John M. Johnson

The Sun Devils Drum and Bugle corps are pleased to announce Stephen Porter as the Color Guard Caption Head for the 2014 season. “Stephen brings an amazing artistic and educational resource to our family”, said Corps Director Robb Van Eck, “his background in dance, theater, and entertainment are uniquely suited the DCA experience we are striving to create with our program and the quality of his performing units is simply amazing.” Stephen will be hosting an open house/experience camp on February 2 and March 2 from 10 A.M to 2 P.M. with auditions for the guard on April 19 from 10 A.M to 8 P.M. at Lyman High School in Orlando, Florida. Originally from the Tampa Bay area, Mr. Porter graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2000, followed by two years at Valencia Community College in the Dance Program. While attending UCF, Mr. Porter held many positions: Music Assistant (First United Methodist Church of Winter Park), Dancer (Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom), Dance and Guard After School Instructor (Local Dance and Guard Teams throughout Central Florida), Vocalist (Orlando Opera Co. Chorus), Musical Theatre Performer (Regional Projects-Orlando, Theatre Winter Haven, Mt. Dora Theatre Co., Leesburg Mellon Patch Theatre), Vocalist (Caroling Company Dulgar Ent.), Vocalist (Orlando 13 Chamber ensemble), Color Guard performer (Madison Scouts Drum & Bugle Corps, Beyond Imagination Winterguard, Knights Winterguard, Northeast Independent), Drum Major (UCF Marching Knights for a record 3 years), and UCF Vocal Society President. After graduating with a Bachelors Degree in music education in 2000, Mr. Porter realized most of the performing opportunities he encountered required dance as well as music. After years of dancing in small studios, he decided to back up his technical dance; thus, he enrolled as a Dance Major at the Valencia Community College in 2000 for two valuable years. There, he grew to love dance and learned how much his music background reinforced the way he passes on his craft. Since starting the Lyman Dance Program in 2002, our program has flourished to over 180 dance class students and over 100 students involved in the extra-curricular auxiliary: they perform with the Lyman Marching Greyhounds, who have received straight Superior ratings at every festival attended since his arrival. The Color Guard has been promoted five divisions, and was the 2009 Florida Federation Gold Medalist and the Winter Guard International Bronze medalist. Florida Federation of Color Guards Circuit and organization in which Mr. Porter is actively involved. A successful dance team has been established, and a curriculum has been established for dance sections leveled I-IV. In 2003, Mr. Porter was nominated for the Lyman Teacher of the Year. February 2008 Lyman Teacher of the Month April 2009 Lyman Teacher of the Month Selected by Lyman faculty to be in the May edition of Central Florida Lifestyle Magazine as an outstanding educator. The 2014 Sun Devils are Florida’s only competitive drum and bugle corps and are made up of membership from all around the state. They are a 501c3 and are part of the Sun Devils Performing Arts Groups which includes the Impact of Orlando mini-corps among other groups. Please connect to us on our web page at sundevilsdrumcorps.org or on Facebook and Twitter for information about membership, performance bookings, and fund-raising opportunities.

Let me see what I can do. Late June? 80-85 with lows in the lower 70's. Chance of rain...every single day. It won't be as humid as August though.

Thanks Dan! Should be another fun year in the South!

*****OFFICIAL SUN DEVILS DRUM AND BUGLE CORPS MEDIA RELEASE***** Inverness, FL – The Sun Devils Drum and Bugle Corps is proud to announce its 2014 production, In Fire Forged. http://youtu.be/7x37uM-VZxc Liquid fire, beauty, steel, and unfettered brawn briefly describe our 2014 production. The corps invites audiences to explore the fire and unleash the rage as we take you through the forging of the blade. In Fire Forged will include the following musical selections: Vesuvius – Frank Ticheli Tempered Steel – Charles Young Lux Aurumque – Eric Whitacre Apollo Unleashed - Frank Ticheli From deep within the void Melted, Poured, Molded, and Tempered The Devils find their might once more In Fire Forged

