Impulse’s 2025 season — which wrapped up July 13 in California — reflected the corps’ continued momentum since the pandemic, with higher scores, a more ambitious show, and a significant jump in membership.
“Every year, something better has happened, something bigger has grown,” said Impulse’s assistant corps director Josh Williams. “We’ve all gotten better, and it’s really humbling to be a part of that.”
Impulse’s 2025 program, “Look Up,” while aptly named for the show’s repertoire of flight-themed music, has also been, in a way, metaphorical of the corps’ journey in recent seasons.
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced many corps to shut down as a result of various operational challenges, the Buena Park, California corps was among those uncertain of its future. After being out of operation for the 2020 and 2021 seasons, 2022 posed the question of whether or not the corps would make its return.
WATCH: How Impulse navigated the pandemic in 2020
With membership low and many students new to drum corps, Impulse’s 2022 season was in jeopardy. Nonetheless, the corps persisted, and it was able to assemble a fresh-faced group, with many members being brand new to marching, and much of the corps’ staff new to teaching.
“2022 was literally a rebuilding year,” Williams said. “There were no veteran [performers] at all. Some of us had been teaching drum corps, of course, but it was a brand new organization since COVID, so we kind of looked at it almost as a rebirth. There were a lot of rocky moments, and we weren’t sure if 2022 was going to happen, but we did it.”
According to Williams, Impulse’s membership has seen steady growth since the corps’ return in 2022. Over the past four years, the corps has increased from fewer than 50 marchers, to now having an ensemble of more than 100.
Williams credits the loyalty and belief of the students as the main drivers of the corps’ exponential growth.
“We have that core group of students who kept this organization alive since 2022 and, honestly, we couldn’t have done it without them,” he said. “Their spirit, their belief in the process and the organization, what it stands for, really kept the corps going.”
The 2025 season itself was also indicative of Impulse’s upward trajectory, as the corps improved its score with every performance. Furthermore, Impulse’s lowest and highest scores this season – 54.750 and 66.400, respectively – outperformed those of 2024.
Impulse also expanded its tour this summer, performing in Utah, Washington, and Oregon, marking the corps’ first shows outside California since 2019.
While its season has come to a close, Impulse’s future remains bright as it heads into 2026. For drum major Lana Zeilinger, the mindset is all about making Impulse the best it can be by way of bringing its members closer together.
“Encouragement and positivity is a huge factor when it comes to new members,” she said. “In a corps like this, it’s really what keeps everyone alive and gives everyone that passion to keep going and growing and getting better. The members are what make Impulse.”
From Williams’ perspective as an educator, however, his motivation is focused not only on Impulse’s growth, but also on the success of the corps’ members in and out of the drum corps.
“I look forward to seeing not just what the members do next year or the following years, but also when they grow into adults,” he said. “What drum corps can do really gives me joy to see that kind of expansion as a person.”
