Orrville welcoming back Heartland Drum Corps show
One of the groups performing at the Heartland Drum and Bugle Corps competition is Rogues Hollow Regiment, which is an All-Age Class competitive marching group from Doylestown and two-time Drum and Bugle Corps world champions. The competition will be July 28 at Orrville High’s Red Rider Stadium.
On Sunday, July 28, Orrville will host, for the second year in a row, an array of Drum Corps International groups, all of whom will compete in the Heartland Drum and Bugle Corps competition to be held at Orrville High School’s Red Rider Stadium.
The event will begin at 6 p.m. and will feature seven different corps groups from across the country and Canada.
“Drum Corps International has many different competitive classes including World Class, Open Class, All-Age Class, International Class and SoundSport,” said Chris Jones, Orrville City Schools music teacher and the coordinator of the event. “The two competitive classes featured in this competition include Open Class, which is composed of corps with younger participants, typically age 13-22, and often has an abbreviated tour schedule compared to other groups.
“The other competition group for this event is All-Age Class, a designation that is the result of a partnership between two different drum corps groups, DCI and (Drum Corps Associates). All-Age Class groups also typically perform only on weekends.”
Many of the individuals involved in DCI pay for the privilege of being part of such a group, often at an extraordinary personal expense.
All of the groups that are part of the competition are governed by Drums Corps International and compete as independent nonprofit organizations. The groups begin weekend camps typically in November in order to recruit and audition new members.
Throughout the summer the groups dedicate themselves to rehearsing and presenting an 11-minute show on a football field marked with college-level hash marks. A DCI show is different from a typical marching band halftime show.
“DCI is often referred to as marching band on steroids and is a unique and intense variation of performance art,” Jones said. “It is often described as a captivating blend of Broadway musical and marching band show.”
The instrumentation for a DCI group is a bit different than a typical marching band and involves various brass instruments (trumpets, mellophones, baritones, euphoniums, contras), a front ensemble (drum set, xylophones, marimbas), and twirling and spinning flags, rifles, and sabers, all happening while the group marches in intricate formations. There are no woodwind instruments.
One of the groups performing at the Orrville competition is Rogues Hollow Regiment, which is an All-Age Class competitive marching group from Doylestown. The group was formed in May 2015 by alumni, staff and students from the Chippewa High School marching band. At one time there were as many as 12 students from Orrville High School in the regiment, and currently, there are six Orrville High School band alumni in the group, with three Orrville High School band alumni among the group’s staff and creative team.
Among the group’s many accolades, Rogues Hollow Regiment is the two-time Drum and Bugle Corps world champions. The other seven groups competing in the event include one from Canada, two from Ohio and groups from four other states.
Reserved seat tickets for the show are $20, and general admission tickets are $15. Tickets can be purchased in advance, online or at the gate.
The event includes many community partners, all working together to make sure the show is a success. The Orrville Area Boys & Girls Club and Orrville Elementary School are both opening their doors to house members of the various corps. There also is a need for volunteers to assist in the event. If able to volunteer, email the event coordinator at DCIOrrville@gmail.com.