Marching.com News Briefs

More than 30 Mardi Gras parades roll through the New Orleans area during Carnival season, with most parades happening in the ten days leading up to Fat Tuesday. The following schedule lists parades within New Orleans for the final ten days of Carnival. Full story >>

Why is this year's Tournament of Roses parade on Monday, January 2nd? Here's a look at the history and origins of the 'Never on Sunday' tradition. Full story >>

View the performance schedule and free webcast details for the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Bandfest on December 30-31, 2011. Full story >>

View the complete 2012 Rose Parade lineup in order of appearance. The Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade will step off with a fantastic lineup of floats, marching bands and equestrian units beginning at 8:00 AM (Pacific) on Monday, January 2, 2012. Full story >>

View the complete 2011-2012 Fiesta Bowl Parade lineup in order of appearance. The 41st Annual Fort McDowell Fiesta Bowl Parade featuring marching bands from six states, giant balloons and colorful floats travels through central Phoenix beginning at 11:00 AM (Mountain) on December 31, 2011. Full story >>

View the performance schedule for prelims and finals of the Fiesta Bowl Band Championship beginning at 9:00 AM (Mountain) on Friday, December 30, 2011. Full story >>

The Tournament of Roses announced that Iraq war veteran and Dancing with the Stars contestant J.R. Martinez will serve as the Grand Marshal for the 2012 Tournament of Roses festivities. Full story >>

View the musical selections that marching bands will perform during the 85th anniversary Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 24, 2011. Full story >>

The 85th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade lineup on November 24, 2011, features new balloons and floats plus spectacular marching bands. Full story >>

As the fall season for high school and college marching bands nears the end, drum and bugle corps are already looking ahead to next year. Units that compete on the Drum Corps International summer tour will hold auditions for prospective members in November and December. Full story >>

Music for All's Bands of America Honor Band has received an invitation to perform in the 124th annual Tournament of Roses Parade, January 1, 2013 in Pasadena, California. Full story >>

Parents, educators, students and boosters of music education all gain a powerful new champion with the launch of the National Association of Music Parents (AMP). AMP will link parents, students, educators and the music product industry with an organization to promote and support music-making and arts education nationwide. Full story >>

Sandra Kilpatrick Jordan, of Sandra Kilpatrick Jordan Consulting, has been elected to the Music for All Board of Directors. Full story >>

A total of 32 all-age drum and bugle corps, including Open Class, Class A and Alumni units, are registered for the 2011 Drum Corps Associates (DCA) Championships to be held September 2-4 in Rochester, New York. Full story >>

WGI Sport of the Arts invites color guard instructors and performers to Spinfest 2011, a gathering of the best creative and technical color guard minds for an intensive, hands-on educational event. Spinfest will be held September 10-11, 2011 near Dallas, Texas. Full story >>

Drum Corps International's World Championship Prelims will be shown live in more than 550 theatres on Thursday, August 11 when 'Big, Loud & Live 8' begins at 6:30 PM Eastern. Full story >>

Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will visit Alberta in July and their stop will be highlighted by their participation in the annual Calgary Stampede Parade on Friday, July 8. Full story >>

Band directors can expose their students to powerful marching programs presented by drum and bugle corps during this year's Drum Corps International summer tour. Groups ordering 20 or more tickets qualify for a discounted ticket rate, complimentary tickets and additional incentives. Full story >>

Music for All's Summer Symposium is the nation's most comprehensive summer music camp for high school band and orchestra students, and for high school and middle school directors. Register by May 21 for the camp which will be held June 20-25 at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Full story >>

Fans of Drum Corps International will experience a historic first when a new in-theater event gives an early-season look at the 2011 programs of top drum & bugle corps. The "2011 Tour Premiere" will be shown in hundreds of theaters across the United States on Monday, June 20 at 6:30 PM local time. Full story >>

High school juniors can apply for an all-expense paid trip to perform with the 2012 U.S. Army All-American Marching Band at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas. Full story >>

Fresh from a ground-breaking win in the Color Guard Netherlands championships, Beatrix' Winterguard is bringing its 2011 production of Anne Frank to the WGI World Championships in Dayton, Ohio. Full story >>

Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser has joined Music for All as Senior Educational Advisor, Music for All recently announced. Full story >>

LPGA professional golfer Kyeong Bae will play for Drum Corps International at the inaugural RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup March 18-20 in Phoenix, AZ. DCI will receive her winnings if she is among the top 10 finishers. Full story >>

Contemporary choreographer Mia Michaels will present an educational session the day after the 2011 WGI Color Guard World Championships. The event is open to the public and begins at 10:00 AM on Sunday, April 10 at the UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio. Full story >>

Former Arkansas Governor and part-time bass guitar player Mike Huckabee recently launched a benefit album called I Wanna Play!: An Album to Put Musical Instruments into the Hands of Every Child in America on his weekly news commentary show. Full story >>

