Drum Corps Update - September 2025

Joseph Khalifa
Aug 29
3 min read

Greetings all!

Well, the dust has finally settled on the 2025 drum corps tour, not the season, but certainly the tour. The fleet made it back to California without any major issues, and everything is back in its parking space. Equipment is being sold (lots of flags), and others have been returned to our partners. So, how do you sum up the amazing summer that we had? How do you thank all of the people who made it happen? How do you acknowledge the age-outs and the non-age-outs? Well, I'm not sure that anyone can do a great job, but I am going to try!

Let's start with the corps design team - what a great show that they designed as it was challenging, it was exciting, it was fan-friendly (the most ???), and it was rewarding for the members to embrace and perform. The instructional staff did a truly amazing job of training the members to perform the show at such a high level. The hours it took to rehearse the same parts of the show repeatedly to get them so close to perfection.

The Mushu Crew was stunning as they fed 200 people four square meals every day for seventy-seven consecutive days. They are the hardest-working team in the organization.

The driving team - without them, we don't go or get anywhere. They were masterful in getting us safely to everywhere we needed to be.

The Health & Wellness Team worked many hours every day to keep our members healthy and on the field.

The social media team has one of the most immediately rewarding jobs as they get to take pictures & videos of the corps every day. Now, they do have to turn those pictures and videos into meaningful stories and share them with the world. They often worked into the early mornings after a full day of running with the corps and photographing them to make it happen.

The audio team made the sounds of the corps come to life in every part of the stadium every day. They don't get a lot of credit, but they are some of the best at what they do, and we appreciate everything they do.

The admin team does so many things, so where do I start? They keep track of the members fees paid, they put together the camps and tour schedules including making the arrangements of where we will stay each night, they build and repair props, they arrange for staff travel, they do urgent care runs, they repair and wash uniforms, they do airport runs at all hours of the day and night, they buy milk, they buy replacement air mattresses, so yes, they pretty much do it all and most folks don't even know who they are.

The scholarship team spends many hours reading and discussing so many applications and making the decisions that most wouldn't want to.

And, then we have the volunteers and parents whose houses were mail drops, who shuttled members from airports, who brought us sweet treats, who did errands for the day that we were in town, who planned the banquet, who helped out on Mushu washing pans, pans, and more pans! I really hope I didn't miss anyone!!!

And, of course, none of these things actually takes place without our amazing corps members - first year, veterans, young, old, this, that, and the other, and all wanting to be the best they can be. Striving to do better every time the staff said, “Reset”! These young people are the best in the activity, and I know everyone, including myself, is so incredibly proud to have been able to engage with them this year. They set a new standard for future corps to match and surpass, and it will be fun to see that happen.

For me, I'd like to thank the Mandarins Board of Directors for their ongoing support. The parents who trusted us to take and return their children in one piece. All the folks that I mentioned above and my wife, Roxanne, who supports me every day - I don't know why, but she does, and I am thankful for her love and support.

Next up, fleet cleaning day to wash the dirt and grime off the fleet, and planning for another crazy good year called 2026! Audition packets will go on sale soon, planning for audition camps is already underway, and, of course, tour planning that will take us to familiar places and, perhaps, a few new ones as well!

Corps Director

Ciao,

Corps Director