2023 DCI Directors of the Year

As part of the 2023 DCI World Championships in Indianapolis — an annual season-ending celebration of the DCI Summer Tour — a number of individuals were recognized for their contributions to the drum corps activity with leadership awards.

The Dr. Bernard Baggs Leadership Award annually recognizes the World Class corps director of the year as voted on and determined by World Class directors.

After a breakout competitive season in his corps’ 60th anniversary, Mandarins corps director J.W. Koester was honored with the Baggs award at the 2023 DCI World Championship Semifinals, August 11.

Koester, a longtime educator, designer and administrator within the drum corps activity, has been Mandarins’ corps director since 2015, and was elected to the Drum Corps International Board of Directors in 2023. Prior to his time with the Sacramento corps, Koester played an integral leadership role with the likes of Santa Clara Vanguard and Phantom Regiment, as part of a decades-long résumé of devotion to the drum corps activity.

JW KOESTER: WORLD CLASS DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR

2023 saw Mandarins break into the top six on the World Class leaderboard, a significant improvement upon the corps’ previous all-time best. Since first entering “finalist” status in 2018, Mandarins strung together three consecutive 10th-place finishes, but 2023 saw the corps enter new heights on the wings of a widely-popular production, “Sinnerman.”

 

A highlight moment at the tail end of a memorable season, Koester’s full corps was present on the field to celebrate the announcement of his Director of the Year nod.

“Absolutely stunning,” Koester said about receiving the award. “I was not expecting it, and the drum corps all came out (to see the presentation). The love that they showed was amazing.”

Receiving the 2023 Dr. David Kampschroer Leadership Award recognizing the Open Class Director of the Year was Kevin Valentine of Gold.

Valentine got his start with Gold when his son Tim marched as a member of the corps. With more than two and a half decades of operations management and technology experience and holding senior leadership positions with Walt Disney Parks & Resorts and Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Valentine joined Gold’s administrative staff in the fall of 2020 as director of operations.

Helping usher the corps through an uncertain time due to the pandemic, Valentine played a pivotal role in helping Gold get back on its feet after DCI’s 2020 COVID-related shutdown and the subsequent “DCI Celebration Tour.” Gold was the only Open Class corps out of California to take part in 2021’s season-ending Celebration events in Indy.

After a change of leadership and stepping into the director role at Gold in 2022 during DCI’s 50th anniversary season, Valentine has continued to make sure that the San Diego corps hasn’t missed a beat. After an ambitious 22-event 2023 DCI Summer Tour schedule, his corps won its third silver medal in as many years in Open Class competition.

Just after receiving the award at August 8’s Open Class World Championship Finals in Marion Indiana, Valentine was quick to share the praise with all those within the corps.

“It really speaks a lot to the hard work of our members and the support team we have around us,” Valentine said. “It feels really great to end on such a fabulous night.”

Valentine is the second person from Gold to win the Kampschroer Award in recent years, after previous director Donald Flaherty received the honor in 2021.

 

Also awarded at the 2023 DCI World Championships was the George Bonfiglio Chairperson’s Award. Named for the former 27th Lancers director, the annual presentation is made to an individual within the drum corps community who has displayed unparalleled leadership, service and effort on behalf of Drum Corps International.

DCI CEO Dan Acheson presented the award this year to Matt Carter who serves as the Vice President of Destination Development for Visit Indy, the convention and visitor’s bureau of the City of Indianapolis.

In 2023, Carter played an instrumental role in a contract extension with Visit Indy announced during DCI World Championships Week that re-establishes downtown Indianapolis as home to the DCI Finals and SoundSport International Music and Food Festival through 2033.

“Matt was absolutely instrumental in bringing Drum Corps International’s operations and the DCI World Championships to Indy,” Acheson said. “What we have been able to build here over the last decade and a half simply would not have been possible without his leadership and his championing our mission.”