Cavaliers announce staff changes

[normy diploome]

McGrath was the brass captionhead when I was in the line at Northern Aurora back in '94, amazing instructor. Even before his time at Plymouth Canton he was the director at Lakeland High School up in White Lake, MI and had them doing some great shows back in the early/mid 90s.

He's also worked with Alan Spaeth and Mitch Rogers a lot in the past, so I'm sure that helped considerably in bringing Dave to the green machine. I wonder how long before Mark Hart's name gets brought up??

If that is the same Mark Hart who marched Cadets with May, Sacktig, DeGroff, Vanderkoff, etc. in the Cadets' sop line, and is the star who leaped fences in Madison for their award winning opener in '85, I know he was doing DCI visual judging for a few seasons back and was extremely helpful to the Open Class corps although he did some World Class shows too. He's a super guy, knowledgeable, talented, and spot on.

[trumpetcam]

Just by looking at the finals recap:

PR 18.8 - Cavies 18 in Brass and to a lesser degree the 18.7 to 18.2 in Music analysis.

PR tied Coats achievement score in brass at a 95 . . .

And really in a contextual way (I know the 2009 year is off as both Freddy and Michael were working in a medium capacity since at least 2006) using their 2009 figure:

Brass:

2009 - 18.4 (6th place, corps scored 9th)

2010 - 18.5 (6th, corps at 6th)

2011 - 18.3 (6th, corps - 6th)

2012 - 19.4 (3rd, corps - 3rd)

Obviously the last 2 years are really what's important here but I think it least answers the question if the Martins can help a hornline to perform at or above the rest of the captions in a top 6 corps.

The major difference will be replacing Musick with McGrath. I think that comparison leaves little doubt in my mind that the hornline should be in more capable hands. Nothing against joe personally but he is incredibly young to have been a brass caption head for a corps at the level of the Cavaliers and doesn't have near the amount of knowledge of David or Freddy. Again, nothing against joe but I think he aged out in what 2007?

Also subjectively speaking the cavies weren't that close in the lot in terms of achievement from my ears at quarters and semis even with PR on jupiters which fail miserably compared to Yamahas.

Agreed. Interestingly enough, after reading bios, Crotts has won 2 DCI Championships as caption head and brass staff in the past 5 years. Had no idea he was one of the brass co-caption heads at PR in 08... seems he's been a DCI judge as well, which should help them out.

To me, that speaks to your point as whether this this staff (with Martin and Crotts at Phantom 08) will know how to get it done. I dont see a lot of other staffs that have this many experienced teachers outside of the top 3 or 4. They should be much improved from day one this summer.

Edited September 4, 2013 by trumpetcam

[Sideways]

If that is the same Mark Hart who marched Cadets with May, Sacktig, DeGroff, Vanderkoff, etc. in the Cadets' sop line, and is the star who leaped fences in Madison for their award winning opener in '85, I know he was doing DCI visual judging for a few seasons back and was extremely helpful to the Open Class corps although he did some World Class shows too. He's a super guy, knowledgeable, talented, and spot on.

That is the only Mark Hart in the drum corps/marching band world I know of.

[Michael Boo]

So now 2 judges who were on World Class Finals panel in 2013 have left to teach corps they judged that night.

Is that a bad thing?

[crownisking]

I'll probably get a lot of beef for this, but I don't care.

I feel like I'm in the minority that actually liked 15 min more than Secret Society. Yes, 15 min is a lot more cheesy, but it was also better performed, and has more hummable moments (in my opinion).

You probably are in the minority but I definitely agree with you. Not knocking the '13 show, but 15 Minutes of Fame was definitely way more likable to me.

[Ghost]

Is that a bad thing?

Time will tell, but how often has this happened in years past? Edited September 5, 2013 by Ghost

[flammaster]

I really miss the precision The Cavaliers brought to the field! They will be back!!!

[Cadets98]

So now 2 judges who were on World Class Finals panel in 2013 have left to teach corps they judged that night.

I know. We lost a good judge in McGrath. Really good. I know it's good for Cavies, but as a staff member, I'm gonna miss mcGrath as a judge. Quality judges do not grow on trees.

[Michael Boo]

We've had cases of judges leaving judging to become instructors or creative consultants, and there are many cases of instructors leaving instructing to become judges. The experience gained from judging is beneficial to instructing and vice versa. People sometimes need to shake things up once in awhile. If and when these latest examples decide to go back to judging, (after the requisite time out from both), they will be even better judges for their latest instructional experience.

[drilltech1]

We've had cases of judges leaving judging to become instructors or creative consultants, and there are many cases of instructors leaving instructing to become judges. The experience gained from judging is beneficial to instructing and vice versa. People sometimes need to shake things up once in awhile. If and when these latest examples decide to go back to judging, (after the requisite time out from both), they will be even better judges for their latest instructional experience.

There is much truth in what you say here. However, the track record of DCI judges becoming competitively successful instructors in World Class is almost non-existent over the past two decades. There is a major difference between dealing with theories and abstracts and dealing with young personalities still growing within a show design given by other adults. This year's switches from judging to instructors are people already well vetted and successful as instructors and directors of other marching musical competitors.

Edited September 5, 2013 by drilltech1