Masters of the Marching Arts
Devoted to the past, present, and future
of drum and bugle corps and other marching activities
This Quarter’s Featured Articles
Eulogy for Jerry Noonan
Francis G. Noonan
23 November 1958 – 24 September 2020
29 September 2020
St. Raphael Church, Medford, Massachusetts
By John Oppedisano
Lorrie, Sean, Sammy. Michael, Patty, and Judy, other members of Jerry’s family, colleagues, friends and acquaintances:
Thank you all for coming, and as is the norm today, for watching. Your presence here today reminds us of the scripture’s counsel, “…that those who mourn are blessed for they shall be comforted;” and we are comforted by the knowledge that, somewhere up above, God is getting an earful of trumpet solos and double C’s.
How do you honor a legend? Let’s start with the basics.
2020 The Season That Wasn’t
“2020, the Movie.” Once upon a time, this would have been the title of a sequel to the film 2010, or a graphically esthetic date of a science fiction novel. More fantastically, it might have been a possible calendar date reality in which we got around town in our own,...
Computer vs. Pencil
The Question: Dear Larry, How do you feel about all the changes that have happened in our lives regarding computers changing the way you write, etc.? I have seen a few of your old hand-written charts and I love the personality of them. Now everyone uses music-writing...
‘Hits and Misses’ in Show Design
Top DCI competitors these days regularly leverage their wealth of resources to put out excellent shows. Over the last 10 years, six corps: Blue Devils, Santa Clara Vanguard, Carolina Crown, Bluecoats, Cadets, and Cavaliers have been at or near the top of the rankings,...
Alumni Corps…Inaction?
In today’s column we will cover alumni drum corps action. Or shall we say inaction? The last time the United States experienced this low level (zero) of drum corps activity was during World War 1! When the war was over, American Legion posts across the country formed...
The Ninth Soprano
A Conversation between Rick Wygant and Tad Faccini Rick spent six years in the hornline of the Garfield Cadets. We all know his distinctive tone quality, as he was the soprano soloist from 1984 through 1988. We became acquainted through social media, and I have asked...
A Salute to Paul Palange,
Designer of the Hava Cross Through
I always wanted to reproduce this ever since I got...
Bill’s Wish
Having been involved in drum corps, band, and winter guard for over half a century, I’m usually pretty good at following orders, but I’ll readily admit to finally having to run laps and do push ups. You see, Rick (bless him for being back in full swing as we’ve all...
Sponsors
Letters to Aunt Mildred
by Rick Connor
Many years ago, I became friendly with a lady at Mission Drums whose name was Mildred. She was at the show with her two sisters, Phoebe and Henrietta and her brother, Phineas. I found Mildred to be an astute drum corps fan who …
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... like the program book boosters used to do!