Raiders Drum and Bugle Corps


The Raiders Drum & Bugle Corps is an Open Class competitive junior drum and bugle corps. Based in Burlington, New Jersey. The Raiders perform in Drum Corps International competitions.

History

''Source:
The Raiders Drum and Bugle Corps was founded in 1990 by George Lavelle, Jr. with George Lavelle Sr., Trent Smith, Clarence Jackson, and Anthony Bestreski joining as members of the initial board of directors. The intent was to provide the opportunity for young people to march in a highly competitive drum corps at an economical cost.
After a year of planning and preparation, the Raiders took the field on June 22, 1991 with a corps of 25 members, defeating two of the other three Division II/III corps in the show. Marching a schedule of local DCI and Garden State Circuit shows, the Raiders finished the season by taking second place in the GSC.
The corps' second season saw a growth of nearly 100% and a tour to Ohio, Iowa, and the DCI Division III Championship prelims in Whitewater, Wisconsin, where the corps placed 19th among 29 corps.
In 1993, the corps again grew in numbers and moved to Division II. The Raiders won the first of seven GSC titles that year and finished 15th of 15 corps at DCI Division II Championships in Jackson, Mississippi. The corps marched DII only two more years, finishing placing 14th of 18 corps at DCI in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1994 and 11th of 13 corps at DCI in Buffalo, New York in 1995.
The Raiders board made the decision to return to DIII in 1996 in order to cut expenses. This move paid off immediately, when the corps made finals and placed 7th of 31 corps at the DCI DIII Championships in Orlando, Florida. Over the following eleven years, the Raiders would make the DCI DIII Finals nine times and, in 2005, win the DCI Division III World Championship.
In 2007, the Raiders moved back to Division II, placing 6th at the DCI Championships in Pasadena, California.
DCI combined Divisions II and III into Open Class in 2007, and the Raiders have been a finalist every year since, except 2018, placing as high as fifth at Michigan City and Indianapolis, Indiana in 2010.

Sponsorship

The Raiders Drum & Bugle Corps is a program of A+ Education and Performing Arts, a registered non-profit 501 musical organization. As such, it has a Board of Directors, director, and staff assigned to carry out the organization's mission. The corps' Executive Director is Harlan Landes.

Show Summary (1992-2021)

