Empire Statesmen Open House And 25th Anniversary Ball
Rochester’s Empire Statesmen have three events to celebrate next weekend: the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, a two day open house camp to mark the start of the 2009 music program and a gala banquet and ball to mark the wind-up of the 25th anniversary season.
The 2009 Empire Statesmen production is titled Out of Many, One: the American Destiny. The theme explores a wide variety of well known and appealing music, including classical, religious, popular and patriotic selections, which illustrate the rich tapestry and mosaic of American spirit, identity and values.
The open house sessions for those interested in positions in the horn line, percussion section and color guard will be held at Mercy High School, 1437 Blossom Road on Rochester’s upper east side from 10 am until 3 pm on Saturday, November 29 and from 9 am until 3 pm on Sunday, November 30.
Instructors and staff will be available to answer questions and provide information about all aspects of the Empire Statesmen program. Those interested in performing in the brass section are free to bring their own horns and mouthpieces with them. Drummers may bring their own sticks. Those interested in the color guard should dress comfortably for dance and movement exercises.
There will be no lunch break during the Saturday session, so those attending should eat a hearty breakfast and bring a mid-day snack. A lunch break is scheduled for Sunday, so those attending should bring a lunch or plan to visit one of several nearby food outlets.
Regular two day rehearsal camps will be held every other weekend, beginning on January 3, 2009. The first winter performance is scheduled for mid-March.
The 25th anniversary season banquet and ball, marking the formal end of the 2008 season, will take place in the downtown Hyatt Regency Hotel on Saturday. The Hyatt Regency is one of three downtown hotels used by visiting corps and fans during the Drum Corps Associates (DCA) world championship tournament on Labor Day weekend. Empire Statesmen will be sponsoring the DCA championships for the fourth year in a row on Labor Day weekend in 2009.
Since first competing in 1983, the Empire Statesmen have won five DCA world championships, four American Legion national titles, and the triple crown: the DCA and American Legion titles and the World Show Band championship in London, England all in the same year in 1998, when the field show featured music from West Side Story. Empire Statesmen have finished in the top four during DCA championship tournaments for 21 consecutive years.
The Empire Statesmen drum and bugle corps is a self-supporting independent group that represents the city of Rochester across the United States and Canada and as far abroad as Europe, the Caribbean and South America.
For more information about any aspect of the Empire Statesmen organization, call (585) 266-2232, e-mail esmen [at] rochester [dot] rr [dot] com or visit the Empire Statesmen Web site at: www.statesmen.org
