DCI Archives - Minnesota Brass

Nick Soden (right) performs with the Blue Knights. (Credit: Billy Soden)

As the 2014 Drum Corps International World Championships get underway, Minnesota Brass would like to recognize our alumni who perform in the corps competing this week in Indianapolis. They include:

Alex Cary – Troopers
Matthew Coke – Colts
Bryan DeHerder – Madison Scouts
Ryan Denny – Colts
Keegan Greene – Madison Scouts
Cole Hanton – Colts
Dani Lovitz– Blue Stars
Joseph Mauer – Blue Stars
Aaron Martin – Colts
Shawn Muench – Phantom Regiment
Nick Soden – Blue Knights

Also a special shout-out to Emily Kahlow, whose season with the Colts ended recently due to a broken foot.

These young men and women have applied what they learned in Minnesota Brass and other marching ensembles and taken it to another stage. The best part is that when they age out of DCI, they can still perform with Minnesota Brass.

We wish them the best of luck in Indianapolis.

Minnesota Brass alumni who helped celebrate the Blue Stars 50th anniversary (many also Blue Stars alumni) included, from left, Bryan Borg, Jesse Talbot, Dave Figge, Andy Kuula, Judy Glewwe, Rick Rueckert, Jim Duggan, Kathy Nieters, Penny Pray and Dave Stolson.

Two venerable Midwestern drum-corps families came together recently when about a dozen alumni of Minnesota Brass helped celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Blue Stars. They performed along with Blue Stars alumni from every year of the Wisconsin corps’ storied history and its current members in front of a hometown audience, part of the big DCI show on July 12 in La Crosse.

Judy Glewwe, who marched with the Blue Stars in 1980 and 1981, explained why she had to be on the field that magical night.

“Drum corps has been a big part of my life and has helped shape who I am today,” said Glewwe, who was known as “Judy Blue Star” when she later marched with Minnesota Brass. “There was never any question of if I should march with the Blue Stars Alumni. I just knew I wanted to do it without pausing to think about it too much.”

She added: “I feel like I am part of two big families — both Minnesota Brass and Blue Stars mean the world to me. Drum corps is a part of who I am, and it always will be. …  With drum corps people, there is always a sense of belonging and being part of something big and important. Drum corps members are hard workers, fun and non-judgmental. Who wouldn’t want to be part of that?”

If you missed the performance of the Blue Stars 50th Anniversary Alumni Corps, you can relive it through this YouTube video:

Madison Scouts trumpet players Bryan DeHerder, left, and Keegan Greene meet up with Minnesota Brass caption head Paul Terry at the Thunder of Drums show in Mankato on June 30.

Monday night’s Thunder of Drums show in Mankato offered Minnesota Brass a chance to check out some of DCI’s top drum and bugle corps and even spot a few familiar faces. Brass caption head Paul Terry met up with Keegan Greene and Bryan DeHerder, two trumpeters with the Madison Scouts who started their drum corps careers with Minnesota Brass.

“Very proud to see two Minnesota Brass alums with Madison this year!” Terry said.

A few days later, while en route back to Madison, Greene and DeHerder took time to reflect on how their time with Minnesota Brass prepared them for the rigors of a summer tour with a DCI World Class finalist like the Scouts.

“Without Minnesota Brass I never would have even heard of the Scouts and definitely wouldn’t have auditioned without so many people supporting me,” Greene said. “Minnesota Brass gave me a confidence in myself and in people I didn’t have before.”

DeHerder echoed that sentiment.

“Minnesota Brass helped me get into a World Class DCI corps by teaching me how to play my horn in a way that’s best for a drum corps setting, both in technique and musicality,” he said. “It also prepared me for the difficulty of the drill and choreography. I think Minnesota Brass is the main reason I am one of the better marchers in the corps.”

DeHerder added, “The biggest thing I’ve gained from Minnesota Brass is the support of a family that can help me when I’m in a bind and someone to talk to when I’m unsure of what to do. It feels amazing having that kind of support.”

Fellow trumpeters united by Minnesota Brass: Bryan DeHerder, center left, and Keegan Greene of the Madison Scouts; and, from left, Mimmie Sjöberg, Marissa Moeller, Karissa Olson and Libby Witte of Minnesota Brass.

Left to right: Tony Peterson, Alex Cary, Jess Belcher

2014 Minnesota Brass members welcomed past member Alex Cary back to Minnesota at the Thunder of Drums drum and bugle corps show on June 30 in Mankato.

Alex “Care Bear” Cary is a 2013 Anoka High School graduate who played snare in the Minnesota Brass 2013 production, “Primal.” For 2014 he’s marching with the Troopers of Casper, Wyoming, a DCI World Class corps. After the Troopers’ performance, Minnesota Brass members Tony Peterson (baritone) and Jess Belcher (euphonium) met up with Alex to wish him well on tour because this was the Troopers’ last Minnesota stop on the corps’ summer schedule.

Alex said he was excited to be part of the Troopers organization, laying down beats from percussion writer Paul Rennick. We wish him luck on tour, knowing he will always be a part of the Minnesota Brass family.