Chris Weber, a three-year Cavalier trumpet veteran, has been named the corps' 2003 drum major. Chris Meisner, a four-year Cavalier tuba veteran, will serve as assistant drum major. Joining Weber and Meisner will be Jason Pena (drum sergeant, a Cavalier snare drummer since 2000), Niels Knutson and Kevin Devany (horn sergeants, trumpet and baritone respectively, both have marched with the Cavaliers since 2000), Ryan Bronner (guard sergeant, and a guard member since 2000) and assistant guard sergeant Jon Sanchez (a guard member since 2001). This leadership team was announced at the end of a camp that ran from Thursday evening, Dec. 26, to Sunday, Dec. 29 at noon. All Cavalier auditions have now ended, and the next camp is for brass and percussion only beginning Friday, Jan. 31, and continuing through Sunday, Feb. 2. "The camp was very well-attended again, and there were a large number of new auditionees who were unable to make the Thanksgiving audition weekend. The audition process was continued, as well as the fundamentals program for the brass, percussion and color guard," corps director Jeff Fiedler said on the Cavaliers' Web site. "Each subsection was whittled down to approximately four to five personnel above the set number for the corps. This was a very difficult task as there was so much talent to audition -- and unfortunately -- turn away for the 2003 summer. We wish those guys well and hope to see any of them who remain eligible, back in the fall of 2003 (Thanksgiving weekend)," Fiedler said in the Web posting. "The brass received the first draft of the corps 2003 opener -- approximately two minutes of what will eventually be a two- to three-minute piece. It is amazing and the brass section did a great job performing it on Sunday morning. They also performed a Shostakovich piece (Prelude, Opus 34, No. 14), the basketball band version of "Lucretia MacEvil," "Rolling Thunder March" by Henry Fillmore, and closed the weekend with the Ken Norman version of "Auld Lang Syne" (with his permission). The brass section also had a taste of the physical training required when the physical trainer (Randy Bichler returns) put them through the paces -- including some of the new pilates routine. There are still some sore abs and thighs going into the new year (remember the "Power Hops"?). "The percussion section spent the weekend continuing the audition process and on Sunday performed the 2002 field warmup and an ensemble cadence --very impressive! "The color guard's morning ended with a very physically demanding flag exhibition to Michael Torke's "Green," and the weapons section did an hysterical, challenging and fun-to-perform routine to "Big Spender"
All sections spent a portion of the weekend working on the marching style, and getting the new personnel accustomed to how the Cavaliers approach the football field.