HOUSTON – Reunion and reset were the themes of the Boston Crusaders throughout the final weekend of April.
The New England corps’ latest rehearsal camp saw its color guard rejoin the brass and percussion sections for the first time since the winter. Members and staff came prepared to hit the ground running as the defending DCI World Champions gear up for the 2026 Drum Corps International Tour.
“It’s a really sweet reunion,” drum major Maddie Wielinga said. “It’s the warmest feeling ever because you’re seeing a face you haven’t seen in the past eight months. It’s really cool to see a familiar (friend) again and have that same connection, even though you spent so much time away from each other.”
“Since April camp is our first opportunity to come together, not only is there the excitement of meeting new people, being around new faces, but also we’re now getting into the show,” third-year color guard performer Alfonso Gastelum said.
2025 was a big year for the Boston Crusaders, celebrating their 85th anniversary and winning their first-ever DCI World Championship title. On Finals night, Boston also took home caption awards for Color Guard, Percussion, and Brass. The competitive accolades, however, haven’t altered the corps’ push for excellence.
“Coming off of a championship, we feel really accomplished, but we’re ready to step forward into the new 2026 Boston Crusaders and continue our excellence on the field,” Wielinga said. “The culture has shifted, but there’s still a very focused mindset that we are setting out to do something different from what we’ve done in the past.”
Productivity was high with the full corps back in one place at C.E. King High School on the northeast side of Houston beginning Friday, April 24. The color guard held its last round of auditions, while the brass and percussion sections began to put drill formations from the corps’ 2026 production on the field.
Corps leaders said that establishing a positive, high-energy culture for the upcoming summer was a central focus of the weekend.
“We’re beginning to set up our expectations for the summer, how we want rehearsals to look, so that we can be the very best that we can be throughout the course of a very long summer,” Wielinga said.
“It honestly feels like coming home,” Gastelum added. “Being able to see 100 people in line for food at lunch and dinner, it’s like, wow, drum corps is happening again. It makes me feel really excited and really happy.”
Boston treats its April rehearsal camp like an average day at spring training with all-day practices, according to Gastelum.
“It can feel very strenuous, it can feel like a lot,” Gastelum said. “This is really our first opportunity to learn, ‘this is how fast we work,’ ‘this is how fast we learn things.’”
While the Crusaders continue to work toward the start of the summer season, DCI fans will be waiting in anticipation of the reveal of the corps’ 2026 show title and theme in the coming weeks. What corps members have performed of the production to date is something they describe as being both stylistically fresh and comfortably familiar.
“(The show) very much feels like all my other years at Boston, because I’m being challenged and still learning new things every day,” Gastelum said. “However, style-wise, it feels just a little bit different. It feels a little new. That’s what I’m most looking forward to, is that it still feels familiar, but stylistically feels like something I haven’t done before.”
According to Wielinga, the corps’ educational staff is always pushing the corps to improve, and the members are always encouraging each other toward the shared goal of putting together an excellent show.
“The feeling is very high energy,” Wielinga said. “We’re learning lots of cool drill and music and are really excited about our show.”
With spring training rehearsals drawing near — Boston Crusaders will move into Vermont State University Castleton on May 31 — and the momentum of a championship season behind them, anticipation is at a fever pitch for the Massachusetts-based corps.
As third-year members, both Wielinga and Gastelum are looking forward to what this summer has in store for the Crusaders.
“I’m excited about everything,” Wielinga said. “To be getting on the road again with my home drum corps, and putting a show on the field that no one’s ever seen before.”
“I know that Boston is somewhere that’s going to take care of me, that looks after its performers. Being here, especially with it being my last year, I just want to soak up every ounce of information, every good vibe, every positive interaction, every emotion. That’s what I’m most looking forward to,” said Gastelum.
