Dedicated to musicians and performers of diverse styles and backgrounds, Marching Music Day celebrates all varieties of the art forms bringing us “music on the move.”
Celebrating this special day on March 4, 2022, Drum Corps International will kick off the “march” to the organization’s milestone 50th anniversary DCI Summer Tour which gets underway in a little over 100 days, June 24 in California.
Drum Corps International founded Marching Music Day to celebrate and spotlight marching music as an engaging and ever-expanding art form around the world, and to help celebrate Music In Our Schools Month. As an ideal play on words, March Fourth was chosen.
Beginning in 2017, the registrar at National Day Calendar declared the day to #MarchForth into celebration annually.
“March 4th takes on additional importance for us in 2022 as many of our corps who weren’t able to join us for 2021’s DCI Celebration Tour continue to ramp up operations to join us back on the field for this year’s summer tour,” DCI CEO Dan Acheson said. “We’re looking forward to joining with our friends taking part in winter guards and drum lines, as well as high school, civic, military and college marching bands and ensembles across the United States and around the world who continue to bring marching music back into the spotlight after a few long and challenging years.”
One of the primary focuses of Drum Corps International’s #MarchForth outreach in 2022, is the launch of a new program dubbed the “Fill Every Corps” project.
In the wake of the COVID-19 shutdowns experienced across the country and around the world, DCI’s World and Open Class corps are working together to welcome and engage a new generation of students into their ranks for the summer of 2022.
The new initiative being coordinated by Drum Corps International focuses on matching prospective performers, regardless of their current audition status, with available positions in corps nationwide. DCI is working directly with its participating organizations to compile a week-by-week list of current openings in every section of their corps and is sharing inquiries from interested performers for prompt follow-up in order to “Fill Every Corps.”
Learn more about "Fill Every Corps"
Other simple activities you can follow to celebrate March Fourth:
1. Rep your favorite drum corps or marching music swag
Dust off those corps jackets or break out your favorite marching group's T-shirt or sweatshirt. Take a selfie and post it to your social media profiles tagging your posts with #MarchForth and #MarchingMusicDay!
2. Get the band back together
From drum corps and marching bands, to SoundSport teams and winter guards, to military music groups, Mummers string bands, fife and drum groups, drill teams and step teams, marching musicians fall into a remarkable array of different styles, classifications and organizations. No matter your performance style, coordinate a group message string to get your friends together to make music today, tomorrow, this summer or whenever you see fit! DCI’s SoundSport International Music & Food Festival coming this August to Indianapolis may just be the perfect place for you to do so.
3. Support DCI and your favorite marching music groups
Whether making an important contribution to Drum Corps International or your favorite drum corps, or lending support to your local high school, college or community marching performing arts ensemble, consider making an important financial donation or inquire about any volunteer needs behind the scenes to foster future generations of marching musicians.
4. Make your plans to be on the field or in the stands this summer
After the cancellation of the 2020 DCI Tour due to the coronavirus pandemic and the abbreviated 2021 DCI Celebration Tour, DCI’s 50th anniversary in 2022 will be a remarkable affair! A huge number of drum corps are still recruiting prospective corps members to join them on the field this summer.
Learn more about auditioning and getting involved with a corps this summer
For those more interested in witnessing the 2022 DCI Tour from the stadium grandstands, tickets to an impressive number of shows on the more than 90-event DCI Tour schedule are now on sale including the three-day DCI World Championships August 11-13 in Indianapolis.