Source:
Gold background indicates DCI Championship; pale blue background indicates DCI Class Finalist; pale green background indicates DCI semifinalist.
YearThemeRepertoireScoreDCI Placement
1991Russian Sailor's Dance by Reinhold Glière /
To the Last Whale by David Crosby and Graham Nash / Victory at Sea by Richard Rodgers		Did not attend
1992Victory at Sea by Richard Rodgers54.70019th Div. III
1993QueenWho Wants To Live Forever & Flash's Theme by Brian May /
Bicycle Race & Bohemian Rhapsody by Freddie Mercury		69.10015th Div. II
1994Jesus Christ
Superstar		Overture, Heaven on Their Minds, I Don't Know How to Love Him, Simon Zealotes & Superstar
All from Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice		74.40015th Div. II
1995A Chorus LineI Hope I Get It / At The Ballet / Music and The Mirror / One
All from A Chorus Line by Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban		77.30011th Div. II
1996Sidewalks of
New York		The Sidewalks of New York by Charles B. Lawlor and James W. Blake /
Take the 'A' Train by Billy Strayhorn / Harlem Nocturne by Earle Hagen and Dick Rogers /
Central Park by Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea / Autumn in New York by Vernon Duke /
Manhattan by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart /
The Sidewalks of New York by Charles B. Lawlor and James W. Blake		79.0007th Div. III
1997It Don't Mean a Thing by Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington and Irving Mills /
Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me by Duke Ellington and Bob Russell /
En Fuego by Michel Camilo /
What a Wonderful World by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss /
Air Mail Special by Benny Goodman, James Mundy, and Charlie Christian		79.50016th Div. III
1998A Solstice Celebration /
Winter Solstice		My Favorite Things by Rodgers and Hammerstein /
Sometimes in Winter by Steve Katz /
O Holy Night by Adolphe Adam and John Sullivan Dwight / Snow by Irving Berlin		81.5008th Div. III
1999A Trilogy of
Darkness		Master of Puppets by James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Cliff Burton, Kirk Hammett /
Jazzhatten Suite by Oliver Nelson / Trilogy by Keith Emerson and Greg Lake		84.4006th Div. III
2000Traditions
and Innovations		Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff /
Kashmir by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant. and John Bonham / Sunrise by Donna Jean Godchaux		80.75012th Div. III
2001Pictures
at an Exhibition		Promenade, Gnomus, The Old Castle, The Hut of Baba-Yaga & The Great Gate of Kiev
All from Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky		88.5002nd Div. III
2002BalanceFestive Overture by Dmitri Shostakovich / Masque by W. Francis McBeth /
Fifth Symphony Mvt. 4 by Dmitri Shostakovich		78.3008th Div. III
2003Carmina BuranaCarminua Burana by Carl Orff81.5005th Div. III
2004Adams:
A Sound Story		Wild Nights of Harmonium, Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Harmonielehre - Mvt. III & Fearful Symmertries
All by John Adams		79.6506th Div. III
2005Jesus Christ
Superstar		Overture, Heaven on Our Minds, John 19:10, Garden of Gethsemene,
Simon Zealotes & Jesus Christ Superstar
All from Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice		87.750
88.800		1st Div. III
8th Div.II/III
2006Coast to CoastAwayday by Adam Gorb / Letter from Home by Pat Metheny / Strawberry Soup by Don Ellis80.5003rd Div. III
2007West Side StoryPrologue; Cool; I Have a Love; One Hand, One Heart; Mambo & Tonight
All from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim		84.4006th Div. II
2008Deep BlueSelections from A Perfect Storm by James Horner / Original by Michael Hamilton and Colin Bell86.2509th Open Class
2009Isle of HopeAmerican Elegy by Frank Ticheli /
Hungarian Peasant Songs, Romanian Dance for Orchestra, Sz. 47a & Swineherds Dance by Béla Bartók /
Gan Ainm / Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini		88.2506th Open Class
2010Platinum
Celebration		Celebration Fanfare by Michael Hamilton / Exulate by Samuel Hazo /
Exhilaration by Larry Clark / New Beginnings by Peter Boyer		89.1505th Open Class
2011BlueecentricBlue Shades by Frank Ticheli / Bluesette by Toots Thielemans /
Blue Rondo a la Turk & Bluette by Dave Brubeck / Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin		81.900
57.200		10th Open Class
35th World Class
2012WarpedWarped by Key Poulan82.000
61.050		10th Open Class
32nd World Class
2013The Raven:
A Descent Into Madness		The Raven by Key Poulan84.950
64.900		9th Open Class
31st World Class
2014Seasons of the EarthOctober by Eric Whitacre / Month of the Cold Moon by Roland Barrett /
Into the Joy of Spring by James Swearingen / Kingfishers Catch Fire by John Mackey		69.100
66.250		9th Open Class
31st World Class
2015From the AshesOlympiada by Samuel Hazo / Fanfare - A Vision and A Dream by Ryan Nowlin /
Our Yesterdays Lengthen Like Shadows by Samuel Hazo / Into The Light by Jay Bocook		63.600
56.675		11th Open Class
36th World Class
2016Industrial EvolutionFearful Symmetries by John Adams / Hymn of Acxiom by Vienna Teng / Ballet Sacra by David Holsinger66.825
64.850		10th Open Class
33rd World Class
2017IconicWho Wants to Live Forever by Brian May / Beat It by Michael Jackson / Let It Be by Lennon–McCartney /
Runaway Baby by Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine, and Brody Brown /
Knights of Cydonia by Matt Bellamy / Bohemian Rhapsody by Freddie Mercury		64.975
63.525		12th Open Class
35th World Class
2018Beowulf:
The Rise of a Legend		Beowulf: The Rise of a Legend by Jake Kaplan62.675
60.025		14th Open Class
39th World Class
2019Gateway to the UnknownDiscovery of the Portal, The Conversation, The Veil of Isolation, Teleportation & Our Connected Universe
All by Key Poulan, Dan Bryan, and Travis Peterman		64.250
62.450		12th Open Class
35th World Class
2020Season cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic
2021RebootFeaturing music by Fiona Apple; Vienna Teng; Key Poulan, Dan Bryan, and Travis Peterman;
Marc Garside, Thomas van der Grift, and Sandi Tait

Traditions

The corps song is "One More Time", which is sung by the entire corps just before taking the field.