Reading Buccaneers Drum and Bugle Corps

Last updated
The Reading Buccaneers
Bucs logo.png
Location Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DivisionDCI All-Age Class
Founded1957;67 years ago (1957)
DirectorRichard Strang
Championship titles VFW: 1960, 1961, 1962; DCA: 1965, 1968, 1979, 1980, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024

The Reading Buccaneers Drum and Bugle Corps is an all-age drum and bugle corps based in Reading, Pennsylvania. The corps was a charter member of Drum Corps Associates, and is now a member of the Drum Corps International All-Age Class.

Contents

History

The Reading Buccaneers performing at the DCA World Finals in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 2005 Bucs2005.jpg
The Reading Buccaneers performing at the DCA World Finals in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 2005

The Reading Buccaneers drum and bugle corps was formed in August 1957 [1] [2] by bugler Bruce Englehart and three friends [3] as a parade corps for World War II veterans. A field corps was formed in 1958, which competed in the VFW circuit. The Reading Buccaneers captured the VFW championship in 1960, 1961, and 1962. [4]

In 1962, the corps was composed of a forty-two-member horn line, twelve-member drum section and an eighteen-member color guard. Its brass instrumentalists used Getzen twin-piston horns. Members of the ensemble wore "brilliant blue satin and black" buccaneer-style uniforms with silver trim and black "flat-crowned" hats with white ostrich feather plumes. [5]

The Reading Buccaneers were the last drum and bugle corps to win the VFW championship as the award was retired in 1962.

The DCA Era (1965-2023)

In 1965, the Reading Buccaneers became a charter member of Drum Corps Associates. The Buccaneers won the first DCA Open Class World Champions in 1965. The ensemble has since repeated a championship placement eighteen times from 1968-2023. The corps won the first DCA World Class Championship title in 2022, as well as winning DCA's final World Class Championship title in 2023. The corps has also placed second nine times, and third seven times. It has missed being a DCA finalist only three times. [6]

The DCI All-Age Era (2024-present)

In May of 2024, DCA and DCI announced a partnership to merge and create DCI All-Age, a new class under the Drum Corps International umbrella. The Buccaneers are now one of the inaugural members of DCI All-Age and will compete in the first DCI All-Age Championships at Lucas Oil Stadium in August of 2024.

Show summary (1972–2024)

