2010 Drum Corps International Tour Schedule

New events, new locations, new venues and the unprecedented excitement that only the corps of Marching Music's Major League can deliver are all on schedule for another spectacular summer! The 2010 Drum Corps International Tour will be comprised of an impressive lineup of 113 events in 39 states taking place over a 58-day span from June through August. "We've assembled an extremely exciting schedule of events for this summer," said Drum Corps International Director of Events Susan Kuehnhold. "Thanks to the feedback of fans, the continued cooperation of the corps, as well as support from our national network of Tour Event Partners, we'll be seeing a lot of old friends as well as the return of a few events that we didn't have on the 2009 Tour." Scheduling the annual Drum Corps International Tour is a complex undertaking, coordinating calendar dates and event locations and historical attendance data, along with the travel, logistical and competitive needs of the corps. The 2010 schedule was already being discussed when corps took the field at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis last August, and dates, details and locations continued to be refined during a meeting of corps directors in Chicago this October. "We now have together a final framework of this year's events, though up until the summer, the schedule will be a little bit of a work in progress as we continue to finalize stadiums and corps lineups and sign off on event contracts," said Kuehnhold.

JUNE

The 2010 Drum Corps International Tour will officially kick off on June 18 with a series of events focused in the east. Back in the Midwest, a Tuesday event on June 22 will feature a return to the popular Papa John's Cardinal Stadium at the University of Louisville in Kentucky for the first time since 2008. On Friday, June 25, top corps will once again head to Central Illinois for a DCI Premier Event that serves as the climax to a week-long series of activities for high school music students participating in the Music For All Summer Symposium on the campus of Illinois State University. West Coast corps will hit the road to start their 2010 tour in Glendale, Ariz. on June 23 while working toward a return to the beautiful campus of Stanford University in Northern California for a Saturday event on June 26 at Stanford Stadium. Also on June 26 thanks to the popularity of events in Annapolis, Md. in 2007 and 2009, a new DCI Premier Event will take place in the Washington, D.C. metro area at a stadium still to be announced. The D.C. event will coincide with MENC: the National Association for Music Education's Music Education Week which will bring hundreds of music educators and students together in the Capitol City with opportunities for music education advocacy, professional development and performances.

JULY

Featured events in July will include a homecoming to the campus of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo on Saturday, July 10, which takes place on the same day as the longstanding Drums Along the Rockies show in Denver, Colo. at the site of the 2004 DCI World Championships, Invesco Field at Mile High. Saturday, July 17 will feature a first-time DCI Premier Event in Minneapolis, Minn., at the new TCF Bank Stadium which is home to the University of Minnesota's Golden Gophers. Showcasing the performances of 24 All-Age, Open and World Class corps, this new Minnesota event will coincide with the educational System Blue Marching Band Skills Camp which will give students and educators the opportunity to learn from the members and staff of the Blue Devils and Santa Clara Vanguard. Corps will head deep into the heart of Texas for the incredibly popular DCI Southwestern Series during the third week of July. On July 22 and 23, Texans will see World Class corps perform over a two-day period in Houston and Dallas. The corps will be split into two tracks, performing with their respective groupings before flipping locations the next evening. On Saturday, July 24, the corps will meet in San Antonio for a single-event showdown. Brand new to the Texas series, the Individual & Ensemble (I&E) Competition for World Class corps members will be moved from its usual calendar spot the Wednesday of the week of the World Championships to Sunday, July 25 in San Antonio, the day after the DCI Southwestern Series Championship at the Alamodome. DCI's Individual & Ensemble Competition showcases the best of drum corps musicians and color guard members who have perfected solo and ensemble pieces during spare time outside of their extensive corps rehearsal schedules. The change of date and venue of the I&E Competition is in an effort to bolster the number of participants in the event which has declined over recent years as corps continue to focus on their final rehearsals leading up to their important performances during the week of the World Championships. To parallel the San Antonio-based I&E Competition, Open Class corps members will have their own shot to exhibit individual and small group talents as part of an I&E Competition in Michigan City, Ind., on Wednesday, Aug. 11., the day following the Open Class Quarterfinals. "The addition of this competition the day after the Quarterfinals is going to be great for corps members as well as DCI and the Michigan City community," said Mike Pease who serves as the local event chair for World Championship events in Michigan City. "I was recently going through last year's I&E roster of participants and counted 61 Open Class members and groups, and I think that number will grow with this new format." The last week of July, Drum Corps International's Southern Series will feature events in Hattiesburg, Miss. (Wednesday, July 28) and Gadsden, Ala. (Thursday, July 29). As a two-day series on the 2009 DCI Tour schedule, the annual competition at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro on Friday, July 30, will return to a familiar format as a one-night showcase of the top-eight World Class corps based on competitive rankings up to that point in the season. Rounding out the southern swing, all World Class corps will once again converge in "Hotlanta" on Saturday, July 31 for the DCI Southeastern Championship at the Georgia Dome.

