East Coast Jazz director Tom Chopelas has announced that the Malden, Mass., based Youth in the Arts organization will not field the East Coast Jazz in 2007. The announcement comes after experiencing struggling bingo revenue in recent years, the financial driving force behind the corps. "I have spent half my lifetime as director of the Ambassadors Drum and Bugle Corps, the Diplomats, the Royal Marquis and the East Coast Jazz," said Chopelas. "There were so many wonderful moments in that time and so many friendships. I will miss the activity greatly."

Founded in 1992, East Coast Jazz has been a perennial DCI Division II & III finalist, winning World Championship titles in 1998 and 2005. www.eastcoastjazz.org