Bluecoats Announce 2007 Design Team
Coming on the heals of their record-breaking 4th place finish at the 2006 Drum Corps International World Championships in Madison, WI, the Bluecoats are working hard behind-the-scenes in pursuit of their goal of constant improvement. To this end, the corps is proud to announce its 2007 Design Team.
New to the team in 2007 are visual coordinator Tim Fairbanks and color guard designer Byron Valentine. Tim Fairbanks is well known in the activity for his role as the visual mastermind behind the RhythmX Indoor Percussion Ensemble from Columbus, OH, a perennial competitor for the WGI indoor percussion world championship. In addition, he was a visual designer for Aimachi, the 2006 WGI Bronze medal winning indoor percussion ensemble from Nagoya, Japan. Tim is a highly sought after drill designer, staging specialist and show designer for many marching bands, indoor percussion ensembles and indoor colorguards. He is also currently the Percussion Director at Centerville High School (OH), where he is involved in both the musical and visual design of their indoor percussion ensemble and marching band.
Although 2007 will be Byron Valentine’s third season with the Bluecoats, this will be his first year as a member of the design team. Byron began his color guard career performing with the Infiniti Winterguard and Carolina Crown Drum & Bugle Corps. He then moved to Ohio to perform with the Crown World Guard as well as the Pride of Cincinnati. Byron now serves as the assistant director and head designer for Centerville High School’s indoor and outdoor color guard programs.
Returning to the corps’ design staff are program coordinator Drew Shanefield, and music designers Mike McIntosh (music coordinator and battery percussion arranger), Tom Rarick (front ensemble arranger), and Doug Thrower (brass arranger). Bret Kuhn (program consultant) will also return in 2007 to assist in the design of the musical program. Visual designers Mitch Rogers (drill designer) and Jamie Oakley (color guard designer and caption head) will work along side Tim and Byron to design the 2007 visual program.
The Bluecoats Design Team is already hard at work discussing exciting possibilities for the corps’ 2007 program. Stay tuned to Bluecoats.com for more exciting announcements regarding the 2007 Bluecoats!
