We are striving to usher in fresh and effective solutions to curb the current music education drought. One element of our initiative is The MusicianShip Marching Band Camp. This camp was created to engage and enrich young people in musically essential areas like site reading, technical proficiency and performance execution. Our fun, yet structured, camp is for youth between the ages of 13 and 18 and will expose students to a higher-tier musical experience, similar to that of a university marching band.

Children, when idle and uninvolved, are becoming increasingly susceptible to the harms of drugs, gangs, and violence. Our program will minimize their down time and provide a disciplined environment that fosters positive peer relationships. The MusicianShip Marching Band will encompass brass instruments (tuba, trombone, baritone, mellophone, trumpet), woodwind instruments (piccolo, clarinets, saxophones), and a complete marching percussion line (snare, tonal bass drums, cymbals, Quints, tenors). Our young people need to be engaged and active in something other than video games. They need a fun experience that is also physically and mentally challenging. The rigor of a show-style marching program will force them to be physically fit and mentally prepared.

High school graduates are not aiming to attend college, often times because they lack money. There are thousands of music scholarships available to qualified students each year. We want to maximize the number of scholarship opportunities our students receive by doing three things.

• Encouraging their pursuit of higher education, while stressing the importance of good grades.
• Developing students’ music capability to make sure that they are scholarship audition-ready.
• Arranging and providing auditions to university marching bands

John Newson, The Director of the Howard University “Showtime” Marching Band, has agreed to conduct scholarship auditions for interested high school juniors and seniors. He believes in our program, and fully supports us because he knows and trusts the people involved. Students will learn in this camp, but they will also have fun, performing at holiday parades, WNBA games, and other community events. We hope that you will join us in our endeavor to enhance marching band programs in DC.

We are currently recruiting musician and mentor volunteers. Please contact us for more information about The MusicianShip Marching Band. More information will be made available in the coming weeks. Stay tuned. Thanks!