Composers and Drum Corps

[N.E. Brigand]

Johan de Meij was in the audience for the 1999 Finals, when Cadets played his Symphony No. 2 "The Big Apple". Last year, I saw him conduct his Symphony No. 1 "The Lord of the Rings" (at a concert for that work's 25th anniversary), and I got to ask him about the Cadets' show at a dinner following the concert. He said that whlie he was impressed by the talent on view in drum corps, he doesn't enjoy how pieces are rearranged for this medium.

[fsubone]

Wasn't Frederick Fennell involved in 2001 or 2002? I think he did something for the full corps retreat and conducted them.

[Michael Boo]

Wasn't Frederick Fennell involved in 2001 or 2002? I think he did something for the full corps retreat and conducted them.

Dr. Fennell was a friend and I was able to get DCI to invite him, and was his transportation in Buffalo. There are two articles I wrote about that were published on another website. If you e-mail me, I'll send you the links.

[Liahona]

I remember reading once that Berstein may have heard the then Garfield Cadets version of West Side Story and that Chuck Mangione had got involved with the Blue devils when they played Legend of the One Eyed Sailor. I was curious whether any other composers had heard Drum Corps renditions of their pieces and had given an opinion on the arrangement.

I seem to recall Jennifer Higdon who composed Concerto for Orchestra spent some time with BAC in 2006 and acknowledged what a privilege it was for her that they were playing her music.

[DrumManTx]

I seem to recall Jennifer Higdon who composed Concerto for Orchestra spent some time with BAC in 2006 and acknowledged what a privilege it was for her that they were playing her music.

Really enjoy that show, those 2002 - 2007 drumlines were killer as well.

[jjeffeory]

David Maslanka got involved with Cavies once ... and not in a good way, IIRC

Conversely, a composer who is happy with what the Cavaliers have done with their music.

[jjeffeory]

Holsinger with the Cadets

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Holsinger

Holsinger's works have been very popular in the world of drum and bugle corps since the 1987 Cavaliers (3rd place) first put "Liturgical Dances" on the field. In 1993 Holsinger — himself a former marching band director — spent time with the Cadets to help them understand the music they were portraying with To Tame the Perilous Skies (1992 Cadets, 2nd place). Other performances include: Prelude and Rondo (1981 Southwind), At the Strongholds of En Gedi (2000 Seattle Cascades), In the Spring, When Kings go off to War and On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss (Both 1993 Cadets, 1st place), Symphonia Resurrectus from Easter Symphony) (2002 Spirit and 2003 Magic of Orlando), The Symphonic Cantata (1993 The Cavaliers, 5th place), Abram's Pursuit (2001 Seattle Cascades, 2003 Magic of Orlando), as well as Battle Music (2007 Bluecoats, 7th place) and Scootin' on Hard Rock (2012 Fusion Core, 9th place DCA). Many of his works have been performed by Junior (DCI) and Senior (DCA) corps frequently since 1981.

Edited April 29, 2014 by jjeffeory

[jbeatty89]

I recall Boston went down to a pre show to play for Pat Metheny and he had them play for the crowd as a warm up to his show? Of course this was the year they played his music.

This really happened and you saw it? Or just something you heard from some guy, who's sister was in the pit the year after it happened?

James Beatty

[mingusmonk]

Mackey's nice blog entry about attending 2005 DCI San Antonio Regional (which included 2 performances of his works).

http://ostimusic.com/blog/march-march-march-2/

And his blog entry about attending 2007 semi's. None of his works included. The following year was what you might call a breakout year of Mackey music in drum corps.

http://ostimusic.com/blog/drum-corps-semis-2007/

Edited April 29, 2014 by mingusmonk

[freakyswotboy]

Call me naive, but why would composers hate drum corps performing their music which increases its exposure to a wider audience. I understand there may be difficulties with copyright or royalties.