ESPNU will broadcast The Battle Presented by AT&T each Thursday in November, giving viewers an inside look at the HBCU marching bands from Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M. Full story >>

Winter Guard International has created a new series of regional Elite Events providing championship-style experiences for guard and percussion units. Full story >>

DeMoulin Brothers & Co. has announced that Michael Gray has joined the DeMoulin design team. Full story >>

Drum Corps International has announced changes to the format of events during World Championship week in 2011, and the addition of a handful of experimental drum corps events featuring the top eight finishing corps from 2010. Full story >>

University of Massachusetts officials announced that legendary band director George N. Parks passed away Thursday night while traveling with the UMass Minuteman Marching Band. Full story >>

Drumline LIVE, a theatrical stage show featuring the marching band traditions of America's top Historically Black Colleges and Universities, is set to kick off its 2010-2011 tour which will include performances in more than 65 cities from coast to coast. Full story >>

Adest Musica, the internationally known drum and show band from The Netherlands, will join bands from around the world in October 2010 for the World Band Festival in Luzern, Switzerland. Full story >>

After conducting summer camps in Illinois for nearly two decades, Music for All will relocate its annual summer symposium for instrumental music students and teachers to Ball State beginning in 2011. Full story >>

Music for All and the Pasadena Tournament of Roses have announced a partnership granting the winner of the Bands of America Grand National Championship an invitation to appear in the Tournament of Roses Parade, starting with the 2010 champion for the 2012 parade. Full story >>

A towering new 35-foot sculpture commissioned by Atlanta's Public Arts Program pays tribute to Cleopas Redwood Johnson Jr., the late director of the Morris Brown College Band. Full story >>

The 9th Annual Tipitina's Foundation Instruments A Comin' benefit concert and battle of the bands will be held Monday, April 26, 2010, at the original Tipitina's Uptown music venue in New Orleans. Proceeds from past Instruments A Comin' events have provided more than $2.2 million in musical instruments that are now being used in 60 New Orleans-area schools. Full story >>

Five years after the initial printing of A History of Drum & Bugle Corps, Volume 1 sold out, copies will once again be available for a limited time. Full story >>

Marching.com is celebrating a milestone in 2010, and we're starting by saying thanks. Full story >>

Author Gregory M. Kuzma captured a summer on the practice field in his nonfiction book, On the Field from Denver, Colorado ... The Blue Knights! The memoir is Kuzma's reflection of his drum corps summer of '94 when he played mellophone with the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps. Full story >>

Marching.com has joined the SupportMusic Coalition, a public service led by U.S.-based NAMM and MENC, that seeks to strengthen community commitment and support for quality music education in schools. Full story >>

WGI has established the Instructor Registry, a new online service to provide education materials to color guard and indoor drumline instructors. The service is offered free of charge and can be accessed by simply registering for an account. Full story >>

HaMaR Percussion Publications invites composers from all genres of music to submit original works for publishing consideration. Full story >>

The Calgary Stampede has been sanctioned to host the 2012 World Association of Marching Show Bands (WAMSB) World Championship July 7-10, 2012, in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the Calgary Stampede. The committee anticipates hosting between 30 and 50 marching show bands from around the world. Full story >>

With the introduction of new drum major and auxiliary podiums, Wenger Corp. is expanding its OnBoard product family of specialized equipment for marching bands, drum corps and similar groups. Full story >>

Music for All announced that Anthony Maiello, Robert Reynolds and Scott McCormick will be inducted into the Bands of America Hall of Fame at the Music for All National Festival on March 6, 2010. Full story >>

The United States Postal Service has issued a commemorative stamp in four designs celebrating Thanksgiving Day parades and prominently featuring a marching band. Full story >>

A new documentary takes viewers behind the scenes as students pursue their dream of playing for the celebrated Penn State college marching band. Full story >>

Journalist Colt Foutz has written an in-depth book that serves as a biography of Cavaliers founder Don Warren and a comprehensive history of the Cavaliers Drum & Bugle Corps. Full story >>

A new piece of color guard equipment is generating enthusiastic buzz among instructors and performers. The "Air Blade" spins similar to a rifle but has an unmistakable modern design. The new product was launched in May 2008 and is already being used by several World Class drum and bugle corps on the DCI summer tour. Full story >>

A new book offers a rare opportunity for band directors to learn techniques that were used in one of America's most successful marching band programs. In The Dynamic Marching Band, Wayne Markworth draws on 35 years as director of bands at Centerville H.S. in Ohio to create a how-to manual covering a broad range of topics related to preparing a marching band. Full story >>

Music For All has created the Patrick John Hughes Parent/Booster Award to annually recognize extraordinary support, involvement and contributions of music parents and boosters. Patrick John Hughes is the father of Patrick Henry Hughes, a remarkable young man who participates in marching band even though he was born without eyes and without the ability to fully straighten his arms and legs. Full story >>

Author Courtney Brandt has published The Line, the first book in her series of young-adult novels. Brandt hopes the books will shed more light on the marching band experience. Full story >>