The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps will hold an open rehearsal tonight from 7 to 8 p.m. at O’Brien Stadium. The event is open to the public and admission is free.

The Cavaliers will showcase what the practiced routines from its annual 11-day camp at Eastern.

This is the third year that Eastern has hosted the Cavaliers. Eastern was chosen because of the available facilities needed for their summer program, Conference Coordinator Matt Boyer said.

Cavaliers use O’Brien Stadium, intramural areas, the field house, available classrooms, and are housed in Stevenson and Lincoln Halls. The program is held before most summer classes begin, leaving rooms accessible for them to be housed in, Boyer said.

The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps is an all-male team based out of Rosemont.

“For their 60th anniversary season, the Cavaliers are presenting “Samurai,” which celebrates the ancient Japanese warrior’s culture of honor, courage and discipline in a way that honors their heritage and breathes new life into their legacy,” according to Eastern’s Public Relations department. Featuring original music and complex choreography, the show offers a compelling interpretation of the Samurai’s heroic history in four dramatic movements: “Bushido — The Way of the Warrior,” “Ronin — Masterless Samurai,” “Ken-jutsu — The Art of the Sword” and “Fumeiyo yori shi wo — Death Before Dishonor.”

“Coolest thing I had ever seen”

Bob Amico, a 20-year-old color guard member from Rochester, N.Y., is in his first year on the Drum and Bugle Corps. He was in the color guard for three years in high school when he read about the try-outs online. Upon making the team, he was soon injured and is unable to practice with the rest of the corps at Eastern.

Justin Heinekamp, a 21-year-old trumpet player from Naperville, is in his fourth year with the corps and is a junior officer. He has been playing the trumpet since fourth grade and now goes to Western Illinois University.

“I remember sitting there watching them in 2003 and wanting to be out there so bad,” Heinekamp said.

He attended tryouts in Chicago and made the team in 2005.

Kevin Gates, from Texas and in his fifth year, is the Drum Major this year. He is a biology major at Texas Christian University and has played the French horn since junior high.

“(The corps show) was the coolest thing I had ever seen so I thought I would go and try it,” Gates said.

Practice for the corps begins in November with a camp. There is practice once a month after that until they move on campus at Eastern in May. Pre-tour then begins with four weeks of rehearsing for 12 hours a day, everyday, Heinekamp said.

Being gone all summer is “a pretty big sacrifice but its worth it in the long run,” Harmon said.

There is a one-time fee for the corps of about $1,500. Many get sponsors to help pay for the travel expenses. Heinekamp’s high school band director is sponsoring him this summer.

There are 150 members in the corps, not including staff or volunteers. Of these members there are eight junior officers who consist of a drum major, an assistant drum major, two guard sergeants, two top percussionists, and two top horn members.

The Cavaliers are one of two corps that is all male.

There is one monetary scholarship given out each year by the Cavaliers called the Brubaker Scholarship. This can be used to help fund travel or any other expenses. Alex Harmon was the recipient of the scholarship this year.

The corps provides all of the instruments for the members and Yamaha sponsored the brass instruments this year.

There are no cell phones permitted on tour, except for the junior officers and staff.

“You can’t always be wanting to be back in the real life,” Gates said.

“It keeps people focused on here and on what they are doing here,” Heinekamp said.

Once the tour begins, the corps performs over 30 shows in a summer.

“It’s fun because you wake up in a new state everyday,” Heinekamp said.

Life never the same

At the end of the tour there are national finals, which are Aug. 10 this year. There are quarterfinals, semi-finals, and finals, of which the Cavaliers were champions in 2006.

Then the members return home to continue college until the next auditions begin.

“It’s weird for the first week back home,” Heinekamp said. “The silence is deafening when you are used to being with over 150 other people all the time.”

Harmon and Gates agreed it is difficult to transition from touring to home life because the corps is extremely structured.

“It’s hard for the first two or three weeks to be around (my friends),” Harmon said. “The bonds here are so much tighter than the people you have in your every day life.”

“You’ll never have this type of experience ever again,” Heinekamp said.

Ashlei Maltman can be reached at 581-7942 or at anmaltman@eiu.edu.

Members of the Cavaliers, a drum and bugle marching band, practice at O’Brien Stadium Monday afternoon. The marching band from Rosemont, Ill will be practicing over the next two weeks in order to prepare for a tour around the midwest in late June and July

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