Star of Indiana 1994

[Paisius]

Way back when I first joined DCP, I remember having a conversation via PM with an alumnus of Star of Indiana who marched 90-93 and had eligibility for the 1994 season. At some point I asked if Star had planned a show for 1994, and to my surprise he said yes.

The show in question would have been Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. Now, I'm left to ponder what could have been with Star's brassline. The rhythmic complexity and subtle edge of medea, with the melodic power of 1990 and 91 in one show.

Anyone have any comment? Former Star Alums are welcome to chime in.

I can tell you I was personally heartbroken to find out they weren't fielding a corp that year. I had been absolutely obsessed with the 93 show especially. I marched in 94 and to find out I wasn't going to get to see them was devastating. I still have fantasies that one day they will return to DCI. Stranger things have happened.

Edited June 29, 2010 by Paisius

[Blake13]

That would have been a Blast, huh ?

haha i see what you did there

[Medeabrass]

Way back when I first joined DCP, I remember having a conversation via PM with an alumnus of Star of Indiana who marched 90-93 and had eligibility for the 1994 season. At some point I asked if Star had planned a show for 1994, and to my surprise he said yes.

The show in question would have been Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. Now, I'm left to ponder what could have been with Star's brassline. The rhythmic complexity and subtle edge of medea, with the melodic power of 1990 and 91 in one show.

Anyone have any comment? Former Star Alums are welcome to chime in.

I had this very conversation with some alumni at our last camp. I don't get as much of a sick feeling anymore as I used to when I would consider this "what if" scenario.

I think Star was poised to have a great corps in '94. I think they were only losing 3 or 4 age-outs in the battery. The entire lead bari line sans 1 were rookies and that 1 guy would've aged out in 94. There were some key longtime members aging out in '93 but in many ways, that drum corps was young. We definitely had a lot of very talented rookies. Even though we had some spectacular corps in the '90's, I think '93 was the first year that all captions were finally firing on all cylinders. The synergy was, well, a blast. Also, I think we finally got our individual technique down in '93 (I always thought we needed work in this area) and of course, there's no question that we finally got the right guard staff in place and had our best guard.

And yes, I had heard Rite of Spring was being considered. In '94, I remember our horn sergeant pondering a possible juxtaposition of Rite of Spring and Appalachian Spring, but I think that might've have just been his idea.

Oh well...at least somebody's using our corps hall now. Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda...grrr

Edited June 29, 2010 by Medeabrass

[Medeabrass]

Based on what I have heard first hand and other sources from Star, before the 1993 season they signed a letter of intent with Canadian Brass.

From Star's site:

"Star's association with the Canadian Brass in 1993 was the year of Star's swan song. In the early spring, Star, Glassmen, Chicago Vanguard, and Pioneers gave a stand still performance at Indiana University's Auditorium in Bloomington. The night before, all of the corps attended a performance of the Canadian Brass ensemble; the auditorium was filled and the crowd received them with the enthusiasm of brass music lovers. That evening, Jim and I had been invited to a reception for the five CB which was hosted by Harvey Phillips, Dr. Tuba Santa. During a conversation, Chuck Dahlenbach of CB asked us if he and two other CBers could stay over and watch our drum corps show on Sunday afternoon. He didn't need to ask; we would have begged him to do it. In any event, they attended the performance, and afterward Chuck broached the subject of how Star could participate with them. The following Monday Chuck called to ask if some of Star's percussionists could play on their 'Broadway' CD. During the time of the recording, ideas started to develop; several weeks later, we met Chuck and Gene Watts in Florida and began discussions on how we could perform together. At the time, I did not believe that the corps could learn two hours of music and play it with the precision necessary to satisfy audiences that had very high expectations. But Jim, Gene, and Chuck thought otherwise. In June we signed a letter of intent which resulted in a contract that was signed in September."

Close the topic please.

Yes, this was signed before the season started in '93, but from what I've heard, the staff was usually considering atleast tabling ideas 2 winters in advance.

[WoobieATL]

I heard La Fiesta Mexicana was being considered.

Signed,

The sans Lead Baritone that did age out in 94....in an arena.

[SACMellos2010]

Booooooooooooooooo boooooooooooooooooo Star of Indiana boooooooooooo booooooooooo!! There you guys should feel just like the old days now:)

Just kidding of course but I just had to do that today!!

[WoobieATL]

Ah, the memories of Preview of Champions at Vanderbilt in 1992 is rapidly coming back to me...

Edited June 30, 2010 by WoobieATL

[mchromik]

At least at the following year at Preview of Champions in Yypsi, there was more of a stunned silence as I recall.

Strange, but I seem to remember more boo birds in 91' then any other time. Maybe I just became indifferent to them after that. That season I watched a women in a Madison shirt stand up and flip off the corps at retreat and stomp down the stairs after scores where announced in Centerville. I've never seen anything like that since.

As to the topic, I remember hearing Rite of Spring and La Fiesta Mexicana both bantered about at the time. More the later.

Edited June 30, 2010 by mchromik

[84BDsop]

That season I watched a women in a Madison shirt stand up and flip off the corps at retreat and stomp down the stairs after scores where announced in Centerville.

That's just ######## sour grapes....you would never have seen that from me, not even for a program I didn't enjoy very much relative to the rest. (88...probably my least fave of the 9 programs Star put out)

I didn't even do something like that for Cadets 07...any my thoughts on THAT program were well known here....I just didn't applaud or stand up (although certain sections of that program were great -- the parts where they weren't talking so much, and my GOD they were loud).

You don;tlike a program or a corps winning, fine...but don't be such a ######### that you start flipping off the members.

[Room_101]

You don;tlike a program or a corps winning, fine...but don't be such a ######### that you start flipping off the members.

The irony here is that, of the two drum corps people that have done this to me throughout history, BOTH of them were Blue Devils!

Back on topic, I think it would be interesting to hear Rite of Spring. I'm not sure how well it would translate to the field. I have a feeling they would have to stick with the more "fan-friendly" sections, simply because so many sections of it would be all but impossible on the marching field.