AUGUST

World Class corps will have one last chance leading up to the World Championship events in Indianapolis to make a competitive stand during the DCI Eastern Classic at the storied J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown, Pa. on Friday Aug. 6 and Saturday, Aug. 7. Early the next week, World Championship events will kick off with a special opening ceremony in Michigan City, Ind. on Monday, Aug. 9, followed by the Open Class Quarterfinals on Tuesday, Aug. 10, and the new Open Class Individual & Ensemble Competition on the 11th. World Class Championship events will get started at Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis on Thursday, Aug. 12 followed by the Semifinal events for Open and World Class corps on Friday, Aug. 13. That will end up being a lucky day for the top 12 corps in each division that move on to compete in the Finals competition on Saturday, Aug. 14. "After two extremely successful Championships staged in Indiana, [Bloomington in 2008 and Indianapolis in 2009], we continue to learn more about the unique needs and wants of the corps and their loyal fans coming to Indianapolis," said Deb New, chair of DCI's Indianapolis Advance Resource Team for the World Championships. "With so many opportunities for us to create an incredible experience in and around all of the Championship-week events, and with the help of the close-knit Indianapolis community, we're already counting down the days until we get to welcome everyone back to Indy in 2010."

2010 Drum Corps International Premier Event Schedule

View the complete DCI Tour schedule. RETURNING FOR '10! Louisville, KY Tuesday, June 22 Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, University of Louisville Normal, IL Friday, June 25 Hancock Stadium, Illinois State University NEW FOR '10! Washington, D.C. Saturday, June 26 Venue TBA Stanford, CA Saturday, June 26 Stanford University Stadium Pasadena, CA (tentative) Saturday, July 4 Rose Bowl Stadium RETURNING FOR '10! Kalamazoo, MI Saturday, July 10 Waldo Stadium, Western Michigan University Denver, CO Saturday, July 10 Invesco Field at Mile High NEW FOR '10! Minneapolis, MN Saturday, July 17 TCF Bank Stadium, University of Minnesota Dallas – Houston – San Antonio, TX DCI Southwestern Series Thursday, July 22 – Saturday, July 24 Lake Highlands HS – Berry Athletic Complex – The Alamodome NEW FOR '10! San Antonio, TX World Class Individual & Ensemble Competition Sunday, July 25 Venue TBA Hattiesburg, MS – Gadsden, AL – Murfreesboro, TN – Atlanta, GA DCI Southern Series Wednesday, July 28 – Saturday, July 31 Univ. of Southern Miss. – Gadsden City High School – Middle Tenn. State Univ. –The Georgia Dome Allentown, PA Friday, Aug. 6 – Saturday, Aug. 7 J. Birney Crum Stadium World Championship Open Class Quarterfinals Tuesday, Aug. 10 Michigan City, IN Ames Field NEW FOR '10! Open Class Individual & Ensemble Competition Wednesday, Aug. 11 Michigan City, IN Venue TBA World Championship World Class Quarterfinals Thursday, Aug. 12 Indianapolis, IN Lucas Oil Stadium World Championship Open Class Semifinals/ World Class Semifinals Friday, August 13 Indianapolis, IN Lucas Oil Stadium World Championship Open Class Finals/World Class Finals Saturday, August 14 Indianapolis, IN Lucas Oil Stadium View the complete schedule of all 2010 DCI Tour Events.