Reading Buccaneers Drum and Bugle Corps

All-age drum and bugle corps based in Reading, Pennsylvania

The Reading Buccaneers

Location| Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Division| DCI All-Age Class
Founded| 1957; 67 years ago (1957)
Director| Lou Tierno
Championship titles| VFW: 1960, 1961, 1962; DCA: 1965, 1968, 1979, 1980, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023; DCI All-Age: 2024

The Reading Buccaneers Drum and Bugle Corps is an all-age drum and bugle corps based in Reading, Pennsylvania. The corps was a charter member of Drum Corps Associates, and is now a member of the Drum Corps International All-Age Class.

## History

[edit]

The Reading Buccaneers performing at the DCA World Finals in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 2005

The Reading Buccaneers drum and bugle corps was formed in August 1957[1][2] by bugler Bruce Englehart and three friends[3] as a parade corps for World War II veterans. A field corps was formed in 1958, which competed in the VFW circuit. The Reading Buccaneers captured the VFW championship in 1960, 1961, and 1962.[4]

In 1962, the corps was composed of a forty-two-member horn line, twelve-member drum section and an eighteen-member color guard. Its brass instrumentalists used Getzen twin-piston horns. Members of the ensemble wore "brilliant blue satin and black" buccaneer-style uniforms with silver trim and black "flat-crowned" hats with white ostrich feather plumes.[5]

The Reading Buccaneers were the last drum and bugle corps to win the VFW championship as the award was retired in 1962. The Buccaneers were also the last to win the Drum Corps Associates World Championship in 2023.

### The DCA Era (1965-2023)

[edit]

In 1965, the Reading Buccaneers became a charter member of Drum Corps Associates. The Buccaneers won the first DCA Open Class World Champions in 1965. The ensemble has since repeated a championship placement eighteen times from 1968-2023. The corps won the first DCA World Class Championship title in 2022, as well as winning DCA's final World Class Championship title in 2023. The corps has also placed second nine times, and third seven times. It has missed being a DCA finalist only three times.[6]

### The DCI All-Age Era (2024-present)

[edit]

In May of 2024, DCA and DCI announced a partnership to merge and create DCI All-Age, a new class under the Drum Corps International umbrella. The Buccaneers were one of the inaugural members of DCI All-Age and competed in the first DCI All-Age Championships at Lucas Oil Stadium on August 10, 2024. The Buccaneers, along with all of the other previously-DCA corps, continue to compete in the All-Age class.

## Show summary (1972–2025)

[edit]

Key  Pale Blue indicates DCA Open (pre 2022) or World Class (post 2022) Finalist

Gold indicates DCA Open (pre 2022) or World Class (post 2022) Champion
Year | Theme | Repertoire | Score | Placement

