Starriders member to march Crossmen

Fabian Lippmann, a member of the German Starriders Drum & Bugle Corps, will march the Crossmen next year. Nicola Esposito, as organiser of the Crossmen European Alumni group, interviewed Lippman.

Can you tell us your impression about a DCI World Class Finalist audition camp?

To describe it in one word: intense. Everything felt great in this group of people. They did it pretty easy to me to get into the corps with their courteous manner. One of the most remarkable moments that camp were our Brass Warmup. We were in an auditorium with about 120 Brass. We started with humming a note and to open our mouth and sing in an A Shape. Well, it sounded like god came through the roof. I still get goosebumps while remembering that moment! It also was the first time I played in a hornline bigger than 20. Not to get too far into details but independent from turn out this camp might have, it already worth any cent. It also was great to have Mike with me to share all the informations and emotions with a familiar person through over the trip.

What was your reaction when they told you 'Welcome to the Crossmen'?

To be honest it was the hardest one and a half day of my life. The staff told me they wanted me to tell about my status by the end of the camp but we needed to depart during at the corps meeting due to the time of our flight. So I was not able to talk to one of the staff members. I contacted nearly every person I had in my phone from Crossmen if they could ask for my status but none replied in that short time of period.

It was definitely a hard time. I mean, nearly the whole activity cheered for us before leaving to Texas and I was would come back without any status? Well, I got about 60 requests about whether I got a spot. I was not able to answer any of them until 4pm on Monday when I finally got the message from Jason that I have been contracted. At that moment I was not able to hide my emotions. I needed to call my best friend to let him know first. There was a flood of emotions and I still can't be happier about this turnout!

What is your programme for this summer, will you match both Crossmen and Starriders?

That's a big issue now. Since I moved to Eschwege due to work my, it is a 160 kilometer drive to Starriders each instead of 30 kilometers, which is an immense cost factor to me. But Starriders were always pretty helpful in these things and are about to figure out a way to make it possible to experience both corps this year.

Are you excited for the upcoming US experience?

I can't be more excited. It became a dream to march DCI six years ago when I began to march at Starriders. After two years in the pit I decided to try a new challenge and chose baritone for the 2010 season. I fell in love with that instrument and decided to try out for DCI once a day. I expect to work hard and get a lot new friends over the summer and I'm already sure that I found the right team with the Crossmen!

I want to thank everyone who are going to make this trip possible and especially my beloved corps Starriders. Without them I would never been where I am now. Also a big thank you to all the great people there who inspired me in the past years.