A 45-minute severe weather delay did not dampen the sprits of several hundred people who turned up to watch the Drum Corp International Tour on Friday evening.
This was the third time they have been in Muncie, and the crowd was not disappointed. Nearly every performance ended with a standing ovation.
The event coincided with the weeklong Music For All Summer Symposium that brought thousands of high school musicians to the Ball State campus. Many of these students attended the event.
“We came to Muncie with seven of the finest groups in the United States that tour over eight weeks.” said Dan Acheson, the Executive Director and CEO of the Drum Corp International. “We are strategic partners with Music For All and this is one of many reasons why we come to Muncie.”
The line up included the Troopers from Casper, Wyo., The Colts from Dubuque, Iowa, the Blue Stars from La Crosse, Wis., the Spirit of Atlanta from Atlanta, the Crossment from San Antonio, the Madison Scouts from Madison, Wis., and the Cavaliers from Rosemont, Ill.
Each group is made up of 150 members and the average age is 19. The majority of the participants are male college students who are seeking an education in music. Most of these groups will appear in 30 different cities and travel about 15,000 miles.
About 8,500 student musicians from all over the country audition to be participants in these musical groups and get the chance to tour. Fewer than 3,500 positions are open for all the groups.
“We not only have students from the states but also from out of the country such as Japan and the Netherlands,” Acheson said. “All the students that will perform are really talented.”
The audition process is just the beginning of the commitment that these musicians take on when they join.
“We go through a series of winter and spring trainings,” Acheson said. “By the time they get into The Cavaliers, for instance, they are really good at what they do.”
He said the stop at Ball State is something that the DCI has grown to looking forward to.
“[It’s] one of those situations that we started growing the audience,” Acheson said. “Muncie became one of the popular stops on our tour for the fans as well as for the competitors from Music For All Summer Symposium every summer.”
Elliot Borg is a student at VanderCook College of Music in Illinois and is a part of The Cavaliers, a nationally award winning drum corps.
“It’s my first year being a part of the DCI and it’s going great,” he said. “I love to be a part of such a great well-known drum corp.”
The Cavaliers were set to perform last, but before they could take the field the stadium had to be evacuated due to an incoming storm.
It took almost 45 minutes for the storm to clear, and after a short warm up the final musical group could perform.
The Cavaliers had spent the week in Muncie working with the Music for All Marching band. As an encore, they performed with Music for All students, which drew a standing ovation.
For more information go todci.org/schedule/detail.cfm?event=1aa3108f-2bad-410a-b03b-3a689de794c7#ixzz2XkVDoOJN
