Think a championship-winning corps director has it easy in the days and weeks following the announcement of scores? Think he or she slips off to Aruba to relax and decompress? Think again! Here, Jeff Fiedler of the Cavaliers fills us in on his busy weeks since the end of the Tour of Champions. I returned to my school on the Wednesday after the Tour of Champions ended. It was our registration day and book buy for the upperclassmen. Freshmen and transfers had orientation on Thursday, and Friday all students were in the building to run their class schedules.

Jeff Fiedler (left) gives a World Championship medal to a Cavalier in 2002. Photo by Johnny Gilbert.
I've been to a few night rehearsals for Prospect High School (the band I assist), and have been busily closing the books on 2004 as we prepare for 2005 audition camps, our day-after-Christmas awards banquet, lining up staff meetings (programming meeting this weekend in Pittsburgh!), as well as preparing for (yesterday's) DCI finance committee meeting, as well as next week's DCI board of directors meeting. The biggest amount of my time has been nailing everything down for our one-week Japan tour (80 guys and 10 staff) which runs from October 19 to 25 -- more on that later. (I've been) also getting names on plane tickets, working with Bret Kuhn and David Bertman on what repertoire we're playing, etc. (more on that later as well). I went to wedding in Oxford, Ohio, last weekend, as one of our brass staff (Brandon Barrometti) got married. Saw a lot of alumni! I've been sleeping less and eating not as well as I do on tour ... Give me tour just about any day! 2005 and Japan, here we come!