Cavaliers to perform in Lisle

After hours upon hours of practice and weeks spent traveling and competing throughout the Midwest, the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps is coming to Lisle to compete at "home."

Though the group is based in Rosemont, the corps considers the annual Cavalcade of Brass at the Lisle Benedictine Sports Complex its home show. This year's competition features nine percussion-and-brass bands beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday, July 2, at the sports complex on the Benedictine University campus, 5700 College Road, Lisle.

To the uninitiated, the contest looks a bit like an overgrown halftime show or a marching band contest. With a second look, audiences will notice the marching units are all percussion and brass - snare drums, bass drums, even marimbas, teamed up with all manner of horns, euphoniums and tubas.

But after watching a full evening of performances, audiences will begin to have a sense of the dedication it takes to have the precision, musicianship and showmanship to compete at the national level.

For instance, the Cavaliers - an all-male corps of mostly high school and college musicians - moved in together on May 15 to begin rehearsing and drilling for the summer season. They'll stay together through Aug. 13 as they practice, travel and compete without going home.

Corps director Mark Ackerson said this season has been going "extremely well" for the Cavaliers.

"We're off to a great start," he said. "We've only had five shows, but so far we've been starting out of the gates strong."

As many as 500 people audition for the Cavaliers, but only 150, plus some alternates, make the cut each year, Chairman Adolph DeGrauwe said. In the auditions, DeGrauwe said, they look for people with lots of dedication and talent when putting together a corps.

The Cavaliers practice for as many as eight hours a day, learning the drill and how to play the music for the first three weeks before they hit the road for competitions.

Ackerson says the men in the Cavaliers have a lot of self-motivation to get them through the intense competition season.

"The guys know they have a limited amount of time," Ackerson said. "It's a specialized craft and it's a big deal to them to finish extremely well. They have a lot of self-motivation and a great staff who inspire them every day to be out there, work hard and make (the show) the best it can possibly be, so they have internal and external motivation."

With a season that takes the corps to Wyoming, Colorado, Texas, Alabama, Virginia, Massachusetts and points in between, the Cavalcade of Brass is a rare chance for the Cavaliers to perform in front of a hometown crowd.

"Our local fans will be able to see us since they can't travel as much," DeGrauwe said.

Although Lisle is the home show, the competition itself is not different from a regular show except, as Ackerson says, "our people run it." Volunteers, parents and alumni take charge of ticket sales, parking and running the concession stand.

The competition in Lisle will feature eight other unit corps: Carolina Crown from South Carolina, the Blue Stars from Wisconsin, the Troopers from Wyoming, the Colts from Iowa, Genesis from Texas, the Legends from Michigan, the Colt Cadets from Iowa, and the Kilties from Wisconsin.

The Cavaliers' place in the competition varies from year to year.

"A couple years we've won, a couple years we've been third or fourth," DeGrauwe says. "We always look forward to winning."

The Cavaliers will perform songs from the 2016 program, "Propaganda," at the Cavalcade of Brass, including "Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary" by Henry Purcell, Symphony for Band "West Point" by Morton Gould, "Elegy for Dunkirk" by Dario Marianelli and "Lollapalooza" by John Adams.

To choose the theme, the design team meets to discuss different ideas.

"Especially this being an election year, this rang true," Ackerson said.

"Propaganda" is being well-received by judges and audiences alike, Ackerson said, and the guys "absolutely love it" as well.

Tickets for the show are $20 to $40, with a family section and handicap seating available.

For information on the band and its performances, visit cavaliers.org.

If you go

What: Cavalcade of Brass competition for percussion-and-horns bands

When: 6 p.m. Saturday, July 2

Where: Lisle Benedictine Sports Complex at Benedictine University, 5700 College Road, Lisle

Cost: $20 to $40

Info: cavaliers.org