FrontierVP

bump. Not this Sunday (everyone should be in/returning from San Antonio and Austin this weekend) but next Sunday.

The first drum corps competition in Texas this summer will be at Pennington Field in Bedford on Sunday, June 24th, starting at 2pm. Student tickets are $5 and there is a discount rate for band directors with 10 or more students. You can purchase your tickets online today. Go to http://www.brasshysteria.com.

Rehearsal this weekend. When: Saturday 3/24 9am to 7pm and Sunday 3/25 9am to 1pm Where: The Colony High School. Click here for map and directions Why: Because Frontier's got mad talent and we're shooting for World Championship Finals this year in Open Class. Year 3. We still have a few holes in the brassline and the battery percussion. Guard numbers won't be set until April. Come check us out. About 1/4th of the corps members are in high school from schools across Texas. We only rehearse and compete on weekends, so you can keep your job and stay close to home--a lot less expensive than DCI--all while getting a true drum corps experience. One Frontier member (soprano/trumpet) is now, at 15, one of the youngest Madison Scouts--and he only ever marched in Frontier. Another returning member, a snare, made 9th out of 8 snares this year for the Cavies. Yes, we've got talent! Join Frontier and perform in the Meyerson Symphony Center opening for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra!

Frontier Drum and Bugle Corps will hold the first of two January camps this Saturday, January 13, 2007 at Grand Prairie High School (Note to Frontier vets: this is NOT South Grand Prairie) from 9am to 7pm. http://www.frontiercorps.org/locations.aspx#grandprairie (map to the school) The brass line will set its numbers by the end of January. January 13 is the final open rehearsal where brass members will be able to attend and secure a spot. After this weekend, only open spots or alternate status will be available for audition. Color Guard positions will remain open going forward. The color guard numbers will not be finalized until the completion of the winter guard season in April. For further color guard information email the color guard caption head at colorguard@frontiercorps.org. Percussion positions remain open as well. For further information and questions regarding percussion, please send an email to percussion@frontiercorps.org. The 2007 corps is shaping up nicely and will continue working on its production entitled

Frontier will hold auditions for each section through the end of February. Brass, percussion, and guard sections will be set at that time. To find out more, go to the audition and registration information page by clicking here.

If you cannot march a DCI corps this summer, there is another option: DCA/All age corps. There are now 3 DCA drum & bugle corps in Texas. All-age corps require less time (generally 2 weekends a month) and money than DCI corps, but the educational value is quite comparable. For example, a 2 year vet of the Frontier brassline is likely about to become the youngest member of Madison Scouts this season. He's 15. He had no marching experience (he doesn't march in his high school band), so he knew nothing about marching/playing before Frontier. DCA/All age corps are definitely something to check out. Austin Stars, in Austin (www.austinstars.org) Gulf Coast Sound, in Houston (www.gulfcoastsound.org) Frontier, in Dallas (www.frontiercorps.org) Frontier's next rehearsal is December 16th (location TBA--check the website soon.) Check the other corps websites too.

Hope to see everyone there!

The poster is available. It is password protected, so if you want to print it out, message or email me for the password. You can email me at communications@frontierperformingarts.org to get the password. Show line-up: 5:40 Gulf Coast Sound Drum & Bugle Corps 6:05 Dance Explosion 6:15 Hella Shrine Drum & Bugle Corps 6:30 GCS Choral Ensemble 6:35 The AC (Upbeat Hip-Hop) 6:50 Gulf Wind 7:00 Inner City All-Stars (Brass Jazz/Funk Band as seen on Showtime at the Apollo) 7:20 PUSH 7:35 Mike Ward (Baritonist) 7:40 True Heart 7:55 Victor Andrada 8:05 Dallas Tap Dazzlers 8:10 Frontier Drum & Bugle Corps

Frontier. Open House/first rehearsal is in Plano (north Dallas) in November.

The show poster will be available on the site (a link just above "TICKETS") on Friday. Be sure to check out the Brass Hysteria website (www.brasshysteria.com) for show line-up, which includes Inner City All-Stars Brass Band (They were on Showtime At The Apollo and they rock) and of course Frontier Drum & Bugle Corps from Dallas and Gulf Coast Sound Drum & Bugle Corps from Houston.

Glad to hear you're coming and bringing friends! I would suggest asking your band director if they can help you get more. Also, we'll have some event posters available later this week that you can print out and hang up in the band hall.

bump

Cool! NOTE: If you get your band director (or other music/arts teacher) to bring 10 or more students, you can get FREE tickets for everyone! Contact our special events coordinator, Jason Walker at events@frontierperformingarts.org, or Chris Green, FPAA executive director, at director@frontierperformingarts.org for more information.

bump

Saturday, July 29, 2006 @ 7:00 p.m. St. Pius X High School 811 W. Donovan St. (@ Shepherd) Houston, Texas 77091 http://www.gulfcoastsound.org/brassonthebayou.html Map

When: Sunday, August 27th - 5:30pm - 8:30pm Where: Pennington Field, Bedford TX Why: Because there is more to music than mp3's

Like what was said above, the Bb horns used in drum corps are closely related to regular concert brass. However, the G horns (used by all corps until 2000) are somewhat less like regular concert brass. The G horn puts out much more sound--they were designed specifically for the purpose of outdoor volume and projection. If you've never heard a corps play live on G bugles, then you can't fully appreciate the difference in timbre and volume. The bore on a G horn is conical, meaning it continually (and gradually) expands from lead pipe to bell. These G horns require more air and more air support--otherwise, there are intonation problems. For this reason, they're harder to learn how to play than regular Bb concert brass. The payoff, though, is in the sound: it can peel paint off buildings.

I was at Finals in 89. Regiment certainly was the loudest corps there. After retreat (after getting the highest score in DCI history and still losing the championship), they played to the back right corner of the stadium. And, I've never heard any corps play with more volume and intensity of emotion (without getting crass). I went to finals in order to see SCV, and I didn't know who Phantom Regiment was before that night. But I spent all of 1990 and 1991 listening to Regiment's show on CD.

Thank you so much for you kind words, Andrew. It's very good to get the support of our community. Come out and see us at the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival on April 29th at 8pm (just before the event headliner) on the Festival stage. That will be a standstill performance. Our first public performance of the field show will be on Memorial Day at our Friends and Family event. Location TBA.

Oops, you're right. Move Renegades up two spots past Corpsvets and Cabs in my post.

DCA Open Class 1.) Bushwackers 2.) Buccaneers 3.) Brigadiers 4.) Minnesota Brass, Inc. 5.) Empire Statesmen 6.) CorpsVets 7.) Caballeros 8.) Renegades 9.) Carolina Gold 10.) Frontier (not too shabby for a corps in only its second year) 11-12.) I won't venture a guess 13.) Kilties 14.) Rochester Crusaders 15-18.) I won't venture a guess DCA Class A 1.) Alliance 2.) Chops 3.) Govenaires 4-8 or so.) I won't venture a guess

Actually, you did say "only began to become good in 2000." However, I regret reacting to your earlier post the way I did. ================ This idea of drum corps (in general) getting better brings up some topics I've seen on DCP (DrumCorpsPlanet). I am new to DCA/all-ages, but I have a bit of spectator experience with junior corps repetoire (mostly recordings, but a significant percent of live performances going back to 1987). From what I've seen of the earliest DCI recordings, it seems to me that starting in the mid to late eighties, drum corps came into its own as an art form, not just a musical activity. This was when the junior drum corps shows solidly and decidedly became unified shows rather than a concert of songs.