The Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps is a World Class competitive junior

drum and bugle corps Drum and bugle corps is a name used to describe several related musical ensembles. * Drum and bugle corps (modern), a musical marching unit * Drum and bugle corps (classic), musical ensembles that descended from military bugle and drum units retu ...

. Based in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, the Blue Knights are a member corps of

Drum Corps International Drum Corps International (DCI) is a governing body for junior drum and bugle corps responsible for developing and enforcing rules of competition, and for providing standardized adjudication at sanctioned drum and bugle corps competitions througho ...

(DCI).

History

Fred and Fae Taylor were a pair of former

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

comedians and musicians who had settled in Denver and operated the Fred and Fae Talent School, where they taught vocal and instrumental music to young people. Fred was an accomplished drummer and a member of the Denver

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

Grenadiers Senior Drum and Bugle Corps, and he believed that a junior corps would provide an opportunity for their music students to perform before the public. Although the intent was for the corps to be a parade corps, it entered its first field competition during its first season, and in 1959, the corps traveled to the

VFW The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an organization of US war veterans, who, as United States Armed Forces, military service members fought in wars, Military campaign, campaigns, ...

National Championships in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. In 1963, the corps joined the Great Plains Drum and Bugle Corps Association and entered into a period extending through the sixties and seventies where they were regularly competing in Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska. The corps attended its first DCI Championships in 1975 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, finishing 11th in the Class A preliminaries. In 1977, 1978, and 2004 the Blue Knights were hosts for the Drum Corps International World Championships. In 1979, the corps renamed its home competition, Drums Along The Rockies and turned it into both a major national competition and one of the corps' primary fundraising activities. In 1984, George and Lynn Lindstrom became the corps directors. The Lindstroms were to instill the corps with a professional attitude toward competition; the successful bingo operation, in place since the early 80s, made it possible for the corps to purchase the equipment necessary to fulfill the goals of the new attitude. The Lindstroms departed after the 1985 season, and director Mark Arnold was hired. Under Arnold's leadership, the corps became a major competitor, earning its first finals spot in 1991. Since then, the corps been a finalist twenty-four times across twenty-eight seasons. After working as acting director during the 2021 season, Daniel Belcher was promoted to executive director.

Blue Knights Percussion Ensemble

The Blue Knights Percussion Ensemble was established in 1993 and first competed in the 1994

Winter Guard International Winter Guard International (WGI) is an American performing arts association, governing body, and the producer of regional championship events for three activities: color guard (known as winter guard), percussion ensembles, and small marching bands ...

season where they won their first world championship. They also won world championships in 1999, 2000, and 2003. The Blue Knights are also the longest continually running WGI Percussion Ensemble. The Blue Knights also operated an open class ensemble that made appearances at WGI Percussion Independent Open finals in 2005 and 2006.

Show summary (1975–2023)

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References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Drum Corps International World Class corps Musical groups from Denver Musical groups established in 1958 1958 establishments in Colorado