Capital Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps

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The Capital Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps was a drum and bugle corps based in Columbus, Ohio, United States founded in 1999, and was a member of Drum Corps International. Although having competed in DCI's World Class (formerly Division I) from 2002 to 2006, the corps also competed in Open Class in 2009 before going inactive. The Capital Regiment was one of six DCI corps in Ohio, the others being the Bluecoats, Cincinnati Glory, Glassmen, Limited Edition, and Marion Cadets.

History[]

Capital Regiment was founded in 1992 by founder and director Rick Bays. Bays ran a bingo operation as a fundraiser for several years before the corps created its first ensemble, an indoor drumline which competed in WGI in 1997 and 1998.

Capital Regiment debuted the drum and bugle corps in 1999, placing 10th at the Div. III championships that year. The corps placed 6th in Div. 3 in 2000. For 2001, the corps moved to Div. II, placing 4th in 2001 and 2nd in 2002. At the Drum Corps International Championships in 2002, the corps moved up to Drum Corps International Division I status. In 2003, its first full year of Div. I competition, the corps played a program entitled "A Brave New World," featuring Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 in addition to several other pieces by various composers, including Alan Hovhaness. After a difficult season, the corps finished in 19th place.

The corps made tremendous strides in the 2004 season. For the first time, the corps played on B-flat instruments. Many new brass and visual staff members were hired, many alumni of The Cadets, including Chad Pence. The corps hired noted Cadets arranger Jay Bocook and Cadets drill designer Jeff Sacktig. The show, entitled "A Celebration of Life: Mind, Body, and Spirit," consisted of music by David Holsinger, reminiscent of the Holsinger shows performed by The Cadets in 1992 and 1993. The hornline reached a full 64 members for the first time in corps history, and the corps finished the season in 14th place.

The 2005 show was "Chiaroscuro: Symphonic Dances in Shades of Darkness and Light," based on "Chiaroscuro," a wind ensemble piece by Robert Sheldon. Chad Pence left as brass caption head and was replaced by Derek Gipson, another former Cadet. Design problems with the show as well as internal issues within the corps made for a difficult season, and the corps finished in 15th place, having been ranked as low as 18th during the season.

In 2006, the corps performed "Life Rhythms: Work, Rest, and Play," a show similar in concept to its previous two offerings, featuring music by Eric Whitacre and Philip Glass. Gordon Henderson replaced Jeff Sacktig as the corps' drill writer. Nearly the entire percussion staff was replaced, following the resignation of caption head Kevin Murphy at the end of the 2005 season. The new percussion staff, made up mainly by former members of Santa Clara Vanguard, was headed by Brian Stevens. Ralph Hardimon served as a percussion consultant to the corps. 2006 was the first time the corps used amplification. The corps experienced major organizational problems throughout the season and finished in 16th place.

In October 2006, an announcement was made that "the Board of Trustees of the Capital Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps has decided not to field a competitive corps for the 2007 Drum Corps International Summer Tour." Capital Regiment became inactive for the 2007 marching season. Although the organization had hopes of competing in 2008, Capital Regiment remained inactive for the 2008 season.^[1] On July 30, 2008, Capital Regiment announced that they were going to be active for the 2009 seasons and starting to accept membership applications, while announcing they would compete in Open Class. In 2009 the corps returned to DCI competition.^[2] In their return season, the corps finished 5th^[3] overall and 3rd in percussion and brass in Open Class Finals in Indianapolis, Ind. They also received their highest score ever achieved with an 89.95.^[3]

In 2009, the corps decided to make the decision to become "inactive" once again.

Show Summary 1999-2009[]

"Pale green background indicates DCI semifinalist. ^[4]

^[3]

Uniforms[]

From 1999 to 2002, Capital Regiment's uniform featured a royal blue jacket with white epaulettes and collar, three horizontal white stripes with silver buttons over the left breast, white gauntlets with black trim and silver buttons, white gloves, and grey pants. The headwear was a solid white shako with a silver chain chin strap and 12 inch solid white plume.

In 2003, the corps moved to black pants. For the 2004 season, the corps wore solid royal blue gauntlets that matched the uniform jackets, though the corps performed one pre-season standstill show with the old white gauntlets.

In 2006, the corps purchased new uniforms, with the uniform jackets "split" down the middle by a strip of black sequins, with one half of the jacket royal blue and the other white. The corps also had one black and one white glove and one blue and one white gauntlet. The pants, shakos, plumes and backs of the uniform jackets were black. All the corps' uniforms were part of Fred J. Miller's Cesario Collection.

In 2009, the corps used the same uniforms as they used in 2006, with some being purchased new.

Traditions[]

Buddha has been a tradition in the Capital Regiment hornline since 2001. In 2001 and 2002 the Soprano tech, Tony Reed, would offer each member a rub of a small Buddha statue he carried with him for luck. In 2003 each section of the hornline purchased their own Buddha statue to place in front of their section during warmup. In following years the hornline members could be seen wearing Buddhas on chains around their necks in warmups. Buddhas are given to members toward the end of Pre-Tour camp. The white beads on the Buddha signify how many years a member has marched with the corps and the blue bead was for those who were ageouts. In the summer of 2004 visual instructor Phil Madden brought a wooden Buddha to the warm-up for the Salem, VA show. This Buddha had been won as a trophy by the Seattle Cascades many years before. Since the Cascades were the corps' main rivals that season, the Buddha was used as a good luck charm, with members rubbing its belly before leaving the warm-up site.

In 2004, the corps performed "A Celebration of Life: Mind, Body, and Spirit," whose opening piece, "Ballet Exaltaire," quotes the Doxology hymn melody. As a result, the Doxology theme was incorporated into a corps song that was sung prior to shows and is still sung today.

References[]

External links[]

• Capital Regiment homepage
• Capital Regiment repertoires at Corpsreps