kentw

To whom it may concern, First of all, let me tell you a little bit about myself. I am a 4th year age-out with the Blue Knights Drum & Bugle Corps from Denver, CO. I played trumpet my first two seasons, mellophone last season, and will be a drum major for this upcoming season. I graduated in 2010 with honors from Centennial High School in Frisco, Texas and currently attend the University of Houston for music education with a focus on trumpet. Upon graduation, I plan to teach high school band in the Dallas or Houston metro areas. The Blue Knights has been a huge part of my life and has completely shaped the young man that I am today. The lessons I've learned and the people I've met are things that I'll always remember. Marc (Sully) Sylvester taught me about making everything you do the best it's ever been done because when your name is on it, it had better be perfect. Brad Toth has shown me that actions and performance are nothing without integrity, accountability, heart, and passion. These are the people whom I have chosen to be in my corner. They are the ones who have given me the tools necessary to not only be a successful educator, but also as a decent human being. I've learned about who I am and pushed myself farther than I ever thought possible because of the commitment to quality education that The Blue Knights have made to all its members. There is nothing that can ever take that away. Drum corps doesn't come without a price, however. As we all know, it is much more expensive to march now than it ever has been in the past. With rising school and living costs, it is becoming increasingly difficult for many people to march - myself included. For this very reason, every little donation counts. Whether it’s $10 or $100, what you give helps. I chose music education because of the enormous and extremely positive impact music has had on my life. I want to make sure I can do the same for others. As I go into my fourth and final season serving the corps I love as drum major, there are still many skills to be learned about responsibility, perseverance through circumstance, and selflessness. I ask that you help support me this summer so I can learn these irreplaceable lessons that will guide me into my adult years. With your help, I will have the skills necessary to pass on this passion for performance and dedication to education to future generations. To sponsor, simply call Blue Knights Office Manager Rosalie Danskin at (303)–777–1937, Tuesday – Friday, between the hours of 9am and 5pm MST and request to sponsor Kenton Wallis. Thank you for your support and consideration, Kenton Wallis kent.wallis@yahoo.com (214)–789–9969

Certainly. I don't disagree. But I think that Bocook was true to the pieces.

Vaughan Willams's "English Folk Song Suite" and "Dives and Lazarus", Holst's "1st Suite in Eb", and Grainger's "Molly on the Shore" and "Shepherd's Hey"? Sounds like a pretty good repertoire to me. Do you really not like those tunes?

Yes. It has been done thousands of times. The show designers are aware of that (Bocook, Sylvester, Hardimon, Prime...). I promise you've never heard Stravinsky like this.

It's pretty strictly Stravinsky Firebird. :)

It's literally NOTHING like that show. You'll be surprised. It's way cool. I've never heard anything like it.

You're missing out on some really cool shows man! They play some great music. Loud, brassy, old school style drum corps. Check out 2010 and 2011. 2006 and 2007 are cool too if you like dark shows.

Corps sometimes keep things hush hush even after they get the rights just in case something with the show design falls throught. "So... uhh... we WERE gonna do this... but... uhm... now we're gonna do this!" How dumb and unprofessional would that seem? Why would anyone want to know anything half-certainly?

Are you aware of who's on their staff?

You, sir, are my favorite.

I think that saying a corps moved up only because one moved down is completely irrelevant. Tomato potato.

It's a lot easier to break into the bottom of the finals corps than it is to keep climbing through and past the finalist corps.

They're coming out of the biggest staff/show design changes in their history. They have more hall-of-famers than anyone on staff and designing their show. They just jumped 2 places, which is more than Scouts did from 2010 to 2011. I think people count them out without considering what they have and what their trend is starting to look like. It takes a bit to turn the Titanic around. In regard to Vanguard, yes. They do have a good staff now. But those Phantom guys got 9th in 2009 because of show design, let's not forget about that. That's a real thing that happened and could happen again. The Coats' brass staff over there is used to getting lots of talent and working with that coming from a corps that medals. Vanguard doesn't get the same kinds of kids as Coats. I wish them the best, but I think the Cradeviliers have 1st - 4th this year.

They had an enormous staff change those years. The staff is the same now since 2010 and they've jumped 2 places.

BK the lowest they've been in almost 10 years? Whole lot of faith in SCV too.

I'm surprised you put Boston so high, especially over Phantom. Quite confident in Crown too... hmmmm... We'll see I guess.

No official announcement yet, Wesley.

Apples and oranges, bro. They scored higher in brass (and everywhere else, I assume) and therefore moved up. It had nothing to do with anyone else dropping.

WHERE ARE CROWN AND BK'S ANNOUNCEMENTS??

What's the Jupiter effect? Boston went up in placement and was beating BK in brass all season (who was on King). Yes, PR and Stars did go down (some taking the record for biggest drop after a championship...) but those drops in placement were irrelevant to horn switching. It was all design based. PR fired their drill writer in the middle of the season and rewrote most of the show. Stars rewrote close to 100 pages of drill before the Minnesota regional. Jupiter horns have nothing to do with it. If anything, BK could move up because the quality of these instruments is LIGHTYEARS beyond the Kings they were on previously. Buuuut, alas, haters 'gon hate.

Alright, haters. I just got back from playing on these horns all weekend. First of all, you really can't make a judgement about Jupiter Quantum Marching Brass from year to year because they change and evolve every year. The ones that BK is marching now are leagues above the less than desirable ones that PR marched in '09. Second, these horns freaking rock. The newest models are definitely a MAJOR upgrade from what we were on before. Jupiter has the best customer service and is totally interested in helping make their horns better with us. It's an excellent business partnership for BK. And I think BK's still on Pearl drums for a bit - Hardimon likes Pearl.

Just got done playing on a brand new Jupiter mellophone this weekend. The newest models are LEGIT. As a whole, they're some pretty #### good horns. Muuuch better than what we've been on for two years.

#trolling I meant who you are.

I don't march Phantom Regiment. But over the past two summers, I could count the number of times I've silver polished my horn on one hand. Windex wipes and a really good polish cloth (I use the Blitz silver jewelry brand) are all you need for a perfect shine in half the time. Why waste EPL if you don't have to??

Best customer service. Cheapest. Interested in designing the horns to meet the corps needs - every year. Sounds like a good deal to me. Jupiter isn't blind to the fact that their horns aren't the best and that they have problems. They are constantly working to improve their horns to MAKE them the best. The crappy ones that PR marched in '09 aren't the same ones that they will be marching this summer.