Northwest students march with elite summer drum corps

Three students from Northwest Missouri State University spent their summer touring the country and performing with Drum Corps International (DCI), a highly competitive organization comprised of exceptional youth drum corps members. 

Michaela Broadwell, who spent her summer conducting the Colts drum corps, is pictured with Northwest faculty at a performance stop. (Submitted photo)

DCI was founded in 1971 to organize competitive drum and bugle corps events throughout North America. Since then, it’s become the leader in producing events for the world’s most elite marching ensembles.

“It takes what college bands do and goes way up beyond the next level,” Dr. Kathryn Strickland, a Northwest professor of music and director of the Bearcat Marching Band, said. “So they’re able to march at a really, really high level and they can focus literally all their time, all day long on what they’re doing.”

Michaela Broadwell, a senior music education major from Seward, Nebraska, spent her third year with the Colts, based in Dubuque, Iowa. She returned to the organization this summer as a conductor after playing baritone during the last two seasons.

“I feel like I’ve grown quite a bit in the last three years,” Broadwell said. “It’s an activity that’s very mentally demanding and physically demanding, so I’ve grown so much through that because we show up every single day and we work hard every single day. There are no days off.”

Member organizations of DCI participate in a summer tour of competitions around the country that culminate in the DCI World Championships in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium. Competition sites vary each year, and the 2025 season featured stops in California, Washington, Oregon, Texas and Colorado.

“There are a lot of cool places we’ve gone to,” Broadwell said. “Everything kind of builds up to Indianapolis at the end. It’s so cool to watch how big the crowds get as we go and how everybody gets super excited. And it’s always so fun to see the product of all the work we’ve put in through the entire season.”

Payton Dollins, right, is pictured with Dr. Katy Strickland, the director of the Bearcat Marching Band, at a performance with the Cavaliers drum corps this summer. (Submitted photo)

Payton Dollins, a senior music education major from Liberty, Missouri, performed with the Cavaliers on drum set for the first time this summer. Beginning in May, Dollins practiced daily with the Cavaliers, a founding member of DCI based in Rosemont, Illinois, learning the show they would perform at 22 competitive shows and a few community showcases at the beginning of the season.

“The biggest difference from Bearcat Marching Band was there was a big sense of self-accountability,” Dollins said. “They’re relying on you as a professional musician to do your job. They’re not always going to tell you what you need to do, but they are there to win it and they want you to succeed to the best of your ability.”

Most DCI musicians spend at least five to six hours a day rehearsing, often more. For Dollins, the dedication required to perfect the Cavaliers’ show also enhanced the skills he is learning at Northwest.

“Working with world-class staff, they use a lot of language that’s really effective,” Dollins said. “And knowing how to use that as an educator is the biggest thing I learned. Less is more in getting a bigger point across, and it’s more effective for younger students.”

Noah Stokes performed his fourth summer on tuba with River City Rhythm drum corps. (Submitted photo)

Noah Stokes, a junior music education major from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, performed his fourth summer on tuba with River City Rhythm of Anoka, Minnesota. 

River City Rhythm was founded as a competitive drumline in 2009, as part of the Minnesota Percussion Association. In 2015, it became an official drum and bugle corps member, making this season its 10th with DCI.

“It’s a young organization, so to make semifinals with them for the first time ever, it was quite legendary,” Stokes said. “I’ve marched with them for four years now, so it’s been really cool to see the organization grow and change. It was a very big year for us.”

This summer, Stokes assumed a leadership position as horn sergeant for the team. He says the leadership experience prepared him for his junior season with Bearcat Marching Band.

“[River City Rhythm] is like a big, hot pot of people who are just learning brass and people who are really advanced,” Stokes said. “For myself as a player, that has helped me to create a good tone on the tuba at such a high level, so when I go back to BMB, I can really show it off.”