Open houses and “experience camps” have been commonplace among drum corps across the country for years. They serve as an opportunity to kick off each new season’s recruitment efforts and get prospective students in the door to introduce and acclimate them to what it’s like to join and be a part of a drum and bugle corps.
But those opportunities have traditionally been done on an individual corps-by-corps basis. For students who are “on the fence” about joining a drum corps, having to travel to different locations to experience different groups can often be a time-intensive and costly endeavor, especially for those still trying to gauge if the experience and commitment is right for them.
Enter the Midwest Combine Experience Camp.
Seven of DCI’s World and Open Class corps from the Midwest including the Blue Stars, Cavaliers, Colts, Colt Cadets, Madison Scouts, Phantom Regiment and River City Rhythm, have banded together for this first of its kind event. It’s a one-day “job fair” of sorts, giving prospective drum corps members the opportunity to play, learn — and perhaps most importantly — meet and talk with representatives from different organizations as they make a thoughtful decision as to if and where they want to participate in 2024 or beyond.
According to Todd Snead, Phantom Regiment director of programs, the goal in organizing the event on Sunday, October 22 just south of Milwaukee in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, is not for any of the participating corps to conduct official auditions, rather it’s all about coming together in a joint effort to welcome and introduce students to the basics of the drum corps experience and what each corps has to offer.
“Here's a chance for students to ask questions in a no-pressure situation,” Snead said. “Here's the chance to meet a bunch of different corps and different teachers. Here’s the chance for students to really get a feel for the activity, in an area that is typically underserved from an audition standpoint.”
In a competitively-driven activity, with a finite number of positions available in each group, bringing so many corps together to work hand-in-hand for the benefit of everyone’s recruitment efforts might sound like a pie-in-the-sky initiative. But it’s one that Cavaliers executive director Monte Mast said has been talked about for several years and gained momentum coming out of 2020’s COVID shutdown.
“As our corps talked through COVID and the noncompetitive ‘Celebration Tour’ season in 2021, we really learned that we shared more things than we were different, and really developed a sense of, ‘Hey, we're all in this together,’” Mast said.
“Even in 2022, we had a really small corps,” Colts director Vick MacFarlane elaborated. “And I don't think our Open Class corps have completely recovered from that COVID shutdown at this point either. So it's nice to be able to combine our efforts. It’s for all of our mutual benefit when those students have access to and an understanding of what groups in the activity are out there for them.”
“It’s really important to us to have the opportunity to expose more students to the activity,” MacFarlane said. “To let them know that there's an ensemble for them regardless of talent or experience level, because the whole range of drum corps opportunities will be represented at this event.”
Geared toward brass, percussion and color guard performers of all experience levels, the Midwest Combine Experience Camp will kick off October 22 at 9 a.m. CT at Oak Creek High School (340 E. Puetz Road).
From the get-go, students will have the opportunity to march, play, spin and drum in sectional rehearsals led by corps instructors. A provided lunch will offer a break and the opportunity to visit corps information tables followed by additional sectional instruction. The event will close out with a question and answer session with corps administration and leadership and another opportunity to meet with the individual corps.
MIDWEST COMBINE EXPERIENCE SCHEDULE
8-9 a.m. — Registration
9-noon — Sectional instruction
Noon-12:45 p.m. — Lunch and visit the corps information tables
12:45-3:15 p.m. — Sectional instruction
3:15-4 p.m. — Q&A with the corps directors
4-5 p.m. — Info fair with individual corps
The cost for students to attend the event is $40 which includes the full-day of instruction, lunch and a Midwest Combine Experience T-shirt and sticker. Registration can be done in advance online.
Register to attend the Midwest Combine Experience Camp
While no auditions will be conducted at the camp, the participating corps have agreed to provide a promo code to attendees to cover the cost of the camp if they choose to go on and audition with any of the corps this season.
Who should attend?
According to MacFarlane, the Midwest Combine is designed and set up to “cater to the curious.”
“Anyone who is curious about what a drum corps audition process will be like, how their skills might stack up, what corps they might want to join, or how a drum corps rehearsal day is structured, this is for them,” she said. “A lot of times for students it’s about finding that courage to walk through the door. And this opportunity provides a safe, low-pressure entry point more so than what they might experience walking into a full-fledged audition event for the first time.”
Mast said that the Combine will also be a great opportunity for parents to attend and learn more.
“So often parents are asking, ‘What is this drum corps thing?’” Mast said. “Our corps administrators will be on hand to help answer any questions and hopefully dispel any myths along the way as well.”
After opening registration a little more than a week ago, organizers say that nearly 70 students have already signed up to attend, not only from surrounding Midwestern states, but also from locations as far away as Missouri, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
“It’s kind of shocking actually, and not what we initially intended,” Snead said. “But it’s a great sign that there’s an appetite for this kind of experience from students and should give us the opportunity to expand into other locations and work with more corps in the future.”