Pioneer Drum and Bugle Corps

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pioneer

[[|Pioneer]]

Location	Milwaukee, WI
Division	World Class
Founded	1973
Director	Roman Blenski
Championship Titles	1991 (Division III), 1994, 1995 (Division II)
Corps Uniform	Green jackets with angeled white bars and plaid trim on the left side, dark green pants, white gauntlets, white combination hats with orange piping and a large shamrock badge

The Pioneer Drum and Bugle Corps is a World Class (formerly Division I) drum and bugle corps based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the corps is a member of Drum Corps International and Drum Corps Midwest. The corps has competed in Division I since 1997, with its highest placements coming in 1999 (17th place) and 2000 (16th place).

Pioneer has won 3 DCI world championships as a member of Divisions II/III (now Open Class) and 9 DCM championships. Pioneer is the only corps to have won a Midwest championship at every division level.

Pioneer was founded in 1973 with the merger of two corps, the Mercury Thunderbolts (founded in 1953) and the Imperials of Saint Patrick (founded in 1961), which is the source of the green uniforms and shamrock logo. The naming of the corps came after the corps' initial sponsorship by the Pioneer Container Corporation.

The corps was founded by Roman Blenski, who continues to be the Director of the organization. Roman is a member of the DCI Hall of Fame and the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame.

[edit] 2006 competitive season

In 2006, the corps' show was entitled "Emeraldscapes." The source music for the show was the traditional "Be Thou My Vision" and a contemporary string piece "Tarantella" written by Phil Kline and made popular by the string group Ethel.

Pioneer was the sole DCI Division I corps to use G bugles in its horn line. All other Division I/World Class corps utilize Bb (B-flat) horns. The music for the 2006 show was a slight departure from more recognizable Irish music which the corps had featured in the past, but the show was a crowd-pleaser.

The corps finished the season with a 71.55, good for 23rd place in Division I.