Key
Pale Blue indicates DCA Open (pre 2022) or World Class (post 2022) Finalist
Gold indicates DCA Open (pre 2022) or World Class (post 2022) Champion
YearThemeRepertoireScorePlacement
1972Blow the Man Down / Russian Sailor's Dance (from The Red Poppy) / Drunken Sailor / Military Suite in B Flat / Fancy Colours / Get It On / The Oracle Speaks / Something / Ebb Tide88.6503rd
1973Russian Sailor's Dance (from The Red Poppy) / Theme from Shaft / Get It On / Verdi's Requiem / Something85.8002nd
1974Firebird Suite / Theme from Shaft / Verdi's Requiem / Latin Boo Ga Loo / Finale (from Firebird Suite)82.1502nd
1975Navy Hymn / Infernal Dance (from Firebird Suite) / La Fiesta / Mambotabo / Latin Boo Ga Loo / Finale (from Firebird Suite) / Blue Birdland89.5503rd
1976Fanfare / Meadowland / Call to Danger / La Fiesta / Drunken Sailor / Bellavia / Russian Sailor's Dance (from The Red Poppy) / Ebb Tide86.7002nd
1977The Coronation Scene / What I Did For Love (from A Chorus Line) / Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me / Another Star / Finale91.5503rd
1978Dance of the Tumblers / Feels So Good / El Gato Triste / Another Star / Finale79.7007th
1979Russian Sailor's Dance (from The Red Poppy) / Fantasy / El Gato Triste / Feels So Good / Procession of Bacchus (from Sylvia)90.5001st
1980The Sea Hawk / Russian Sailor's Dance (from The Red Poppy) / Spanish Dreams / Sambandrea Swing / One Voice / Procession of Bacchus (from Sylvia)91.3001st
1981En Sueno / Star / Sambandrea Swing / Sometimes When We Touch / Procession of Bacchus (from Sylvia)88.4003rd
1982En Sueno / Ballet in Brass / Let Me Try Again83.1506th
1983Russian Sailor's Dance (from The Red Poppy) / March of the Boyars / Sunrise Lady / Let Me Try Again / Russian Sailor's Dance (from The Red Poppy)82.6505th
1984Wind Machine / Central Park / The Captain's Journey / The Rainmaker91.9502nd
1985Wind Machine / Jeannine / The Ancient / The Rainmaker / After You91.9002nd
1986Route 66 / Nutville / Magnum Opus: Man Overboard / Sunrise Lady / After You87.5504th
1987Symphonic Metamorphosis / Cuban Overture / We Are The Reason / Procession of Bacchus (from Sylvia)92.3005th
1988A Russian CelebrationSymphony No. 579.94010th
1989Peleliu / Guadalcanal March (from Victory at Sea) / Victory at Sea78.70010th
1990BatmanBatman Theme (from Batman) / Rooftop (from Batman) / Descent into Mystery (from Batman) / Return of the Rainmaker / Pie Jesu (from Requiem) / Batman Theme Reprise (from Batman)92.2007th
1991Marche Slav / Firewatch / Dr. Macumba / Anything but Lonely (from Apects of Love) / Russian Easter Overture82.3008th
1992Cherokee / Englishman in New York / Moondance / Sambandrea Swing / You Can't Fall Up (You Just Fall Down) Narro86.6009th
1993You're Still A Young Man / What is Hip / The Skunk, The Goose, And The Fly / You Can't Fall Up (You Just Fall Down)84.80011th
1994The Music of "Hook"Remembering Childhood (from Hook) / Prologue (from Hook) / Banning Back Home (from Hook) / You Are the Pan (from Hook) / The Ultimate War (from Hook)79.60011th
1995En Sueno / Oriental (from 12 Danzas Españolas) / Canto del Viento / Navy Hymn / Russian Sailor's Dance (from The Red Poppy)77.50011th
1996Russian Hymn / Hook / Jurassic Park / Asteroid Belt / E. T. Theme (from E.T.)82.40010th
1997Hunt for Red October / Meadowland / Polovetsian Dances / Firebird Suite83.4009th
1998A Russian CelebrationFestive Overture / Gopak / Russian Christmas Music93.5004th
1999Winter DreamsRussian Christmas Music / 4th Movement (from Symphony No. 1) / The Pine Forest (from The Nutcracker) / Russian Christmas Music95.8002nd
2000Holst: The PlanetsJupiter (from The Planets) / Venus (from The Planets) / Mercury (from The Planets) / Mars (from The Planets) / Jupiter (from The Planets)95.1003rd
2001Portraits of BernsteinOn The Waterfront / Slava / Make Our Garden grow (from Candide) / Overture (from Candide)97.8502nd
2002Anthems of FreedomStar Spangled Overture / Appalachian Spring / Flag of Stars95.5503rd
