New Uniforms For Empire Statesmen In 2010
Rochester’s Empire Statesmen will be wearing new uniforms when they head to the west coast next July to compete for the first time in California. The trip west is one highlight of a season that will again include serving as the local host corps for the Drum Corps Associates (DCA) championship tournament on Labor Day weekend.
The trip to California will include participation in a field contest and allow corps members plenty of time for sightseeing.
The Statesmen will introduce the new uniform for 2010 during a special evening program that will include the unveiling of the new design with a social event for current corps members, alumni, friends and supporters of the organization. The new uniforms will replace outfits that have been in use since 2002.
About 200 individuals have been invited to enjoy the unveiling of the new uniform, cocktails, refreshments and the opportunity to socialize with current and former corps members. The event will begin at 7 pm on October 15 at The Retreat, on Long Pond Road south of the Lake Ontario State Parkway in Rochester.
Instructors and staff are already preparing new music and field show design concepts to be presented to corps members during an open house on Saturday, November 28 from 10 am to 3 pm at Our Lady of Mercy High School, 1437 Blossom Road in east Rochester. Both brass and percussion sections, color guard and support staff will be accepting new members. The Statesmen’s annual banquet will be held the same weekend.
Empire Statesmen will serve as the local host for the DCA championships for the fifth year in a row in 2010. The 2009 event was widely considered to be the most successful tournament in DCA history, with huge crowds attending downtown individual and ensemble events and field events at Marina Auto Stadium (originally known at Paetec Park Stadium). More than 2,000 spectators jammed the downtown Riverside Convention Center to watch the popular mini-corps contest. On the contest field, Empire Statesmen jumped up from fourth place in the DCA preliminaries to finally pass Connecticut Hurricanes and finish in third place in the finals. The Statesmen had not previously beaten the Hurricanes throughout the 2009 contest schedule.
Other members of the Statesmen organization finished high on the score sheets during the individual and ensemble events, placing at or near the top in seven categories.
In brass section competitions, Jim Steele won the mid-voice category with a score of 93 out of 100. Jim Wise finished second in the contra bass category, with 94. In the brass ensemble competition, a group of Empire Statesmen competing under the name Power Zone finished second, with a score of 95. In the color guard category, Kayleigh Hind was second in the rifle competition with a score of 84. Victoria Falla was fourth in the flag category, with a score of 76. In percussion events, Jimmy Crillo, representing Empire Statesmen and Syracuse Brigadiers, was third in the set drums category with a score of 84. Nick Alcock was sixth in the quad drums category, with 74.
The Empire Statesmen are five-time DCA world champions and have also won four American Legion national titles and the triple crown: the DCA and American Legion titles and the World Show Band championship in London, England in 1998. Empire Statesmen have finished in the top four during DCA championship tournaments for 21 consecutive years. In addition to winning five championships, the Statesmen have finished in second place six times; in third place six times and in fourth place four times. The World Drum Corps Hall of Fame chose the Empire Statesmen as the senior (all age) corps of the decade for the 1990s. During that time, the Statesmen became the first DCA drum and bugle corps to take time out in the middle of the contest season to perform in Europe, South America and locations in the Caribbean.
Formed in 1983, the Statesmen won the International Corps Associates (ICA) championship before joining the ranks of Drum Corps Associates (DCA) in 1986. ICA was founded by the late Vince Bruni of Rochester, who also founded the Empire Statesmen and the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame, to provide performance and competition opportunities for small drum and bugle corps.
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, Mexico and South America. The corps also sponsors the Empire Cadets marching band for city and area youngsters, as a community outreach program.
For more information about new uniform unveiling or any other aspect of the Empire Statesmen organization, visit the website at: www.statesmen.org
