DCI Salutes America Program Showcases Drum Corps Excellence and New Partnership with MENC

The spectacular view atop Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium during the performance of the Holy Name Cadets.

During Music Education in Washington, MENC’s leadership took a short road trip to Annapolis, Maryland on June 20 for the Drum Corps International’s "DCI Salutes America," the opener for DCI’s summer season. The evening included precision marching routines, sweeping pageantry and tributes to the music educators in attendance at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium at the U.S. Naval Academy.

The event was one of the special events of MENC’s Music Education Week in Washington. MENC leaders, including President Barbara L. Geer,  took the field before the competition. They were joined by students and teachers from throughout the United States in singing "The Star-Spangled Banner."

MENC President Barbara L. Geer accepts a proclamation honoring music educators for their dedication to their profession and to their students.

MENC and DCI, also known as “Marching Music’s Major League,” announced a strategic alliance at the event. The two groups will align on projects and initiatives to meet the goals that they hold in common. They will collaborate on activities to sustain and enhance national and local programs that bring to young people the key benefits that come with intensive participation in music.

DCI Executive Director Dan Acheson discussed DCI and MENC working togther.

Both organizations agree that their constituents’ programs deliver, along with purely musical knowledge and skills, qualities essential for the 21st century. As part of Music Education Week in Washington, the DCI Glassmen from Toledo, Ohio performed at MENC’s Rally for Music Education at the U.S. Department of Education earlier in the week.

In the "DCI Salutes America" competition on June 20, five Drum Corps International groups took the field: the Colts of Dubuque, Iowa; the Boston Crusaders; the Glassmen; the Holy Name Cadets of Allentown, Pennsylvania; and the Carolina Crown of Fort Mill, South Carolina. In a closely contested battle, the Holy Name Cadets won the evening’s competition for a dramatic performance of music from West Side Story. 

The DCI Summer Season continues for the next several weeks until the DCI World Championships August 6–8 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Visit  the DCI Web site for the schedule of competitions throughout the United States.

Photos by Becky Spray and Roz Fehr

MENC Announces Strategic Alliance With DCI

Listen: MENC Deputy Executive Director Earl Hurrey discusses the MENC-DCI collaboration on marching music standards

--Roz Fehr, June 24, 2009. © MENC: The National Association for Music Education