 The Battalion Drum & Bugle Corps logo | |
| Location | Oceanside, California |
|---|---|
| Division | Open Class |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Director |
|
| Chief Executive Officer | Kenton Nielson |
| Chief Operating Officer | Julia Coleman |
| Website | www |
The Battalion Drum and Bugle Corps is an Open Class competitive junior drum and bugle corps. Based in Salt Lake City, Utah and founded in 2014, the corps competes in Drum Corps International (DCI) competitions. [1] It is the first and only DCI-affiliated corps from Utah.
The Battalion was founded in 2014 by a group of Utah-based music educators and professionals who sought to establish a drum corps in the Intermountain West. Founding director Dallin Hatch and others spent two years laying the organizational groundwork before holding the first rehearsal camp in 2015. The corps was approved by DCI as an Open Class member in May 2016.
In its inaugural season (2016), The Battalion performed a limited five-show tour in the Rocky Mountain region. The corps quickly gained recognition for its growth, improving its final score by over nine points in 2017 and continuing to rise annually. In 2019, it surpassed the 70-point mark for the first time. Though the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 season, The Battalion resumed activity in 2021 with local exhibitions.
The corps made its DCI World Championships debut in 2022, finishing 7th in Open Class Finals and performing in World Class Prelims at Lucas Oil Stadium. It repeated this feat in 2023, rising to 5th place in Open Class. In 2024, The Battalion earned its first-ever spot in DCI Semifinals, placing 25th in World Class Prelims and tying for 24th in World Class Semifinals.
Source: [5]
| Light blue background indicates DCI Open Class Finalist |
| Pale green background indicates DCI World Class Semifinalist |
| Year | Repertoire | World Championships | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Score | Placement | ||
| 2016 | Run to you Run to you by Pentatonix & Ben Bram / to wALk Or ruN in wEst harlem by Andy Akiho / Meetings Along the Edge by Ravi Shankar & Phillip Glass / Wayfaring Stranger arranged by Christopher Nelson | Did not attend World Championships | |
| 2017 | Listen to the Silence Original Music | Did not attend World Championships | |
| 2018 | Seeing Red Music by Anton Bruckner & Erik Satie & Ludwig van Beethoven / Original Music | Did not attend World Championships | |
| 2019 | Humanity Shenandoah / Many Languages, One World by Alexander Entin & John Matthews & Shilo Stroman / Sunken Cathedral by Claude Debussy / Symphony No. 4, Mvmt. 4 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky / Original Music | Did not attend World Championships | |
| 2020 | Season canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||
| 2021 | Onward! | No scored competitions | |
| 2022 | Expand Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss / I'm Always Chasing rainbows by Harry Carroll & Joseph McCarthy (lyricist) | 75.600 | 7th Place Open Class Finalist |
| 73.163 | 27th Place World Class | ||
| 2023 | In Our Element Unstoppable by Sia Furler & Christopher Braide / Ouroboros by Zoran Rosendahl / Hypercube by Oliver Waespi | 75.475 | 5th Place Open Class Finalist |
| 74.725 | 26th Place World Class | ||
| 2024 | Dead Reckoning Malagueña by Ernesto Lecuona / Spanish Fantasy Part 1 by Chick Corea / Spanish Fantasy Part 4 by Chick Corea / My Spanish Heart by Chick Corea | 79.188 | 4th Place Open Class Finalist |
| 74.425 | 24th Place World Class Semifinalist | ||