2003The Sea: Beauty, Power, Serenity & WarSongs of Sailor and Sea / Navy Hymn / Drunken Sailor / Blow the Man Down / The Sea Treaders92.1505th
2004Innovations! The Passions of ShostakovichFestive Overture / Fire Of Eternal Glory / Symphony No. 10 / Symphony No. 595.4503rd
2005Variations in "B" - Music by Barber, Bartok, Bizet and BrittenFarandole (from L'Arlesienne) / Adagio For Strings / String Quartet No. 4 / A Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra98.4501st
2006Exotic ImpressionsBolero / Capriccio Espagnol / Clair de Lune (from Suite Bergamasque) / Scheherezade97.2381st
2007Blue EraNew Era Dance / The Promise of Living (from The Tender Land) / Danza Final(Malambo)(from Estancia) / Rhapsody in Blue98.3131st
2008The Pursuit of JoyCanon in D / Abram's Pursuit / Nessun Dorma (from Turandot) / Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 (from Ode to Joy)97.9131st
2009Demons and AngelsDies Irae (from Days of Wrath) / Ritual Fire Dance / A Simple Song (from Bernstein's Mass) / Symphonia Resurrectus (from Easter Symphony)99.0251st
2010Rome MMXPines of the Appian Way (from Pines of Rome) / Games at the Circus Maximus (Movement I from Roman Festivals) / Adagio from Spartacus / The Epiphany (Movement IV from Roman Festivals)98.2631st
2011A Dancer's DreamThe Chairman Dances / Danzon No. 2 / Swan Lake / Mambo (from West Side Story)97.4502nd
2012The Black SymphonyWarm Colors / The Four Sections for Orchestra, Mvt. IV / New World (from Dancer in the Dark) / 1812 Overture99.0301st
2013HIGHER, Faster, StrongerSymphony No. 11, Mvt 4 / Original Composition / Chevaliers de Sangreal (from The DaVinci Code) / Danse Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah98.4301st
2014Break On ThroughBreak on Through (To the Other Side) / Fourth Ballet Suite / Orawa for Orchestra / Heat of the Day / Original97.5501st
2015Twist-ItPagliacci / Palladio / Moonlight Sonata / Going the Distance (from Rocky) / William Tell Overture97.5801st
2016ConZENtric - Mind, Body, SoulGabriel's Oboe (from The Mission) / Equus / Impressions of Japan97.2502nd
2017Behind the SuitMan of Steel / Metropolis Symphony Mvmnt 1 (Lex) / Andante Tranquillo; Symphony No. 1 / Into the New / Einleitung, oder Sonnenaufgang (from Also sprach Zarathustra)98.9301st
2018Here to ThereHummingbird / Hunting Wabbits / La Danse Macabre / So Far Away / Symphony No. 4 / Original Music98.0001st
2019Dans Ma ChambreRuslan and Ludmilla Overture / What a Feeling / Bohemian Rhapsody / Benedictus (from The Armed Man) / A Mass for Peace / Original Music98.2251st
2020Season Cancelled due to COVID-19 Pandemic
2021Corps Inactive
2022Altered: EgoRhapsody on a Theme of Paganini / Serenada Schizophrana / Smells Like Teen Spirit / Shofukan / Spiriti96.7251st
2023Can't Stop Won't StopEquilibrium / Backlash / What Could Have Been99.0001st
2024Hat Trick: The Art of Three
Philharmonia Fantastique / The Hymn of Acxiom / Chorale VI (Sol Fa)		95.9251st Place
World Class
Champion

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References

  1. ↑ "Reading Corps to be at Tournament" and "Reading Buccaneers to Appear at Waverly Tournament of Drums" (article and photo with caption). Sayre, Pennsylvania: The Evening Times, July 28, 1961, p. 3 (subscription required).
  2. ↑ "In Kiwanis Drum Corps Contest" (article and photo with caption). Pottsville, Pennsylvania: Pottsville Republican, June 12, 1961, p. 9 (subscription required).
  3. ↑ Dmochowski, Keith. "Remaining Reading Buccaneers’ founder reflects on a legacy of victory and family." Reading, Pennsylvania: The Reading Eagle, March 31, 2022.
  4. ↑ "High School Athletic Field Will Come Alive to Music: Drum, Bugle Corps Will Be Highlight." Pottstown, Pennsylvania: The Mercury, October 1, 1960, p. 26 (subscription required).
  5. ↑ "National Champion Corps Booked for Valley Day." Hazleton, Pennsylvania: Standard-Speaker, August 1, 1962, p. 7 (subscription required).
  6. ↑ "DCX - Drum Corps Xperience".
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