Guardians Drum and Bugle Corps


The Guardians Drum and Bugle Corps is an Open Class competitive junior drum and bugle corps. Based in Seguin, Texas, the Guardians perform in Drum Corps International competitions.

History

Sources:
Johnathan Doerr, a 19-year-old student at Texas Tech University approached his best friend, Isaac Lee, former drum major of the Blue Devils with the idea of a community-based local touring drum corps in the Central Texas area. On October 28, 2012, Doerr founded the Central Texas Drum Corps Initiative in San Marcos, the organization which would become the Guardians Drum and Bugle Corps. A meeting was held in Seguin in December to gauge community support. With 25 people attending, a decision was made to go forward with developing the future performing unit with its base relocated to Seguin.
When, in early 2013, DCI announced the introduction of two new activities for small competitive units, DrumLine Battle™ and SoundSport®, Doerr saw that he could use SoundSport® as a means of helping to start the new corps.
The inaugural membership/rehearsal meeting of the Guardians was held in Seguin in March. Fifteen potential members were in attendance. Aid and assistance was soon forthcoming from established drum corps such as Open Class corps Genesis and Legends, Texas' World Class corps the Crossmen, and all-age corps the Vigilantes, as well as music businesses, interested individuals, and DCI. The corps also grew in size, rapidly approaching the SoundSport® maximum of 50, with members coming from throughout Texas.
In June, the Guardians Drum and Bugle Corps undertook a short, in-state tour, giving several performances and concluding with a SoundSport® exhibition at the DCI Southwestern Championship regional competition at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Continuing to develop slowly, with an eye focused on the financial bottom line, the Guardians entered DCI Open Class competition in 2014. Fielding a corps of 112 members, the unit entered only two contests, both in its home state of Texas, at Round Rock and San Antonio.
In April 2015, the Guardians again relocated, this time to Houston. Addressing the move, corps director Johnathan Doerr stated that, "Houston is, proudly, the largest city in Texas and has one of the largest hearts for the marching arts activity. The Guardians tree logo represents a 'breath of fresh air' that our organization brings, and we believe that our organization will certainly bring 'fresh air' to the Houston marching arts community. Houston hasn’t seen a Drum Corps International Junior Corps for many years, and we are excited to return a Drum Corps International competing unit to this great city."
In 2016, the corps had a much longer season, including a three-week-long spring training which was located at a college, whereas most if not all open class corps have spring training at a high school, and eight competitions, including both open class and world class finals, as opposed to the previous year's three. In addition, the corps received a sponsorship from System Blue, and as such, got new instruments from them. The Guardians are the only open class corp to use System Blue instruments in DCI history other than the Blue Devils B and C corps.

Sponsorship

The Guardians Drum and Bugle Corps is a 501 musical organization that has a Board of Directors, corps director, and staff assigned to carry out the organization's mission. Adam Chrobak is the corps director.

Show Summary(2013–2020)

Source:
Gold background indicates DCI Championship; pale blue background indicates DCI Class Finalist; pale green background indicates DCI semifinalist.
YearThemeRepertoireScoreDCI Placement
2013The Eternal QuestApocalyptic by Anton Bruckner / Symphony # 2 by Gustav Mahler /
Nimrod by Edward Elgar / Children's March by Percy Grainger		ExhibitionSoundSport®
2014Terra NovaEcstatic Waters by Steven Bryant / Third Symphony, mvt 2 Allegro Molto by Aaron Copland /
Symphony # 2 by Gustav Mahler / Daphnis and Chloé - Scene 3 by Maurice Ravel /
Old Hundredth by Loys Bourgeois / Original music by Daniel Montoya Jr. and Sarah Santa Cruz		Did not attend
2015Light of GoldGrand Piano Music, Part II: On the Dominant Divide by John Adams /
Toccata and Fugue in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach / Lux Arumque by Eric Whitacre /
Original Music by Daniel Montoya Jr. and Robbie Green		Did not attend
2016RadioactiveSymphonie Fantastique, Op. 14 by Berlioz, Hector /
Radioactive by Melvyn Gonzalez, Alexander Grant, Ben McKee. Josh Mosser, Dan Platzman,
Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon /
Radioactive by Daniel Montoya Jr. and Benjamin Pyles /
The Adoration of Veless and Ala by Sergei Prokofiev /
Creep by Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, and Phil Selway
/
Everything In Its Right Place by Thom Yorke /
The National Anthem by Thom Yorke, Colin Greenwood, and Phil Selway /
Church Windows, Movement II by Ottorino Respighi /
Toxic by Cathy Dennis, Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg, and Henrik Jonback /
Original Music by Daniel Montoya Jr. and Robbie Green		64.450
64.988		11th Open Class
32nd World Class
2017My Beautiful
Dark Twisted Fantasy		Dark Fantasy by Kanye West, Robert Diggs, Ernest Wilson,
Jeff Bhasker, Mike Dean, Malik Yusef Jones, Jon Anderson, Mike Oldfield /
Power by Kanye West, Larry Griffin, Jr., Dean Bhasker, Andwele Gardner,
Ken Lewis, Francois Bernheim, Jean-Pierre Lang, Boris Bergman.
Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald, and Peter Sinfield /
Heartless by Kanye West, Ernest Wilson, Scott Mescudi, and Malik Yusef Jones /
All of the Lights by Kanye West. Dean Bhasker, Malik Yusef Jones, and Warren Trotter /
Runaway by Kanye West, Terrence Thornton, Emile Haynie, Jeff Bhasker, Mike Dean, John Roger Branch /
Symphony in B♭ and Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber by Paul Hindemith,
Original compositions by Daniel Montoya Jr., Doug Bush, and Patricia Islas		69.737
67.838		10th Open Class
32nd World Class
2018DamnedHalo by Ryan Tedder, Evan Bogart, and Beyoncé Knowles / Cocoa Butter Kisses by Chancelor Jonathan Bennett /
Sunrise by Donald Glover / Sweatpants by Donald Glover, Ludwig Göransson, and Jason Martin /
Praying by Kesha Sebert, Andrew Joslyn, Ben Abraham, and Ryan Lewis /
HUMBLE. by Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, Michael Williams, Kanye West, and Lexus Lewis, Phil Manzanera,
Terius Nash, Charles Njapa, Joseph Roach, Kanye West, and Gary Wright /
Original music by Daniel Montoya Jr., Doug Bush, and Patricia Islas		71.8757th Open Class
29th World Class
2019UnpeeledMusical selections by The Beatles, Karl Jenkins, Justin Timberlake, Jacques Brel, Irving Berlin, others73.575
70.975		7th Open Class
29th World Class
2020Season cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic