Empire Statesmen

Website

http://www.statesmen.org

The Empire Statesmen are a local drum and bugle corps, and a nonprofit organization.

Some quick facts, since I'm editing this at work when I should be working:

• I sincerely apologize for these facts. Please feel very free to edit. I certainly will. —H
  

• The Statesmen won the DCA world championships in 2004
  

• You can join at any age (except if you are very wee... they have a separate corps for those not considered adult)
  

• Competition season runs through the summer and culminates in a grand competition 'round the first weekend of September
  

• They generally practice at downtown highschools
  

• They used to practice and do shows throughout the summer that were excellently fun, jazz and improv, but I don't know if this still occurs
  

• One year they did a show using music from The Phantom of the Opera, complete with a rowboat that rowed across the field when Christine and the Phantom went across the lake (the taste inherent in this addition to the show is questionable. I'll edit this out later)
  

• The cost of joining is pretty low, generally members have to work a certain number of shifts at their Bingo hall, located on Empire Blvd.
  

• They have been around for a long time!
  

• When I was a little girl, I remember seeing the Statesmen perform at the first marching band competition I went to, and they wore glittery white tuxedos and played notes I'd never heard before, and I was quite taken with them. —H