Retrospect, 1993 I'm often asked and I'm sure the members are asked: "Didn't you think that you should have won?" Hey, I think that Star should always win but that is not the way life is played. The beautiful part of drum corps is that there can only be one champion and in 1993 it was the Cadets. Now, what about the members? Were they disappointed? Come on--sure they were. But after a few tears were shed, most of them headed for supper and a few of them were looking for rides back to school.

Like many other corps, we were all glad to leave Jackson--it was hot, it was humid, and it rained! Championship week for Jim and me was bittersweet. The week was exciting and had the best of what drum and bugle corps has to offer. Our future was already charted; we would go with the Canadian Brass--win or lose. When we came back to Bloomington, we announced at our annual banquet that Star would be leaving drum corps, would be playing on b-flat horns, and would be performing "Brass Theater."

It seemed like 1985 again when Jim "sold hot air." He described "Brass Theater" to the members, and then he casually mentioned that they would have to prepare for two types of shows, one performed on a small stage and one performed on a basketball floor. He explained that the repertoire would exceed two hours in length, that percussion and brass ensembles would be featured during various parts of the show. When he finished, I felt warm and fuzzy but I'm not exactly sure how the corps felt except confused. After this meeting, I have been asked what the corps members thought and I can only answer--anxious but understanding.

Star's association with the Canadian Brass in 1993 was the year of Star's swan song. In the early spring, Star, Glassmen, Chicago Vanguard, and Pioneers gave a stand still performance at Indiana University's Auditorium in Bloomington. The night before, all of the corps attended a performance of the Canadian Brass ensemble; the auditorium was filled and the crowd received them with the enthusiasm of brass music lovers. That evening, Jim and I had been invited to a reception for the five CB which was hosted by Harvey Phillips, Dr. Tuba Santa. During a conversation, Chuck Dahlenbach of CB asked us if he and two other CBers could stay over and watch our drum corps show on Sunday afternoon. He didn't need to ask; we would have begged him to do it. In any event, they attended the performance, and afterward Chuck broached the subject of how Star could participate with them. The following Monday Chuck called to ask if some of Star's percussionists could play on their 'Broadway' CD. During the time of the recording, ideas started to develop; several weeks later, we met Chuck and Gene Watts in Florida and began discussions on how we could perform together. At the time, I did not believe that the corps could learn two hours of music and play it with the precision necessary to satisfy audiences that had very high expectations. But Jim, Gene, and Chuck thought otherwise. In June we signed a letter of intent which resulted in a contract that was signed in September.

We thought that our members deserved a chance to perform at some of the best venues in the world, to try to reach a level of excellence that is uncommon for young people and to be a part of a new genre. The program had to be two hours in length with twenty two minutes of drill plus solo features for both brass and percussion little did we realize what a challenge this was going to be.