Northern Lights aims for dream season with 2025’s “Sweet Dreams”

2025 is year three for Northern Lights. 

The all-age ensemble out of Muskegon, Michigan, has spent its first two seasons growing, and growing rapidly. 

And as the corps is in the process of evaluating to transition from SoundSport into the DCI All-Age classification, corps director Doug Olmstead said its mantra has been simple.

“Don’t sleep on us,” he said.

But while audience members ought not to be sleeping on Northern Lights, they’ll be encouraged to spend a few minutes dreaming during the corps’ 2025 production. 

Northern Lights’ program for the 2025 season, titled, “Sweet Dreams,” will take audiences into the darker images of their sleeping subconscious, offering a dark and mysterious tone that program coordinator Jordan Roberts hopes will bring an enhanced layer of entertainment value. 

 

"It's very much a nightmare show,” Roberts said. “It’s a nightmare from the point of view of the dreamer, so it’s a pretty story-driven show.”

According to Olmstead, Northern Lights has made a point each of its first two seasons to take a unique approach to “show announcements.” A tradition started after its inaugural season in 2022, the corps shares its production for the following season with its members and constituents at the end of its summer season. 

“We like to do that internally, just because it builds momentum and the drive into the next season,” he said. 

When “Sweet Dreams” was first shared in such fashion, following the conclusion of the corps’ 2024 campaign, Olmstead said the response was off the charts. Northern Lights shared its plans publicly a few weeks later, and the announcement was met with similar surety. 

“The reception has been extremely positive,” he said. “Everybody is extremely hyped for the repertoire that we picked.”

As Olmstead noted, Northern Lights has made an early name for itself as a performer of classical, or more traditional music over the course of its first two seasons. 2024’s program, “Ignis,” featured the likes of Igor Stravisnky, Gustav Mahler, and multiple works by Gustav Holst.

“Sweet Dreams” will take Northern Lights into a new era, musically speaking. On one level, the corps’ 2025 repertoire features an array of more modern titles. 

“Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” by Eurythmics, “Sleep” by Eric Whitacre, and a pair of Hans Zimmer’s works from the 2010 film “Inception” — “Dream is Collapsing” and “Mombasa” — all highlight a revamped approach to music design for the Michigan organization. 

Northern Lights’ 2025 setlist also features Saint-Saëns’ “Danse Macabre,” Hector Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique,” and Clint Marsell’s “Lux Aeterna.”

“It's going to be a very metal-sounding brass show,” Roberts said. “There's going to be a fair amount of pretty heavy music. We've written parts for a metal drummer, electric guitar, bass, that type of thing.”

“Probably the best way I can describe the overall musical aesthetic is heavy, but also still with the ability to be light,” he added.

With a foray into modern music selections, Northern Lights had to take a new step organizationally; 2025’s program serves as the corps’ first time pursuing and acquiring licensing rights for its repertoire, as previous productions exclusively featured public domain works.

“We kind of built ourselves on the model of accessibility, and one of the ways that we're accessible is that we've kept prices low by using public domain music the first two years,” Roberts said. “Thanks to some very generous donations from people who appreciate what we do, we're able to buy rights this year. It’s pretty exciting stuff.”

With the show design still in its early stages without too many specifics, Northern Lights’ designers describe a frenetic approach to visual design. 

The corps’ visual layout will be intended to portray a nightmare; as such, as Roberts described, it will be disorderly and altogether “chaotic.”

 

“You know, nightmares don't tend to follow a lot of logical rules,” he said. “There's going to be some chaos on the field, broken up by bits of order.”

Northern Lights shining bright entering second year of All-Age evaluation process

As the winter months near, Northern Lights’ focus — like any other corps — shifts to recruitment. The corps has already hosted several educational open house clinics, with its first full-corps event slated for November 3. 

And as excitement grows, all hopes point to a dream season in 2025. 

“We're looking to come in strong this year, with our All-Age evaluation in process,” Olmstead said. “We’re hoping to get to play inside Lucas Oil Stadium and do more shows on the 2025 DCI Tour.”

Learn more about Northern Lights