2009 Reading Buccaneers Alumni Open House
The Buccaneer Alumni Association today announced the 2009 Membership Open House for the Buccaneer Alumni Drum & Bugle Corps. All persons interested in learning more about the Buccaneer Alumni Association and the Alumni Corps are invited to attend.
The Open House will take place on Friday, November 14, 2008 at Oley Valley High School from 7:00 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. Following registration there will be a brief program in the auditorium. Buccaneer Alumni president Robert Miller will introduce the Alumni Association leadership and the Alumni Corps’ design and instructional team. Members will then begin work on the 2009 repertoire for the remainder of the evening.
“We have ambitious and exciting plans for 2009,” said Miller. “We’re very exicited to announce that our staff will be headed by some legends in the Buccaneers organization who each have made a distinct imprint on the style and history of the competitive corps. Rich Hammond, Lee Umberger, Chris Feist, Josh Decker, Johnny Trujillo and Jay Landis bring a great collection of talent, passion and vision to their roles. Our members will grow as musicians, enjoy the fellowship of fellow Buccaneers, perform a fantastic program and entertain audiences with a great collection of Buccaneers signature tunes. Our 2009 concert repertoire will include classic Buccaneers tunes from each of the last five decades,” said Miller.
Five decades of Buccaneers excellence and entertainment are represented by the Alumni Corps’ concert repertoire:
- 1960s – Beyond the Sea, by Charles Trenet (performed in 1966, 1968)
- 1970s – Bellavia, by Chuck Mangione (1976)
- 1980s – Rainmaker, by Earl Klugh (1984, 1985)
- 1990s – Russian Christmas Music, by Alfred Reed (1998, 1999)
- 2000s – Canon in D, by Johann Pachelbel (2008)
- Chorale interlude – The Naval Hymn
The corps will also perform a variety of parade tunes and Alumni Corps standards throughout the year in addition to the above repertoire.
Buccaneers Hall of Fame member Rich Hammond will serve as Program Coordinator, Staff Coordinator and Percussion Arranger. Christopher Feist and Johnny Trujillo will anchor the percussion instruction team. Lee Umbergerwill arrange the brass charts, and Josh Decker will be lead brass instructor. Jay Landis will be the corps’ drum majors.
Formed in 1981, the mission of the Buccaneer Alumni Association is to reunite all past members of the Reading Buccaneers Drum & Bugle Corps in camaraderie and fellowship, to engage in the parade drum & bugle corps activity, to encourage the growth of the Reading Buccaneers Drum & Bugle Corps, to maintain the commitment to excellence generally associated with said Corps, and to perpetuate drum & bugle corps in general as an art form and entertainment medium.
The Buccaneer Alumni Drum & Bugle Corps was formed in 1987 as a program of the Buccaneer Alumni Association to satisfy a desire on the part of former members of the Buccaneers who wished to continue to perform in the drum and bugle corps venue, but with a lesser time commitment than the competing unit requires. The corps participates in numerous parades in the Greater Reading, PA area and in numerous concerts annually, most notably the annual Serenade in Brass Concert at The Forum in Harrisburg, PA and The Spring Preview, an annual indoor concert hosted by the Reading Buccaneers.
For more information, visit www.readingbuccaneers.org./AlumniCorps.htm or contact
Bob Miller at rmiller [at] horizonengineers [dot] com or Paul Klick at klbunch [at] epix [dot] net
