DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) - Brass fanfare, echoing snare drums and colorful flags whirled inside Table Mound Elementary School in Dubuque, as the Colt Cadets Drum & Bugle Corps set to kick off its 2017 season, marking its 50th anniversary.
The group, a younger subsidiary of the Dubuque Colts Drum and Bugle Corps, was founded in 1967 as the Legionnaires Cadets Drum & Bugle Corps, the Telegraph Herald (https://bit.ly/2nGV97v ) reported. It later became the Colt .45 Cadets in 1969, and finally, the Colt Cadets in 1976.
One of the few remaining cadet corps in the country, it has been Drum Corps International Open Class Finalists in five of the past six seasons.
“We do what we call ’drum corps light,’” said David Alford, director of the Colt Cadets. “We travel on the weekends, regionally, and then come back to Dubuque to rehearse. And, the past few years we’ve had great success competitively.”
The Colt Cadets are open to any young person in middle or high school, with or without prior experience on a musical instrument. There are no formal auditions, and the organization provides equipment for students of any experience level.
“Being from a pretty small school with a pretty small band and music program, the fact that there is this opportunity to be part of so many people that come together to put on amazing shows is just amazing to me,” said 16-year-old Isabelle Sander.
The sophomore at Cuba City (Wisconsin) High School attended a Feb. 26 open rehearsal at Table Mound to try her hand at color guard.
Dubuque is the smallest city nationally to host a Drum Corps International World Class drum corps, in the Colts. And, it is only one of three corps to support a feeder corps, the Colt Cadets. The two corps work in tandem, with the Colt Cadets grooming members for the World Class corps.
“They didn’t look like kids my age. They looked like professionals,” Sander said.
The Colt Cadets travel about 25 days during the summer to parades and competitions in the Midwest, performing for more than 75,000 people and logging more than 3,500 miles. Summer rehearsals begin in mid-June, with performances booked from late June through early August.
Each year, the group, which consists of about 80 members, caps off its season at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts.
When not on the road, rehearsal schedules consist of a combination of multi-day “camp-style” events and daytime rehearsals that add up to more than 300 hours of professional instruction.
“You might think it’s similar to a marching band, but we do those aspects and we take aspects of musical theater, and we tell those stories on the football field,” said Alford, who got his start with Colts as a member in 2005 at age 19. “We’re not the halftime show. We’re the show. We’re what people come to see.”
In addition to providing top-notch musical training, the Colts organization prides itself on instilling discipline in students who demonstrate the talent and drive to perform at a high level as part of the ensemble.
“We use music and excellence to teach each other about success in life,” Alford said. “While, yes, we all want to raise great musicians, that’s not our main focus. Our main focus is to make sure we have great student leaders who go on to have successful careers in their life.”
Alford said he gets chills thinking of his last performance as a member of Colts at age 21, performing in Pasadena, California, for the 2007 Rose Bowl. The Colts placed 10th that year.
“You’re standing on the field in the Rose Bowl under the lights with thousands and thousands of people in the stands cheering your name,” Alford said. “You bring your horn down and the crowd erupts. Or, when you play this big hit and you have a rest and the crowd yells ’Red Team!’ Your blood gets flowing. Your heart just races.
“I tell students, it’s not a nice polite golf clap you’ll have in drum corps. The audience jumps to their feet. They scream your name. It’s a very exciting and rewarding experience.”
Drum Major and Cuba City High School junior Adam Goninen is celebrating his fourth year with Colt Cadets and recounted a similar experience performing last year at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“You’re in the tunnel and you can hear the drum corps ahead of you and cheers from the crowd as you huddle together and feed off the energy of everybody else,” Goninen said. “You really get in the moment, and being able to go out in such spectacular form is really amazing.”
The 17-year-old said he feels fortunate to have the opportunity to be part of a renowned performance group that offers a rare opportunity for tri-state teens to “try out a higher level of (musical performance) you might not though you could achieve.”
Volunteer and corps alumnus Greg Blum, 56, of Dubuque, has two sons who participated with the organization, one of whom still plays baritone for the group.
“They really foster character development” by challenging and teaching in ways that build confidence, self-discipline and a sense of responsibility, Blum said. “And having an organization last for 50 years is really pretty commendable.”
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Information from: Telegraph Herald, https://www.thonline.com
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