European events to kick off fall series of international SoundSport showcases

With successes abound during the return of the SoundSport International Music & Food Festival to the DCI World Championships this past August in Indianapolis, performing ensembles are ready to hit the global stage this fall with an exciting series of events around the world.

International SoundSport events will kick off “across the pond” with a duo of shows on Saturday, September 17, including the Irish Marching Band Association (IMBA) Championships in Dublin and the Drum Corps United Kingdom (DCUK) Championships in Coventry, England.

Saturday’s IMBA event will be the final show of the organization’s season, featuring eight bands at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght, Dublin.

“2022 will be the first year that the IMBA will produce their event fully underneath Drum Corps International’s SoundSport banner,” said John DeNovi, DCI director of global business development. “We’re proud that the IMBA has recognized the SoundSport program as an innovative way to help grow their association across Ireland and engage a variety of new ensembles.”

“With all bands gradually re-emerging from the COVID crisis, we were very excited to welcome bands back this summer,” IMBA chairperson Oisin Molloy said. “The DCI SoundSport model was the perfect fit to facilitate the diversity of performances this year. The appetite for SoundSport in Ireland is evidently growing and we’re very excited to get planning our 2023 season after this weekend’s championships.”

Also on Saturday, September 17, Drum Corps United Kingdom will host its season-ending championship events at Butts Park Arena in Coventry. An afternoon prelims competition will be followed by a finals competition in the evening in addition to a DrumLine Battle to round out the competition.

“It has been mentioned on many occasions that the DrumLine Battles held at our championships have been a major highlight of the event, not only for those performing but also for the audience with them cheering on their favorites and adding a real sense of excitement to the day’s proceedings,” said Alan Thompson, chairperson of Marching & Performing Arts UK, the organizing body of DCUK.

Special guests at the DCUK Championships will be Drum Corps International’s John DeNovi and CEO Dan Acheson who will take part in a “meet and greet” at the event venue to talk more about performance opportunities for international ensembles as part of the summertime DCI Tour in addition to the global expansion DCI’s SoundSport and DrumLine Battle programs.

“The introduction of SoundSport and DrumLine Battle a few years ago has been a lifeline for DCUK and forms part of the package we can now offer units of varying abilities and sizes. We are so very grateful for the support and advice offered to us by DCI,” Thomspon said.

Later this fall will be the Marching in Okayama Festival in Japan on October 10, in addition to the Indonesian Drum Corps Championships from November 24-26 in Bandung, both of which will have SoundSport components to them.

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