Spartans aim to cap three-year run with 2025’s “Mistica”

In multiple ways, Spartans have the opportunity to do something special in 2025 — complete a trilogy. 

The Nashua, New Hampshire corps has an illustrious 70-year history — officially celebrating its seventh decade as of this year — rich with competitive successes as an Open Class participant. Since 2019, Spartans have won three Open Class gold medals.

A championship this year, though, would be a third in a row — a “three-peat,” as some say. 

Whether that history takes place is yet to be seen. But through the corps’ 2025 production, “Mistica,” Spartans plan to close the arc on a memorable trio of seasons regardless, thematically-speaking. 

“It's a concept that we feel is the perfect end of a trilogy of the last two productions,” program coordinator Fred Ford said. “In 2023, ‘Surreal’ was very much an artistic concept. In 2024, it was all about burning man and visiting a mystical place. This is kind of a combination of the two.”

As Ford described, centered around the overarching concept of mysticism — and titled for its spanish translation — ”Mistica” is intended to be an abstract world in which Spartans will explore, rather than a story Spartans will unfold. 

“We are bringing you into a mystical world,” Oullette said. “And the reason why we use the word, ‘Mystica,’ is because we have a lot of Spanish or Latin flair and music in our show, so we thought it would give it a little bit of a twist that way.”

Spartans’ repertoire features varying degrees of “mainstream,” touching on a wide array of musical genres. 

The corps will open with the “Prologue” music from the 2006 film “Lady on the Water,” written by James Newton Howard. This will be immediately followed by “Todo Tiende,” a Spanish rock song by Ojos de Brujo. Drum corps fans may remember the Bluecoats performing the same piece in the corps’ 2016 program, “Down Side Up.”

“Mistica” will also feature Jay Hawkins’ well-known “I Put a Spell on You,” as well as Dulce Pontes’ “Cançao de Mar,” with Philip Glass’ “Primacy of Number” as the program’s closing movement.

According to Oullette, Spartans’ rendition of “I Put a Spell on You” — which is originally performed by Hawkins — will combine the renditions of Annie Lennox and Nina Simone. 

“Our second movement is called, ‘The Test of Will,’ which is basically hearing voices in your head,” he said. “Do I go in one direction or the other? Where am I going? What is the inner conflict?”

Visually-speaking, audiences can expect a dark and mysterious color palette, with a variance from traditional to more modern design elements. 

Ford and Oullette both expressed significant excitement about Spartans’ offseason progress. For one, it’s an offseason of change — Spartans announced plans in January to operate as a hybrid Open-and-World Class corps this summer. 

But in terms of what’s happening in-house, staff members said Spartans’ audition interest and talent level grew significantly this offseason. As Ford described, Spartans had just under 300 performers audition in 2024, compared to as many as 400 in 2025. Spartans’ pool of auditionees also came from a much larger geographic range this year, signifying a stronger impact for the organization across the drum corps activity. 

All of the above, of course — as well as a significant number of returning veterans — are major signs for excitement. What it means for the competitive landscape of the 2025 DCI Summer Tour is yet to be seen, but those in Spartans’ camp have high hopes for a strong season.

“Every year it feels like we take a step forward,” Ford said. “To me, this year is a really big step forward.”

View Spartans' 2025 DCI Tour Schedule