison Scouts instructors Oscar Ortiz (music and visual), Juana Sandoval (color guard) and John Scharf (percussion) led sessions focused on performance excellence, technique and ensemble development...Read More

Drill Master

Drill Master

Kingsmen Royal Gathering

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embers of the Hamburg Kingsmen Alumni Drum and Bugle Corps celebrated their 2025 season and rehearsed music for the 2026 season at their annual “Royal Gathering” on Sunday, October 19 at the Lackawanna Senior Center in Lackawanna, NY. The event was held earlier in the fall due to winter weather which had postponed the event in previous years ,making travel dangerous for attendees.

In attendance were members of the current alumni corps, former members of the competing corps and guests. On display were many photographs, newspaper clippings, articles from Drum Corps World, past uniforms and other corps artifacts from when the corps competed at various contests in the northeastern United States and Canada during the 1950s, 1960s,and 1970s, including contests and championships of Drum Corps Associates (DCA) and the Red Carpet Association (RCA)...Read More

Band Shoppe

Band Shoppe

Vietnam Marching Bands logo

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e have readers in some of the most unusual places. There is a marching band association in Vietnam that includes many corps-style bands. One follower “liked” one of the photos on the Drum Corps World Facebook page and that’s how these images were discovered...Read More

DCX

The Drum Corps Experience (DCX)

Spartans join the Ludwig-Musser family

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he Spartans Drum & Bugle Corps is excited to announce a new partnership with Ludwig-Musser, beginning with the 2026 season, marking the corps’ first year competing in DCI’s World Class division. This partnership follows a historic season for the organization. In November 2025, the Spartans proudly performed in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, showcasing their talent on one of the world’s most iconic stages and earning national recognition for both the corps and the city of Nashua, NH...Read More

We Scan Files

We Scan Files

Marching Pageantry Arts Museum

DCX and MPAM

Anderman, Stephan Lewisburg, TN
Bates, Scott 📸 Chandler, AZ
Baysinger, Ron 📸 Evansville, IN 47725
Bergeron, Bruno Clearwater, FL
Burdett, Adam Pittston, PA
Butz, Joseph 📸 Wayne, NJ
Carlson, Michael Dayton, OH
Chinn, Donald Tacoma, WA
Claytor, Jim ✎ 📸 N. Hollywood, CA
Davison, Dean Louisburg, KS
Dickelman, Gary Boynton Beach, FL
Dunlap, John Biloxi, MS
Eckert, Larry ✎ 📸
Fudge, Raymond 📸 Silver Spring, MD
Gamin, Kevin Medina, OH
Garcia, Rich Fremont, CA
Goudey, John Everett, MA
Griffin, Keith Saratoga Springs, NY
Haw, Richard 📸 Pudsey, West Yorkshire, U.K.
Hoeffner, Christine Solana Beach, CA
Jones, Rich 📸 Sedona, AZ
Kearney, Fr. Timothy Beverly, MA
Kloppert, Hans ✎ 📸 Dordrecht, Netherlands
Latchaw, Carl Seattle, WA
Maher, Chris 📸 Media, PA
Maroudis-Dempsey, Christina ✎ 📸 San Jose, CA
McCrobie, Lawrence Elizabethtown, KY
Russell, Kevin Waitsfield, VT
Scholl, Arjen 📸 Vlaardingen, Netherlands
Scott, Dave Murray, KY
Tanakaya, Russell ✎ 📸 Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Tolzmann, Brian Forest Lake, MN
Unger, Daniel Glastonbury, CT
Wells, Eric Arthur, IA
Wyatt, Ron 📸 Avenel, NJ

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