Oregon Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps


The Oregon Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps was a World Class competitive junior drum and bugle corps. Based in Portland, Oregon, the corps is a member of Drum Corps International and was the undefeated Division III champion in 2004 and the undefeated Open Class champion in 2012.. On January 13, 2019, the Oregon Crusaders informed DCI that they would not be participating in the 2019 season.

History

The original Oregon Crusaders junior drum and bugle corps was founded in Oregon City in 1971 by brothers Ron and David Jones, with 15-year-old David as Corps Director and 16-year-old Ron as composer, arranger, and drill designer. The first year corps consisted of a drill team with drum line, and is distinguished for suffering a bus breakdown as its 40 members were en route to the unit's only scheduled performance. The brothers reorganized in 1972, acquiring sponsorship of the Dickinson's Gourmet Preserves Company and fielded as Dickinson's Oregon Crusaders. In 1973, the corps merged with the Imperial Cadets and marched as the 115 member Imperial Crusaders, but returned as the Oregon Crusaders in 1974 when the two corps split. After the Jones brothers aged out, the corps lapsed into inactivity.
In 1999, Rick Wise inaugurated a corps in Medford then known as the Southern Oregon Crusaders, though not affiliated with the original entity. In 2001, a collection of Southern Oregon Crusaders personnel along with a new group of staff members moved to reorganize the unit. Bill Perkins was named executive director, and Portland, Oregon was designated as the corps' new home. The name was also shortened to, "Oregon Crusaders." From 2001 to 2003, the growing corps performed valiantly throughout the western US garnering the attention of the larger drum corps community despite fledgling membership and shoestring budget, which would including borrowed uniforms, horns and percussion equipment. In 2004, the corps traveled throughout the Western United States on its way to the DCI World Championships in Denver, where the corps won the Division III title, to complete an undefeated season.
In seven of the next eight seasons, the corps competed in Division II/Open Class.
In the summer of 2012, the Oregon Crusaders had another undefeated season and won the Open Class World Championship with a score of 95.250, along with high brass, high visual performance, and high general effect. The corps went on to achieve 19th in World Class.
In 2013 the corps was promoted to World Class.
In 2016, the corps became one of the first to wear digitally printed uniforms with those worn in their production "Hunted," giving the corps the stylized appearance of trees.
On January 13, 2019, The organization announced that it would not be competing in the 2019 season.
Note: The Jones brothers have established an attachment to the new organization and credit their experience in operating the original Oregon Crusaders for their later success in life. David, having been responsible for the corps' travel, today is vice president of a major, premium travel agency. Ron continued in music and is a successful Emmy- and Grammy-nominated composer of film and television soundtracks, and co-arranged the corps's 2003 program "Mysterious Mountain".

Sponsorship

The Oregon Crusaders is a 501 musical organization that has a Board of Directors, Executive Director, and staff assigned to carry out the organization's mission. The Board President is Dr. Philip Marshall. The Executive Director is Mike Quillen.
The Oregon Crusaders organization also sponsors OC Indoor, which has ensembles that compete during the winter at competitions in the Northwest Association for Performing Arts and Winter Guard International circuits.
The Oregon Crusaders Independent Percussion Ensemble, organized in 2008, took first place at the 2009 WGI World Championships in the Percussion Independent A and finished 3rd in 2010. In the 2011 season, the unit moved into World Class competition and has finished in WGI Independent World Class Finals in 2011, 2013, and 2014. Compass Rose, formerly the Oregon Crusaders Independent Colorguard has been a finalist in WGI Independent Open World Finals in 2014 and 2015.

Show Summary (2000-2018)

