Frontier Drum and Bugle Corps
Frontier Drum and Bugle Corps is an all age Drum Corps Associates Open Class summer drum and bugle corps based in Dallas, Texas (USA).
Frontier operates under the umbrella of the Frontier Performing Arts Association (FPAA)1, which, in addition to Frontier, operates Texas Independent Winterguard2, Open Range brass ensemble3, the Sky Ryders Alumni Drum and Bugle Corps4, and Outlaw mini-corps5. Also in development are the Frontier Cadets Corps for youths aged 8-146 and a general-purpose solo and small ensemble group called Frontier Degüello7. FPAA is sponsored by Lone Star Percussion8.
About
Uniform
In its first two years, the corps uniform consisted of khaki pants and tops with a black belt and cross-belt, a uniform reminiscent of the 27th Lancers. For 2007, Frontier will debut a new chocolate and crimson uniform with brass and white highlights.
Instrumentation
The hornline performs using bugles, valved bell-front brass instruments traditionally pitched in the key of G.
Repertoires
Frontier has programmed music from a wide variety of musical genres, including jazz, classical, Broadway, folk, and movie tunes9.
The 2007 show is entitled 1968 and features selections from "Aquarius" from the musical Hair, Music for Prague 1968 by Karel Husa, the theme from the film The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, "Spinning Wheel" by David Clayton-Thomas made famous by Blood, Sweat & Tears, Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water", and "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf.
Logo
The corps logo is the word Frontier with a shooting star crossing it from left to right. The logo colors suggest a frontier sunset: a dark orange sun under a darkening blue sky. The corps song is Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me by Elton John.
Members
Frontier's membership draws on a large population of displaced drum corps veterans, but welcomes adults with any musical and/or visual experience. Members come from as near as the Dallas metro area and other parts of Texas to as far as Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, and Louisiana. The corps continues to grow in size and mature in quality, and expects to have nearly 80 performing members for the 2007 season.
Scope
Frontier is an associate member of DCA and a charter member of DCA-Central. Frontier is also lending support to help establish Masquerade Drum and Bugle Corps10 in Ruston, Louisiana, Crosswinds Drum and Bugle Corps11 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and other all-age drum corps in the south and southwestern United States.
History
Frontier was formed in the fall of 2004 by executive director Chris Green.
In the arts world, Frontier has enjoyed a close relationship with the world famous Turtle Creek Chorale men’s chorus, performing in several concerts and television broadcasts. With the Chorale, corps members participated in recording sessions for the nationally-distributed compact disk "Songs of Our Nation" 12, an award-winning documentary entitled ”Power of Harmony” 13, as well as the 2006 Christmas concert.
In 2005, the corps performed in the first annual Texas Drum Corps Preview June 26 in San Antonio, Texas and competed in Open Class at the 2005 DCA World Championships Labor Day weekend in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
In 2006, the corps performed at the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival14 in Denton, Texas, the second annual Texas Drum Corps Preview on June 24 on the steps of the Texas State Capitol in Austin, at a roller derby game of Assassination City15, at the Dallas Diamonds16 vs. Los Angeles Amazons women’s professional football game on September 16, and at the 2006 DCA World Championships Labor Day weekend in Rochester, New York.
In addition to the competitive schedule, Frontier also plans to perform with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Dallas Wind Symphony in 2007, and was recently certified to compete at DCI competitions.
Seasons of note
2005
In its inaugural season, the corps received a score of 70.713 and finished 16th, playing Lasso the Sun.
2006
With their show, entitled Fire, Frontier improved nearly 10 points from their inaugural season, finishing 14th and posting a semifinals score of 80.28817 while performing in less-than-ideal conditions in the rains of Hurricane Ernesto. In recent times, the only all-age corps to post a more significant improvement from one year to the next was the Bushwackers Drum and Bugle Corps, who improved 10.3 points from 2000 to 2001.