J.C.'s REVIEW
Our 75th Anniversary Season Begins
December 5-6, 2009
The Kilties fondly remembered the 2009 season and kicked off what will be our 75th anniversary season in fine fashion. We emerged from the weekend poised to build on our 2009 successes, continuing our journey to excellence.
The weekend began with the 2009 banquet at South Hills Country Club. We had not been together as a corps since our big September Great Lakes Brewfest fundraiser, and it was really great to see everyone dressed in their Sunday best instead of in their summer rehearsal duds. I must say, the Kilties clean up nicely :-) The awards portion of the program included the presentation of guard awards by Amber Jarosz and David Tetzlaff, and the annual “Moon” awards presented by Ray “Moon Eyes” Johnson. For me the most special award of the evening was a lantern presented to Joe Fazzari Sr. who is retiring after 17 years in the Kiltie all age corps (Joe also marched in the Kiltie Jr. corps). The lantern is so that Joe can always find his way back to the field and his Kiltie family. Joe will remain with the organization as a member of the board of directors.
The audio-visual portion of the banquet program was next. The “Family Album” put together by Beth Landbo left everyone smiling through slightly misty eyes as memories from the 2009 season lit up the screen accompanied by some great musical selections. Then we all watched the DCA championship prelims performance. All I can say is WOW! That was indeed a performance to be proud of. What a great foundation to build the 75th anniversary corps upon.
That building process began on Sunday morning with the Kiltie Open House. New and returning members met at Gilmore Middle School at 10AM. We assembled on the gym bleachers and corps director / program coordinator Scott Stewart welcomed everyone while 2010 Kiltie Guidebooks were distributed. Scott explained the “Kiltie Philosophy”, which centers on the fact that the Kilties exist for the benefit of the participants. Our intent is to provide a positive environment that promotes character and social development, encourages a deep sense of camaraderie within the group and presents a positive image to all outside the group. Scott also explained that we always strive for both excellence and enjoyment, and that the two are not mutually exclusive.
Then Scott sent the 35 or so new recruits to the atrium to take care of all the paper work details and he talked to the 50 or so returning veterans. He stressed the importance of setting good examples for the new members in all aspects of the Kiltie experience. Striving for excellence is contagious and needs to be continuous. The way we rehearse will help define the quality of our experience so the striving for excellence needs to be innate in everything we do.
Then Scott introduced our 2010 production “A Night at the Opera”. A recording of the show music which was spliced together from original material was greeted with enthusiasm and spontaneous cheers. The show will be in 3 acts. Act 1 will consist of a concatenation of Richard Wagner’s great “Ride of the Valkyries” and Rossini’s famous “William Tell Overture”. The staff has taken to calling it “Ride ‘em Willie” for short. The opening statement will be powerful and William Tell will be frenetic! Act 2 will be Freddie Mercury’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”. This is a piece chocked full of excitement and it should have the audience singing along. Act 3 will be “Bachanele (Samson and Delilah)”. I could almost picture the final power push to the stands as I listened. Then the midi recording of Rick Kirby’s brass arrangement of Act 1 was played. Hold on to your hats folks, Willie’s gonna be taking us on a wild ride!
Then Scott talked about the fact that the Kilties are made up of both performing members and staff members, all of equal importance. He explained how staff members and marching members depend upon one another and how that relationship exclusively determines the success of our organization. To that end, the Kilties have assembled another world class staff that includes:
Program Coordinator: Scott Stewart
Brass: Rick Kirby (arranger), Mike Madonia, Bobby Lindsey, Mike Taylor
Percussion: Jeff Moore (arranger), Mike Mayer, Scott Pearson, Elliott Klaber, Tym Healey, Tim Hummel
Color Guard: Angie Klingenmeyer, David Heraly
Visual: Dave Koelz (designer), Chris Jacobson, Andy Brady
Assistant to Director: Jeff Troudt
We touched on our 2010 schedule. It includes once per month weekend camps on the last weekend of the month from January through April, with an extra percussion only camp January 9-10. Then there are 3 weekend camps in May before we begin the summer performance portion of the schedule. 2010 will include 6 parades, 4 concerts, and 12 field show performances, highlighted by appearances in three MACBDA band contests (where the Kilties are received like rock stars), the Madison Scout DCI show, the Phantom Regiment DCI show, 4 DCA Central contests including our home show and our Minnesota Tour, and of course DCA championships in Rochester, NY. Add in a couple of Raider football game halftimes and our parades and concerts, and our 75th anniversary season will be witnessed by a huge cadre of fans.
From a financial obligations standpoint, we’re still the bargain of the activity at $300 which covers most meals while we’re together, all transportation to out of town gigs, equipment, all but a few inexpensive uniform parts, and housing at all out of town gigs except DCA Championships. All that plus some of the best instruction in the business makes membership a great bargain! Returning members will get $50 off their dues this year thanks to the strong financial performance of the corps in 2009 which saw us retire all debt and come in under our operating budget from an expenses standpoint.
Then we split up into sectionals with the guard taking control of the gym, the battery and pit heading to parts of the building unknown to me, and the brass line arcing up in the cafeteria. Being a member of the brass line, I can report first hand: Staff members Mike Madonia and Bobby Lindsey spent a little time explaining how brass rehearsals will be conducted this year. Then Mike took us through a breathing block and warm-ups. The 40 brass sounded great. I was particularly impressed by the 15 baritones. We’ve had some killer baritone lines over the years, but already I can see that this year’s line is off to its best start ever. The 15 sopranos in attendance also sounded particularly strong with a great mix of returning veterans from past years and many talented new faces.
Percussion numbers were up from last year with 15 battery and 10 pit percussionists on hand. The 18 color guard had a great afternoon session in the gym. The 2009 guard was our biggest and best ever, so it was great to see them pick up right where they left off.
The corps provided lunch in the cafeteria and it gave everyone a chance to mingle and introduce ourselves to the new people. After lunch, the brass line split up into sectionals and the music for Act 1 was distributed along with parade tunes “Scotland the Brave” and “Auld Lang Syne”, and concert piece “Water is Wide”. The mellophones headed off to the band room and Bobby Lindsey had us all introduce ourselves before we jumped into Act 1, “Ride em Willie”. As you would expect, the mellophones have some of the tastiest licks in the tune (IMHO). The chart requires more double-tonguing than any piece of music I’ve ever played and I think that by the end of the season, I will have the fastest tongue in the west :-)
At around 4PM, the entire corps assembled in the cafeteria and the brass line played Act 1. It was met with enthusiastic applause, and I must say, there were portions that sounded pretty impressive already. The brass line has also picked right up where it left off at the end of last season.
Scott gathered the corps around him and pronounced the Open House a rousing success! The next leg of our journey to excellence has begun! He told us that final numbers will be set at the January 30-31 camp and that we will be accepting new members up until then, so get out and recruit. We had at least as many members on hand as we marched in 2009, but it would be nice to expand the size of corps even more for our anniversary. Come on down and be a part of something special! After all, there is a reason that the Kilties are celebrating their 75th anniversary and it has everything to do with being something special!
WWBD,
J.C.