*****OFFICIAL SUN DEVILS PRESS RELEASE***** 2014 Staff Announcement Sun Devils Drum and Bugle Corps Florida’s DCA A Class Finalist Sun Devils Drum and Bugle Corps have announced the instructional and design staff for the corp’s 2014 campaign. “This team of instructors and the creative team is a great family already. We are all looking forward to working with our membership to put a high energy and engaging drum corps product in 2014”, said second year Corps Director Robb Van Eck. The 2014 design team will be under the leadership of Brandon Lesando who moves over from the Brass Caption take the role of Program Coordinator; his job will include supervision of the creative show elements from design to implementation. Anthony Parisi will continue as Drill Writer has the new role of Staff Coordinator. New to the team is Brass Arranger Adam Freeman, who comes to the Sun Devils with a strong background with DCA ties to the Hawthorne Caballeros and Reading Buccaneers, as well as DCI experience with The Cadets and Jersey Surf. Also assisting the corps, David Bolzman with his years of pageantry arts experience and his time with Marching Show Concepts will be returning as a program consultant. Assisting Robb will be Lindsey Brown in the new role of Assistant Director bringing her extensive arts management knowledge and experience with Spirit of Atlanta, Nebraska University “Cornhusker Band”, and area high school groups. Jeff Dixon will continue as Percussion Caption Head and arranger, bringing back his team from the 2013 season. Oscar Escobar is stepping into the role of Brass Caption Head, taking the team that he has inherited from Brandon and Robb. Thomas Baker will be taking the position of Visual Caption Head; he will be building a new team of visual instructors for the 2014 campaign. Sun Devils are currently going through the search process for a Color Guard Caption Head, seeking a team focused individual from outside the organization with a strong Florida-based network of performers and teachers to fill out the ranks in that caption. Full Bios for the staff can be found at http://sundevilsdrumcorps.org

Thanks for the kind words. 2013 was a lot of fun! And sharing the field with our CV brothers and sisters made it that much sweeter. We are seriously looking forward to 2014. We'll have a formal show announcement soon

That is all.

Becks That's all I got

Sideline penalty.

Sat Aug 17 T-Showers High 71° Low 65° CHANCE OF RAIN: 60% WIND: E at 7 mph Let's get the whole show done in that 40% window! Ready?...GO!

WOW! This is great news!!!

LOL! I was like, "WHAT?!" Well played.

Thank you!!!

Thank you so much for the kind words! It is always great to get an unbiased perspective of our corps. I appreciate your time and I am glad you enjoyed our show!

Thank you for your review! I personally appreciate the time and effort you put in to give all the corps some great feedback to take back home. I look forward to reading more of your reviews throughout the season.

We are using the same company for all of our travel this summer. By doing so, they have agreed to lower our cost for each trip. I actually need to write a press release about that because they are really great. Corps endorsement coming soon...

Or from Illinois!

The Sun Devils and the Citrus High School Band are proud to present: State of the Art : Nature Coast Drum Corps Invitational 7:30pm - August 3, 2013 Citrus High School 600 W Highland Blvd, Inverness, FL 34452 For 2013, State of the Art is the only drum corps competition in Florida...period. We are excited about this opportunity and look forward to a great evening. The show will start 7:30pm. This start time will keep the audience out of the worst part of the day in Florida. Tickets are available for $10 online and $12 on show day. You can purchase your ticket at http://www.sundevilsdrumcorps.org . This is a great deal. You get to see every single one of the active/native Florida drum corps at one show!!! (DCI or DCA) Plus you also get a preview of two of Citrus county's premier marching bands! Don't miss it! It truly is the only ticket in town. In Exhibition: Citrus High School Marching Band Crystal River High School Marching Band *New addition! Impact Drum and Bugle Corps Florida Brass Drum and Bugle Corps In Competition: Shenandoah Sound Drum and Bugle Corps Tampa Bay Thunder Drum and Bugle Corps The Sun Devils Drum and Bugle Corps

Cool video. See you there!

Great article!

Well...I'm humbled by both your votes of confidence. I like that we have our friends down the street in Class A now. It does make it fun. It reminds me of CV/Alliance. So you should come to our show on Aug 3!!! And yeah - yes, we post really cool pics from our rehearsals. What you don't see is the "fun" part. Fun meaning the pools of sweat due to the insane humidity. No one wants to see that Here's to a non-existent hurricane season. And that counts for Annapolis too!

Big fan of the new unis

Talk the guys in Impact of Orlando. I think they may be selling some of their G bugles.

13-14 Class A corps?! Wow!!!