Junior Grant Loupe recently competed for a spot in one of the bands associated with Drum Corp International (DCI) and earned a spot to travel with The Blue Stars this summer.
“Drum Corp International consists of many different corps or bands, each with its own audition process,” Loupe said. “They take the highest-ranking players from all over the country to march and compete against each other.”
Loupe traveled to Houston to audition for The Blue Stars.
“I wanted to audition just to see where my skill level was,” Loupe said,” The Blue Stars give every auditionee feedback and tips about their audition and what they could improve on.”
Loupe’s preparation for his audition included: practicing the music during his advisory period and at home, and even staying after school some days to practice the marching. The audition was an all-day event.
“Throughout the day at the camp, they take out people one by one to go into a room with the three judges at a table,” Loupe said. “You play a 30-second long etude of choice along with their assigned excerpt. Then they have you march with a metronome there and play while marching.”
Loupe expressed how he felt after completing the audition process.
“I thought I did well apart from a few mistakes,” Loupe said.
Now that he has officially signed his contract with The Blue Stars of DCI, he will begin fundraising and preparing for his journey this July through August. He will begin his packed schedule this summer by starting off in Wisconsin and flying throughout the United States, performing almost every day of those months.