Madison Scouts announce 2010 Drum Major and Horn Sergeant

[lindap]

Knowing John personally I'm very excited for him. Incredible individual, great leader, and a joy to watch conducting. Congrats to Sean as well, he will be great too.

Please thank John for his insightful and knowledgeable dcp post on my behalf. All the best for John and Sean.

as background, i was a solo dm for a co-ed corps 72-75 inclusive, horns and drums male, guard female

then co-dm for an all girls corps 77-79 inclusive; in 77 many of the members were in their 4th or 5th year

the summer of 77 as co-dm and co-visual instructor for an all girls corps during a 10 week tour was good.

To John and Sean. Have a great summer! from linda of the north, a rookie dm X 2 :-)

[chaos001]

John will do a great job. Being around him at the last couple of camps, I can say that he has impressed the members very favorably with his talents as well as his enthusiasm for the corps. I'm very excited to see what the Scouts will be able to do with him in front of them this season.

I think that the break with tradition here (it would a similar break for any other corps, I'd bet) is only going to be as big of a problem as we the corps make it. He'll have to adjust to the organization, yes, but he will learn, he will be helped along the way by the staff and the veteran members, and he will succeed magnificently.

So far, I have neither seen nor heard of any member of the corps who has a problem being led by John after having worked with him.

Regiment has open tryouts for conductors at the beginning of every season. This year, a first year member to the corps will be principal conductor (and the other two spots are also first years, iirc). Two out of the three conductors from last year aged-out and the other one didn't make any of the conducting spots. I'm going to guess that the Scouts, like Regiment, wanted the best man for the job.

Edited December 24, 2009 by chaos001

[TeeDubbs]

If the guy is good at what he does, he shouldn't need to have years of experience to get respect from the members. Some people are natural leaders, and people will listen to them.

Also, I think it would be terribly stupid for members of any corps to not listen to their leader because they're new to the organization. I don't see how that would help at all, and I can't imagine a whole lot of people would think they can be successful if the members don't listen to their leader.

Would members of a drum corps turn their backs on a new corps director? How about a show designer? Caption head? So why is it different for a drum major?

[liebot]

Many corps have had rookie drum majors. This is not new.

[shostahoosier]

I've never liked the idea of rookie drum majors...personally I think its better if someone from within the ranks of the corps is "rewarded" with such an honor as being the member in charge.

That being said....honestly....what is there for the Drum Major to screw up? As long as they can keep time while conducting....there's not much else a "bad" drum major can do.

I've seen drum majors with no skill at all at conducting lead a corps to the gold medal....and I've seen and heard of drum majors with no leadership skills at all "lead" strong corps too.

I've seen drum majors do absolutely nothing all day but read a book or tan in the sun...and then they show up to conduct the corps at the show in the evening.

With a strong management team...most of the drum major's job is done for them these days.

[Cop]

MR. JOHN LEE,

Welcome to the Madison Scouts!

[Bill L.]

My name is Bill Leslie and I am a Madison Scout , Father of a Madison Scout , and have spent the last 3 years around the corps alot . I think that John Lee is the right choice for the Madison Scouts Drum Major ! He is everything that a Drum Major should be on and off the field. He already has the respect of the corps members and ALL the Alumi that have taken the time to be around him at the first 2 camps . I am truly honored to have him as a Brother !

Bill Leslie

[SynthLine09]

I see your point, but other Corps have done this

very thing. There was a DM at Blue Devils (I forgot his name but he

was DM from 93-98) that came onboard with no prior marching

exprience in the Corps. I remember him doing quite well at the position.

I know, I'm not saying that its not possible to have a rookie DM do a good job of the position. I'm sure there have been plenty of successful ones. It still is just a choice I would never make as a director

[TAFL]

When was the last time the Scouts had a rookie drum major? And by rookie I mean his first year with the Scouts. I was always under the impression the Scouts chose someone with a few Scout years under his belt to be the man up front.

My best guess: this kid's real good.

[Dave Scott]

My best guess: this kid's real good.

I attended camp and had the opportunity to chat with John and observe him the entire weekend. He is absolutely the best choice to lead the 2010 Madison Scouts. A very impressive young man in all regards!

Edited December 25, 2009 by Dave Scott