The Jacksonville Drumline Institute recently attended an out of state event and took home some hardware for their performances.
The drumline attended he Drum Corp International (DCI) World Championship in Indianapolis, Indiana last weekend. JDI performed in the Shining a Light Food and Music Festival on Friday, August 9th and competed and performed in the Soundsport International Music and Food Festival on Saturday, August 10th.
Twenty JDI students and alumni, along with 9 chaperones, traveled to Indianapolis for the weekend’s events. Indianapolis is considered to be the “global capital of marching music.” DCI Championships take place in the city annually in August.
Friday evening’s Shining a Light on Music Education’s Food and Music Festival was born from a partnership of DCI, Music for All, and Downtown Indy, Inc. It featured local and regional ensembles, percussion groups from DCI’s DrumLine Battle, SoundSport ensembles, and others.
The SoundSport International Music and Food Festival on Saturday was an outdoor event featuring marching bands and ensembles. At SoundSport, JDI was seeded fourth in the DrumLine Battle, performing once in the seeding round followed by a single-elimination battle round. They performed several selections from their features lineup for the ensemble showcase. JDI was also chosen as the Unleaded88 All Stars “hype team” to energize the crowd before the DrumLine Battle’s Championship Round. At the end of the day, JDI brought home a silver rating for their performance set and the coveted Spirit Award, given to only one group from a field of over 20 bands and ensembles.
Throughout the weekend, JDI students and chaperones attended the DCI Semi-Final and Championship Rounds at Lucas Oil Stadium, giving the group a first-hand look at the world of Bugle and Drum Corps competition.
This trip to DCI was made possible by a generous gift from the Tracy Family Foundation in Mt. Sterling as well as parents and donors. Transportation was provided by Tim Reif/Timmy’s Travels, LLC of Carrollton.