High school students from across the country had the performance experience of a lifetime at Music for All’s Bands of America Summer Camp, held June 23-28 at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. To cap off their camp experience, students took the field with Carolina Crown at the DCI Tour Preview, an exhibition event that kicked off the 2025 Drum Corps International Summer Tour.
In partnership with Music for All and Yamaha, Carolina Crown worked with Bands of America (BOA) camp members for a fun, collaborative, and music-filled experience. Campers were able to learn and play alongside Crown members during a week of instructional clinics and performances.
“The value Crown gets from being here during Music for All week is the exposure,” said Carolina Crown executive director Joe Roach. “A lot of our performers want to be future educators, and there’s no better time than to start interacting with the young high school students who are as excited to see us as we are them.”
While the corps’ instructors played a significant role in providing instructional support, many involved attested that the camp would not be what it is without the enthusiastic high school marchers who are a part of it. Camp member Ella M. was vocal about the positive learning experience, and how high school band students should take part in the event in the future.
“Do it,” Moore said. “100 percent do it. Have no second thoughts about it. This is my second year, and I was anxious going into it, but this is so exciting for me. It gets you prepared for drum corps and music education if you want to go into something like that … You’ll learn a lot from it.”
The Bands of America camp not only allowed the high school students to build upon their marching and performing capabilities, but it also allowed students who want to be future music educators to learn the ins and outs of teaching band and the performing arts.
Some members of Carolina Crown are no stranger to this same summer camp, as some of them took part as high school students before joining the corps. As people who developed their love of drum corps through the experience, they all shared the same testament of wanting to give back to younger marchers.
“I marched at the Summer Symposium Camp for two years and now I’m finally on the other side of it as a baritone player,” said Carolina Crown member Keegan Paez. “It’s a full circle moment for me. I wouldn’t be in Carolina Crown if it wasn’t for this camp.”
As Carolina Crown powers into the 2025 DCI Summer Tour, its Bands of America Summer Camp experience serves as an important reminder to the corps’ members – that marching music has brought them all together to create unforgettable music and awe-inspiring productions.
“[The experience] has been really uplifting,” said Carolina Crown trumpet player Brody Beuning. “Seeing all the campers and how excited they were, it’s been really inspiring to me to keep on pushing and to be my best.”
