No strangers to international travel, BDEntertainment, a group made up
of current and former drum corps veterans, is currently headed to
Seoul, South Korea, where they will perform with groups from all over
the world as part of the Seoul Drum Festival, playing both classical
and ethnic percussion as well as some fusion.
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“This has been a very busy and amazing past four months for The Blue
Devils and BDEntertainment,” said David Gibbs, executive director of
the Blue Devils. “The European tour for the 'A' Corps was incredibly
successful this past summer. We wowed the audiences and our members had
an experience of a lifetime,” Gibbs said.
The Blue Devils have been embarking on international travels for more
than 20 years. Here is a rundown of their travels over the years:
- 1983 -- The ³A² Corps attended the 21st Century Celebration in Osaka, Japan
- 1988 -- The percussion section featured as the centerpiece of a weeklong schedule of performances at Japan Greenland
- 1988 -- The BD winter color guard traveled to Den Haag, Holland,
to conduct clinics and perform at the Dutch Finals Color Guard
Championships.
- 1992 -- The Blue Devils traveled to Nice, France, to participate in Winter Carnivale
- 1996 -- A 10-day tour of Japan, including clinics, field shows and indoor theatre performances
- 1998 -- The "B" Corps participated in the World Marching Festival in Kanagawa, Japan
- 2000 -- The "A" Corps thrills audiences throughout Europe with a
three-week tour, appearing in Germany, Holland, Belgium and France
- 2000 -- Diablo Wind Symphony had a very successful 14-day Australian tour
- 2002 -- A 38-member ensemble from the 'A' Corps was the guest of the city of Okayama, Japan
- 2003 The Diablo Wind Symphony embarked on an 18-day Scandinavian tour In October
- 2003, a 58-member select ensemble of the 'A' Corps returned to Japan as guests of the city of Okayama
- 2005 -- A three-week tour, where the Blue Devils culminated the trip with a World Championship at the World Music Contest
Why such an emphasis on international performances over the years?
Gibbs said, “Travel enriches our lives, spreads prosperity, dissolves
political barriers, promotes international peace, and brings excitement
and change to our lives. The Blue Devils organization has a strong
commitment to afford members an opportunity to experience a variety of
diverse cultures, traditions, customs and contemporary lifestyles of
the world community through performances and personal interaction. And
we perform for the enjoyment of our world fans and expose the talents
of our activity to all,” Gibbs said.
In September, BDEntertainment opened with a great flourish the 2005
Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. They performed the following week for three
days at a series of parties geared at high-tech European sales forces,
including Cisco, at Pier 49 in San Francisco.
The next week was Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Hotel to perform for an
executive branch meeting for Wells Fargo. Then, at the end of
September, BDEntertainment put on an intricate, elaborate and exciting
opening show for Sterling Jewelers’ 2005 Managers Meeting as they met
at the beautiful Coronado Resort in Orlando, Fla. 3,000 people were on
the feet at the end of this incredibly successful event. All had
drumsticks in their hands, interacting with the 48 BDEntertainment
performers.
This winter, BDEntertainment will again be producing the PHX percussion
for the Phoenix Suns as they ride on their success from last season¹s
All Star performance.
BDEntertainment is in negotiations with the Golden State Warriors,
Sacramento Kings, LA Clippers, Utah Jazz, Detroit Pistons, Washington
Wizards and Toronto Raptors.
Because of the success of last years NBA percussion groups produced by
BDE, it has opened up opportunities for YEA, Magic of Orlando and other
organization to work with teams in their areas.
For more information, go to
bdentertain.com.