Cascades will not enter 2008 DCI Championships
The Cascades will remain in the Northwest for the 2008 season, choosing not to embark on the broader national Drum Corps International summer tour as a member of the World Class. The corps has decided instead to field an exhibition unit, providing a regionally-focused drum corps experience for returning and new members rather than withdrawing from the entire season.
This approach will assist in the support of additional drum corps shows in the Northwest during the course of the summer. Cascades administrators felt that although a scaled-down 2008 national tour might be possible, it would not be at their desired level. "Fielding a corps that is marginally financed, touring with some questionable equipment, and deficiencies in the number of brass players is simply not good enough for us", said Mike Bujnowski, Board President of Northwest Youth Music Association (NYMA), the parent organisation of the Cascades.
The decision to eliminate their participation in a 2008 national summer tour follows a difficult year in 2006 and a successful rebuilding year in 2007.
According to organisation officials, "2008 will be used to get ahead of the game." The Cascades will retain the majority of its staff through 2008 leading to its projected return to World Class competition in 2009.
"We are disappointed to cancel our 2008 national tour", said Michael Leone, Corps Director for the Cascades. ââ?¬Å?We are taking this opportunity to introduce drum corps to a greater number of students this summer at a very low tuition cost. We feel that we must find ways to make drum corps more accessible to the young people in our region. As such, our goal is to significantly reduce tuition fees for the 2009 season."
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