Blue Saints Drum and Bugle Corps


The Blue Saints Drum and Bugle Corps is an Open Class competitive junior drum and bugle corps. Based in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, the Blue Saints perform in Drum Corps International competitions.

History

Source:
Legend has it that Maurice Gravelle, a music teacher at the Sudbury Mining and Technical School was so dismayed and/or disgusted by the noises the students made with drums, horns, and whatever other noisemakers came to hand in support of the school's football team that he decided to start a school band, originally known as the Sudbury Mining and Technical School Trumpet Band.
Gravelle's associate and successor, George Netzke, not only continued what had been begun in 1952, but in 1954, he added the military discipline he had learned as a member of the Canadian Militia, converting the band into a drum and bugle corps. In 1958, the name of the unit was changed to the Blue Saints, in complement to the school's football team, the Blue Devils.
For many years, the Blue Saints performed and competed exclusively within Canada, as a Class B, Class C, or Cadet Class corps.
In 1990, the corps crossed the border into the U.S. to compete for their first time at the DCI Class A60 Prelims, held that year in Buffalo, New York. Blue Saints finished 23rd of 23 corps. The corps would return to DCI at the 1992 Division III Prelims in Whitewater, Wisconsin, placing 28th of 29 corps. In 1995, Blue Saints finished 36th of 41 corps at DCI's Division III prelims in Buffalo.
Blue Saints thereafter competed strictly Canada until 2002, when the corps made a commitment to perform on the DCI tour and at the DCI World Championships.
Since 2010, Blue Saints have been the only active competitive junior drum and bugle corps in Ontario.
On July 5, 2014, the Blue Saints marched in the parade for the 97th Lions Clubs International Convention in Toronto as musical representatives of the U.S. state of Tennessee. "We will be representing the state of Tennessee, playing the state song 'Rocky Top Tennessee' while the Tennessee delegates march behind us along the parade route," said Sheila Ripley, the corps' president. "This is the first time being invited to the Lion's international parade and is as exciting as performing in the Grey Cup or Calgary Stampede."

Sponsorship

The Blue Saints Drum and Bugle Corps is a non-profit youth organization with a Board of Directors, director, and staff assigned to carry out the organization's mission. Sheila Ripley is the organization's president, and the corps director is Mark Ripley.

Show Summary(1952-2017)

Source=
Gold background indicates DCI Championship; pale blue background indicates DCI Class Finalist; pale green background indicates DCI semifinalist.
YearThemeRepertoireScoreDCI Placement
pre-1974No information available
1974Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band by Lennon–McCartney / Farewell to Nova Scotia /
Fiddler On the Roof by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick		ODCA Class D
Champion
1975-76Repertoires unavailable
1977Repertoire unavailableODCA Class D
Champion
1978-80Repertoires unavailable
1981Temptation by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed / Other selections unknown
1982Temptation by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed / Keep the Customer Satisfied by Paul Simon /
Chattanooga Choo Choo by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon / Brian's Song by Michel Legrand, Marilyn Bergman, and Alan Bergman
1983And the Angels Sing by Ziggy Elman and Johnny Mercer / Gospel John by Jeffrey Steinberg /
March al Turka / Chase the Clouds Away by Chuck Mangione
1984And the Angels Sing by Ziggy Elman and Johnny Mercer / Rio Non Stop by André Gagnon /
Another Cha Cha by Jimmy Goings and Nicolas Skorsky / Chase the Clouds Away by Chuck Mangione
1985Eye of the Tiger by Frankie Sullivan and Jim Peterik / Chase the Clouds Away by Chuck Mangione
1986Repertoire unavailable
1987Bandstand Boogie by Charles Albertine / Other selections unknown
1988Repertoire unavailable
1989When the Saints Go Marching In by Virgil Oliver Stamps and Luther G. Presley / Bandstand Boogie by Charles Albertine /
Brian's Song by Michel Legrand, Marilyn Bergman, and Alan Bergman		Parade corps
1990Repertoire unavailable39.40023rd Cl. A60
1991Repertoire unavailable
1992Repertoire unavailable49.70028th Div.III
1995Selections from Tommy by Pete Townshend49.70036th Div.III
1996Selections From Tommy by Pete Townshend
1997-98No information available
1999Selections from the Wizard of Oz by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg
2000-01No information available
2002Moonlight Serenade by Glenn Miller and Mitchell Parish / In the Mood by Joe Garland and Andy Razaf /
A String of Pearls by Jerry Gray and Eddie DeLange / Little Brown Jug by Joseph Winner /
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy by Don Raye and Hughie Prince / There You'll Be by Diane Warren		38.15028th Div. III
200370s classicsOne Fine Morning by Skip Prokop / Little Bitty Pretty One by Bobby Day /
Aquarius by Galt MacDermot, James Rado, and Gerome Ragni /
Sometimes When We Touch by Dan Hill and Barry Mann		45.75024th Div. III
2004To the Beach, EhSurfer Girl by Brian Wilson / Beach Baby by John Carter and Gillian Shakespeare /
Surfin' Safari by Brian Wilson and Mike Love /
Kokomo by John Phillips, Scott McKenzie, Mike Love, and Terry Melcher		42.00018th Div.III
2005Grease is the WordLove is a Many-Splendored Thing by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster /
Summer Nights, Beauty School Drop-out, Born to Hand Jive & We Go Together
by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey		41.42520th Div.III
2006Musical MatrimonyGet Me To the Church on Time by Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner /
Ave Maria by Franz Schubert / White Wedding by Billy Idol		50.40017th Div.III
2007Corps Inactive
2008Corps Inactive
2009Aurora BorealisIncantation, Shadowplay, Ninkou Latora by Benoît Jutras55.15019th Open Class
2010The Struggle WithinWhat's This? / Theme from Beetlejuice /
Ice Dance / Selections from Sleepy Hollow
All by Danny Elfman		59.40016th Open Class
2011StrandedDies Irae by Giuseppe Verdi / Truman Sleeps by Philip Glass /
Original Piece by Todd Schultz, Jordan Avey, and Chris Scarberry / Lightning by Philip Glass		63.050
44.200		15th Open Class
40th World Class
2012Diamond in the Rough
60th Anniversary		Carbon, Heat, Time & Pressure by Michael England / The Canyon by Philip Glass60.900
49.100		14th Open Class
35th World Class
2013A Portrait of Our JourneyThe Elements by Brian Balmages / O Canada by Calixa Lavallée /
The Snow is Dancing by Claude Debussy / Winter by Antonio Vivaldi /
Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg		67.550
52.000		14th Open Class
36th World Class
2014Summoning of the GodsFlight of the Pegasus by David Shaffer / Fate of the Gods by Steven Reineke50.075
51.250		14th Open Class
36th World Class
2015Demon of SevilleThe Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini / Ballad of Sweeney Todd & Not While I'm Around by Stephen Sondheim /
Piano Sonata No. 14 'Moonlight', Op. 27 No. 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven /
The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini		50.725
46.775		14th Open Class
39th World Class
2016Corps Inactive
2017-2019Active but not competing