|
|
|
|

1972  |  | Blow the Man Down / Russian Sailor's Dance (from The Red Poppy) / Drunken Sailor / Military Suite in B Flat / Fancy Colours / Get It On / The Oracle Speaks / Something / Ebb Tide  | 88.650  | 3rd
1973  |  | Russian Sailor's Dance (from The Red Poppy) / Theme from Shaft / Get It On / Verdi's Requiem / Something  | 85.800  | 2nd
1974  |  | Firebird Suite / Theme from Shaft / Verdi's Requiem / Latin Boo Ga Loo / Finale (from Firebird Suite)  | 82.150  | 2nd
1975  |  | Navy Hymn / Infernal Dance (from Firebird Suite) / La Fiesta / Mambotabo / Latin Boo Ga Loo / Finale (from Firebird Suite) / Blue Birdland  | 89.550  | 3rd
1976  |  | Fanfare / Meadowland / Call to Danger / La Fiesta / Drunken Sailor / Bellavia / Russian Sailor's Dance (from The Red Poppy) / Ebb Tide  | 86.700  | 2nd
1977  |  | The Coronation Scene / What I Did For Love (from A Chorus Line) / Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me / Another Star / Finale  | 91.550  | 3rd
1978  |  | Dance of the Tumblers / Feels So Good / El Gato Triste / Another Star / Finale  | 79.700  | 7th
1979  |  | Russian Sailor's Dance (from The Red Poppy) / Fantasy / El Gato Triste / Feels So Good / Procession of Bacchus (from Sylvia)  | 90.500  | 1st
1980  |  | The Sea Hawk / Russian Sailor's Dance (from The Red Poppy) / Spanish Dreams / Sambandrea Swing / One Voice / Procession of Bacchus (from Sylvia)  | 91.300  | 1st
1981  |  | En Sueno / Star / Sambandrea Swing / Sometimes When We Touch / Procession of Bacchus (from Sylvia)  | 88.400  | 3rd
1982  |  | En Sueno / Ballet in Brass / Let Me Try Again  | 83.150  | 6th
1983  |  | Russian Sailor's Dance (from The Red Poppy) / March of the Boyars / Sunrise Lady / Let Me Try Again / Russian Sailor's Dance (from The Red Poppy)  | 82.650  | 5th
1984  |  | Wind Machine / Central Park / The Captain's Journey / The Rainmaker  | 91.950  | 2nd
1985  |  | Wind Machine / Jeannine / The Ancient / The Rainmaker / After You  | 91.900  | 2nd
1986  |  | Route 66 / Nutville / Magnum Opus: Man Overboard / Sunrise Lady / After You  | 87.550  | 4th
1987  |  | Symphonic Metamorphosis / Cuban Overture / We Are The Reason / Procession of Bacchus (from Sylvia)  | 92.300  | 5th
1988  | A Russian Celebration | Symphony No. 5  | 79.940  | 10th
1989  |  | Peleliu / Guadalcanal March (from Victory at Sea) / Victory at Sea  | 78.700  | 10th
1990  | Batman | Batman Theme (from Batman) / Rooftop (from Batman) / Descent into Mystery (from Batman) / Return of the Rainmaker / Pie Jesu (from Requiem) / Batman Theme Reprise (from Batman)  | 92.200  | 7th
1991  |  | Marche Slav / Firewatch / Dr. Macumba / Anything but Lonely (from Apects of Love) / Russian Easter Overture  | 82.300  | 8th
1992  |  | Cherokee / Englishman in New York / Moondance / Sambandrea Swing / You Can't Fall Up (You Just Fall Down) Narro  | 86.600  | 9th
1993  |  | You're Still A Young Man / What is Hip / The Skunk, The Goose, And The Fly / You Can't Fall Up (You Just Fall Down)  | 84.800  | 11th
1994  | The Music of "Hook" | Remembering Childhood (from Hook) / Prologue (from Hook) / Banning Back Home (from Hook) / You Are the Pan (from Hook) / The Ultimate War (from Hook)  | 79.600  | 11th
1995  |  | En Sueno / Oriental (from 12 Danzas Españolas) / Canto del Viento / Navy Hymn / Russian Sailor's Dance (from The Red Poppy)  | 77.500  | 11th
1996  |  | Russian Hymn / Hook / Jurassic Park / Asteroid Belt / E. T. Theme (from E.T.)  | 82.400  | 10th
1997  |  | Hunt for Red October / Meadowland / Polovetsian Dances / Firebird Suite  | 83.400  | 9th
1998  | A Russian Celebration  | Festive Overture / Gopak / Russian Christmas Music  | 93.500  | 4th
1999  | Winter Dreams | Russian Christmas Music / 4th Movement (from Symphony No. 1) / The Pine Forest (from The Nutcracker) / Russian Christmas Music  | 95.800  | 2nd
2000  | Holst: The Planets | Jupiter (from The Planets) / Venus (from The Planets) / Mercury (from The Planets) / Mars (from The Planets) / Jupiter (from The Planets)  | 95.100  | 3rd
2001  | Portraits of Bernstein  | On The Waterfront / Slava / Make Our Garden grow (from Candide) / Overture (from Candide)  | 97.850  | 2nd
2002  | Anthems of Freedom | Star Spangled Overture / Appalachian Spring / Flag of Stars  | 95.550  | 3rd
2003  | The Sea: Beauty, Power, Serenity & War | Songs of Sailor and Sea / Navy Hymn / Drunken Sailor / Blow the Man Down / The Sea Treaders  | 92.150  | 5th
2004  | Innovations! The Passions of Shostakovich | Festive Overture / Fire Of Eternal Glory / Symphony No. 10 / Symphony No. 5  | 95.450  | 3rd
2005  | Variations in "B" - Music by Barber, Bartok, Bizet and Britten | Farandole (from L'Arlesienne) / Adagio For Strings / String Quartet No. 4 / A Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra  | 98.450  | 1st
2006  | Exotic Impressions | Bolero / Capriccio Espagnol / Clair de Lune (from Suite Bergamasque) / Scheherezade  | 97.238  | 1st
2007  | Blue Era | New Era Dance / The Promise of Living (from The Tender Land) / Danza Final(Malambo)(from Estancia) / Rhapsody in Blue  | 98.313  | 1st
2008  | The Pursuit of Joy | Canon in D / Abram's Pursuit / Nessun Dorma (from Turandot) / Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 (from Ode to Joy)  | 97.913  | 1st
2009  | Demons and Angels | Dies Irae (from Days of Wrath) / Ritual Fire Dance / A Simple Song (from Bernstein's Mass) / Symphonia Resurrectus (from Easter Symphony)  | 99.025  | 1st
2010  | Rome MMX | Pines of the Appian Way (from Pines of Rome) / Games at the Circus Maximus (Movement I from Roman Festivals) / Adagio from Spartacus / The Epiphany (Movement IV from Roman Festivals)  | 98.263  | 1st
2011  | A Dancer's Dream | The Chairman Dances / Danzon No. 2 / Swan Lake / Mambo (from West Side Story)  | 97.450  | 2nd
2012  | The Black Symphony | Warm Colors / The Four Sections for Orchestra, Mvt. IV / New World (from Dancer in the Dark) / 1812 Overture  | 99.030  | 1st
2013  | HIGHER, Faster, Stronger | Symphony No. 11, Mvt 4 / Original Composition / Chevaliers de Sangreal (from The DaVinci Code) / Danse Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah  | 98.430  | 1st
2014  | Break On Through | Break on Through (To the Other Side) / Fourth Ballet Suite / Orawa for Orchestra / Heat of the Day / Original  | 97.550  | 1st
2015  | Twist-It | Pagliacci / Palladio / Moonlight Sonata / Going the Distance (from Rocky) / William Tell Overture  | 97.580  | 1st
2016  | ConZENtric - Mind, Body, Soul | Gabriel's Oboe (from The Mission) / Equus / Impressions of Japan  | 97.250  | 2nd
2017  | Behind the Suit | Man of Steel / Metropolis Symphony Mvmnt 1 (Lex) / Andante Tranquillo; Symphony No. 1 / Into the New / Einleitung, oder Sonnenaufgang (from Also sprach Zarathustra)  | 98.930  | 1st
2018  | Here to There | Hummingbird / Hunting Wabbits / La Danse Macabre / So Far Away / Symphony No. 4 / Original Music  | 98.000  | 1st
2019  | Dans Ma Chambre | Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture / What a Feeling / Bohemian Rhapsody / Benedictus (from The Armed Man) / A Mass for Peace / Original Music  | 98.225  | 1st
2020  |  | Season Cancelled due to COVID-19 Pandemic |  |
2021  |  | Corps Inactive |  |
2022  | Altered: Ego | Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini / Serenada Schizophrana / Smells Like Teen Spirit / Shofukan / Spiriti  | 96.725  | 1st
2023  | Can't Stop Won't Stop | Equilibrium / Backlash / What Could Have Been  | 99.000  | 1st
2024  | Hat Trick: The Art of Three | Philharmonia Fantastique / The Hymn of Acxiom / Chorale VI (Sol Fa)  | 95.925  | 1st
2025  | On Display | To Be Announced |

