For Kiefer Brien, the drum corps activity has been a connecting fabric through the bulk of his life.
From his first trumpet lessons in Greece, New York, to weekends on the field with the White Sabers, to the whirlwind of an 80-day summer with the Mandarins, the activity has shaped his identity and his community.
“(White Sabers) is my home,” he said. “It’s the people I grew up with — a lot of the people in the corps are actually people I went to high school with, or did county bands and whatnot with.”
Along the way, his parents have been by his side — not just as fans in the stands, but as dedicated volunteers who found their own home in the corps as well.
“The best part of this is that it’s family, and family helps family,” said Kiefer’s mother, Carrie Brien. “Whatever you need to do — you jump in and help out. And the greatest experience is seeing the kids out there just having a great time and doing their best and giving it their all.”
Kiefer Brien was first exposed to the drum corps activity in the mid 2010s, as a volunteer at the Drum Corps Associates Championships in Rochester, New York.
Two years later, at the recommendation of his trumpet teacher, Matt Jaeger — White Sabers’ longtime brass caption head — he took the leap and joined the corps.
“(Jaeger) introduced me to the activity,” Brien said. “In 2018, I jumped in the line on trumpet, I played second trumpet, and it was a lot of fun. And then from there, I started moving through the ranks, got up to first trumpet, and had a great time with the White Sabers.”
For the next five years of his life, Brien was a White Saber. His parents were, too, serving as volunteers wherever they could.
“We were both volunteer parents,” said James Brien, Kiefer’s father. “Anything our kids did, we wanted to volunteer, be there with them, help them out, help in any way we can, because the parents’ support is for the kids in the beginning.”
Just like Kiefer “rose through the ranks,” his parents did, too. A level of involvement that began with various volunteer roles evolved over the years, to Carrie’s current role as president of the corps’ board of directors.
Meanwhile, James has become synonymous with the corps’ visual design, helping lead the building and management of prop set pieces.
“I was mostly working with props, helping out, setting things up,” James said. “Carrie was doing a lot of the administration-type things. We kind of grew into it with him.”
After several seasons in his hometown corps, though, Kiefer saw an opportunity to take advantage of his final year of DCI World and Open Class age eligibility, and seized it.
While White Sabers were enjoying the inaugural year of DCI All-Age Class competition, Kiefer was spending his 2024 summer with the Mandarins, thanks to a connection between his local Rochester drum corps community and the corps’ brass instructional team.
“The world class experience at the Mandarins is a little bit different because it’s 80 days on tour with a bunch of your friends. And the main difference between all-age and junior corps is that all-age is just weekends, and you don’t get a lot of time with the people in the corps, but those memories are so much more meaningful because you spend only the weekends with those people.”
For his parents, the change presented challenges; they were used to spending drum corps summers right by their son, but in 2024, he was touring the country, starting largely on the opposite coast from his home.
Luckily, they still had digital access to watch Kiefer’s performances, and as continued volunteers at White Sabers, they had the opportunity to reconnect with Kiefer at the DCI World Championships in Indianapolis.
“The best part of it was that we could see pictures and videos and such,” Carrie said. “Last year, at this time, we were (in Indianapolis) with the White Sabers, and we were cheering Kiefer on with the Mandarins.”
According to Kiefer, his return season in 2025 was quite meaningful. It provided the opportunity to reunite with familiar faces and experience a whole new version of his hometown corps’ summer.
“This season has been a little bit different coming back from World Class,” he said. “I miss my friends at the Mandarins very, very much, but I’m very happy to be home with the White Sabers.”
“Being back on the big stage is surreal,” he said of the DCI World Championships. “It was awesome. I hadn’t been here in exactly a year, so it’s bringing back a lot of old memories.”
And as a full family experience, the 2025 season was a reminder of one resounding fact for the Briens.
“White Sabers is home,” Carrie said.