Source:
Gold background indicates DCI Championship; pale blue background indicates DCI Class Finalist; pale green background indicates DCI semifinalist; pale purple background indicates Open Class finalist and World Class semifinalist.
YearThemeRepertoireScoreDCI Placement
2000Music With a Latin FlairLiving La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin / Smooth by Carlos Santana and Rob Thomas /
Hot, Hot, Hot by Alphonsus Cassell aka Arrow
2001Fantasia 2000Fifth Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven / The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Paul Dukas /
Firebird Suite by Igor Stravinsky
2002StormworksThe Storm, Mourning of Destruction & Rebuilding by Stephen Melillo
2003Mysterious Mountain -
A tribute to the music
of Alan Hovhaness		Mysterious Mountain & Mount St. Helens Symphony by Alan Hovhaness
2004Metro MetalBronze: Ride by Samuel Hazo / Silver: Sleep by Eric Whitacre /
Gold: Tempered Steel by Charles Rochester Young		65.150
87.425		1st Div. III
7th Divs. II/III
2005The Sands of TimeFestival of Light by Stephen Melillo / Vintage by David Gillingham / Original Music by Lewis Norfleet88.575
88.600		7th Div. II
9th Divs. II/III
2006EchoEcho by Lewis Norfleet / Snow Caps by Richard Saucedo / Equus by Eric Whitacre92.6754th Div. II
2007Gates1000 Airplanes on the Roof by Philip Glass / Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra by Ney Rosauro /
Acrostic Song by David Del Tredici / Wild Nights by John Adams		80.7505th Div. III
2008Inner ConnectionsInner Connections by Todd Zimbelman and Nancy Galbraith93.0254th Open Class
2009EquilibriumPhiladelphia Stories by Michael Daugherty87.9508th Open Class
2010Dance of the FlamesThe Dance of the Flames by Arno Elias / Arabian Waltz by Rabih Abou-Khalil /
Of Sailors and Whales by W. Francis McBeth / Hope by Jonathon Elias /
Kingfishers Catch Fire by John Mackey		94.0002nd Open Class
2011The Blue HourMoonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven / Blue Shades by Frank Ticheli /
A Hymn to a Blue Hour by John Mackey /
Variciones Concertantes, Op. 23 by Alberto Ginastera		94.700
75.150		2nd Open Class
22nd World Class
2012Dreaming In ColorSleep by Eric Whitacre / Detours by Travis Moddison /
El Tango de Roxanne by Sting and Mariano Mores, adapted by Craig Armstrong /
Libertango by Astor Piazolla /
Channel One Suite by Bill Reddie / Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin /
Fantasia on the Dargason by Gustav Holst / Rondeau by Henry Purcell /
Simple Gifts by Joseph Brackett / Kingfishers Catch Fire by John Mackey		95.250
77.450		1st Open Class
19th World Class
2013My Heart,
My Battle,
My Soul		Going Home by Antonín Dvořák, adapted by William Arms Fisher /
Summertime by George Gershwin / House of the Rising Sun /
Rolling In The Deep by Adele Laurie Blue Adkins / Jericho by Morton Gould		81.05017th
2014NevermoreMind Heist by Zack Hemsey / Huanpango by Kevin Walczyk /
The Alabados Song by Paul Bissell / The Hymn of Acxiom & My Medea by Vienna Teng /
Nocturne, Op. 33 & Medea's Dance of Vengeance. Op. 23A by Samuel Barber		80.10019th
2015The Midnight GardenCinderella Suite by Sergei Prokofiev /
Lavender's Blue / Who Is She? & Pumpkin Pursuit by Patrick Doyle		78.55017th
2016HuntedHunter by Björk / NO one To kNOW one by Andy Akiho /
Who Wants to Live Forever by Brian May / Knights of Cydonia by Matthew Bellamy /
Death Hunt by Bernard Herrmann		79.72518th
2017EnCompassEnigma Variations by Edward Elgar / Only Time by Enya /
Where The Streets Have No Name by Bono / The Edge by Adam Clayton, & Larry Mullen Jr. 		79.05020th
2018REDЯUMDies Irae by Hector Berlioz / Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste by Béla Bartók
Uninvited by Alanis Morissette / Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns /
Midnight and the Stars and You by Harry Woods, Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly /
Symphony for Organ and Orchestra by Aaron Copland		77.10022nd
2019Corps inactive

Traditions

'''Corps Song'''

"Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen

Corps Symbol

The symbol of the Oregon Crusaders is a green and white compass rose set on a black background.

Corps Necklace

A circular glass pendant depicting the compass rose logo inside of a transparent circle of Oregon Douglas Fir trees, set upon a white to green gradient background.

The Walk

On the final rehearsal evening of the season after their prelims performance, the corps members march on the field 5 yards for every year they have been a member of the corps.

The A-Team

In 2017, members of the prop crew dubbed themselves the "A-Team" due to the particularly difficult challenges involved with the handling of the compass props used in that year's production. They chose the name to allude to the academic mark of an "A," to highlight their exemplary performance and punctuality in their position.

Dave the Tree

At the beginning of move-ins the trumpet section is donated an Oregon-grown Douglas-fir sapling, annually christened "Dave". It acts as their section mascot over the summer, requiring regular watering and care by members and placed on the sideline of rehearsal fields. This tradition originated in 2012 when the trumpet section found an abandoned potted tree at their housing site in Tillamook, Oregon. During the age-out ceremony on semi-finals day the age-outs bring the tree onto the field, where it is subsequently left.