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Reading Corps to be at Tournament" and "Reading Buccaneers to Appear at Waverly Tournament of Drums" (article and photo with caption). Sayre, Pennsylvania: The Evening Times, July 28, 1961, p. 3 (subscription required).
2. ^ "In Kiwanis Drum Corps Contest" (article and photo with caption). Pottsville, Pennsylvania: Pottsville Republican, June 12, 1961, p. 9 (subscription required).
3. ^ Dmochowski, Keith. "Remaining Reading Buccaneers’ founder reflects on a legacy of victory and family." Reading, Pennsylvania: The Reading Eagle, March 31, 2022.
4. ^ "High School Athletic Field Will Come Alive to Music: Drum, Bugle Corps Will Be Highlight." Pottstown, Pennsylvania: The Mercury, October 1, 1960, p. 26 (subscription required).
5. ^ "National Champion Corps Booked for Valley Day." Hazleton, Pennsylvania: Standard-Speaker, August 1, 1962, p. 7 (subscription required).
6. ^ "DCX - Drum Corps Xperience".

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* Buccaneer Alumni Association

* v
* t
* e

Drum Corps International member corps

Active Corps|

| World Class|

* The Academy
* Blue Devils
* Blue Knights
* Blue Stars
* Bluecoats
* Boston Crusaders
* Carolina Crown
* The Cavaliers
* Colts
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* Genesis
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|

Open Class|

* 7th Regiment
* The Battalion
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* Les Stentors
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All-Age Class|

* Atlanta CV
* Bushwackers
* Cincinnati Tradition
* Columbus Saints
* Connecticut Hurricanes
* Fusion Core
* Govenaires
* Hawthorne Caballeros
* New York Skyliners
* Reading Buccaneers
* Rogues Hollow Regiment
* Sunrisers
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Inactive or
defunct corps|

* 27th Lancers
* Argonne Rebels
* Anaheim Kingsmen
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* Star of Indiana
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* Velvet Knights

Lists|

* List of Drum Corps International member corps
* Drum Corps International World Class Champions
* List of Drum Corps International World Championship finalists
* List of defunct Drum Corps International member corps

Related topics|

* Drum and bugle corps (modern)
* Drum Corps Associates
* Drum Corps Europe
* Drum Corps Japan
* Drum Corps United Kingdom
* Winter Guard International

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