"The Crossmen" Drum and Bugle Corps from San Antonio, Texas, will be town on Tuesday, July 15, according to Matt McCool, band director.
The high school's new football stadium and indoor practice facilities are providing a unique opportunity for Pea Ridge schools to play host to a group of talented musicians as they prepare for the "Music on the Move" marching competition at 7 p.m. at Tiger Stadium on the campus of Bentonville High School. The Crossmen are a member of the "World Class" division of Drum Corps International (DCI), which has 22 corps from cities all over the U.S. DCI is described as "Marching's Major League." These groups of 60 to 88 people are, essentially, professional marching bands consisting of brass, percussion and color guard. The activity can be described as musical athletic competition.
The participants of the corps are young male and female students ages 13-22 who are selected from a lengthy and rigorous process of musical and marching technique auditions during the winter months. Once selected, the students from each of the corps begin practices at their respective home cities in May creating and developing marching shows of anywhere from eight to 11 minutes in length and spend the summer months touring the country performing their show in competition. This yearly activity and summer competition season culminates with three days of DCI championships in early August where all 22 corps compete in Olympic style scoring for a panel of judges narrowing the 22 down to 12 on the final day of competition in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and crowning a champion. The finals are also broadcast on ESPN Sept. 6, a month after the conclusion of the finals competition.
The Pea Ridge Band is excited about the opportunity to host a marching group of this caliber for the band students to watch and learn from. The Crossmen will arrive at the school very early Tuesday morning having traveled by bus from a competition the evening before in Nebraska. When they arrive on July 15, they will rest in the Middle School's gymnasium and cafeteria until around 8 a.m. They will begin rehearsals and clinics for the Pea Ridge Band students in Blackhawk Stadium at 9 a.m. and practice all day on their competition show entitled "Alma Gitana, a Gypsy Soul" until it is time to depart for their performance at Bentonville High School. The Crossmen practice and rest at local schools all summer long during their competition tour with a performance almost every day.
The new facilities Pea Ridge has to offer and utilize are bringing opportunities for its student athletes, cheer leaders and band members to learn, improve and grow in their respective programs. The band is under the new leadership of Monty Hill, who is already beginning new traditions for the band such as hosting a drum corps. The band students will enjoy hosting and housing the Crossmen and use it as an opportunity to kick off preparations for the fall marching season with practices beginning July 21.
A high sense of pride, tradition and a pursuit of excellence for the band is being firmly supplanted in the band program with its new director, McCool said. The band will host its first marching competition at Blackhawk Stadium Oct. 11. It is hoped to make this an annual event for Pea Ridge and schools from all over the state of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas are expected to attend this event.
The Crossmen rehearsals will be open and free to the public to view at the stadium throughout the day. The Pea Ridge Band students will travel as a group to Tiger Stadium for the competition. The competition will include: Carolina Crown, Blue Stars, Colts, Pioneer, Cascades, Music City, Genesis and Louisiana Stars corps. More information about DCI and its corps can be found at www.dci.org and information specifically on the Crossmen at www.crossmen.org. Tickets to the "Music on the Move" competition can be purchased on the DCI site as well as at Tiger Stadium.
Community on 07/09/2014