# Raiders Drum and Bugle Corps

The Raiders Drum & Bugle Corps is an Open Class competitive junior drum and bugle corps. Based in Burlington, New Jersey. The Raiders perform in Drum Corps International (DCI) competitions.

## History

Source:
The Raiders Drum and Bugle Corps was founded in 1990 by George Lavelle, Jr. with George Lavelle Sr., Trent Smith, Clarence Jackson, and Anthony Bestreski joining as members of the initial board of directors. The intent was to provide the opportunity for young people to march in a highly competitive drum corps at an economical cost.
After a year of planning and preparation, the Raiders took the field on June 22, 1991 with a corps of 25 members, defeating two of the other three Division II/III corps in the show. Marching a schedule of local DCI and Garden State Circuit (GSC) shows, the Raiders finished the season by taking second place in the GSC.
The corps' second season saw a growth of nearly 100% and a tour to Ohio, Iowa, and the DCI Division III Championship prelims in Whitewater, Wisconsin, where the corps placed 19th among 29 corps.
In 1993, the corps again grew in numbers and moved to Division II. The Raiders won the first of seven GSC titles that year and finished 15th of 15 corps at DCI Division II Championships in Jackson, Mississippi. The corps marched DII only two more years, finishing placing 14th of 18 corps at DCI in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1994 and 11th of 13 corps at DCI in Buffalo, New York in 1995.
The Raiders board made the decision to return to DIII in 1996 in order to cut expenses. This move paid off immediately, when the corps made finals and placed 7th of 31 corps at the DCI DIII Championships in Orlando, Florida. Over the following eleven years, the Raiders would make the DCI DIII Finals nine times and, in 2005, win the DCI Division III World Championship.
2005 DCI Division III World Champions.
In 2007, the Raiders moved back to Division II, placing 6th at the DCI Championships in Pasadena, California.
DCI combined Divisions II and III into Open Class in 2007, and the Raiders have been a finalist every year since, except 2018, placing as high as fifth at Michigan City (prelims) and Indianapolis, Indiana (semis & finals) in 2010.

## Sponsorship

The Raiders Drum & Bugle Corps is a program of A+ Education and Performing Arts, a registered non-profit 501(c)(3) musical organization. The corps' Executive Director is Bob Gupta.

## Show summary (1992–2024)

Source:
Key :
* Light blue background indicates DCI Open Class Finalist
* Goldenrod background indicates DCI Open Class Champion
* 1 2 From 1992–2007, the Raiders competed in Division II and Division III; and since 2008, they have competed in Open Class. These are the same tier, just renamed.
| Year | Repertoire | World Championships | World Championships |
| Year | Repertoire | Score | Placement |
| 1991 | Russian Sailor's Dance (from The Red Poppy) by Reinhold Glière / To the Last Whale by David Crosby & Graham Nash / Victory at Sea by Richard Rodgers | Did not attend World Championships | Did not attend World Championships |
| 1992 | Victory at Sea by Richard Rodgers | 54.700 | 19th Place Division III |
| 1993 | Queen Who Wants To Live Forever & Flash's Theme (from Flash Gordon) by Brian May / Bicycle Race & Bohemian Rhapsody by Freddie Mercury | 69.100 | 15th Place Division II |
| 1994 | Jesus Christ Superstar Overture, Heaven on Their Minds, I Don't Know How to Love Him, Simon Zealotes & Superstar All from Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice | 74.400 | 14th Place Division II |
| 1995 | A Chorus Line I Hope I Get It, At The Ballet, Music and The Mirror & One All from A Chorus Line by Marvin Hamlisch & Edward Kleban | 77.300 | 11th Place Division II |
| 1996 | Sidewalks of New York The Sidewalks of New York (East Side, West Side) by Charles B. Lawlor & James W. Blake / Take the 'A' Train by Billy Strayhorn / Harlem Nocturne by Earle Hagen & Dick Rogers / Central Park by Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea / Autumn in New York by Vernon Duke / (I'll Take) Manhattan by Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart / The Sidewalks of New York (Reprise) by Charles B. Lawlor & James W. Blake | 79.000 | 7th Place Division III Finalist |
| 1997 | It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) by Duke Ellington & Irving Mills / Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me by Duke Ellington & Bob Russell / En Fuego (On Fire) by Michel Camilo / What a Wonderful World by Bob Thiele & George David Weiss / Air Mail Special by Benny Goodman, James Mundy & Charlie Christian | 79.500 | 14th Place Division III |
| 1998 | A Solstice Celebration / Winter Solstice My Favorite Things (from The Sound Of Music) by Rodgers and Hammerstein / Sometimes in Winter by Steve Katz / O Holy Night by Adolphe Adam & John Sullivan Dwight / Snow by Irving Berlin | 81.500 | 8th Place Division III Finalist |
| 1999 | A Trilogy of Darkness Master of Puppets by James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Cliff Burton & Kirk Hammett (Metallica) / Jazzhatten Suite by Oliver Nelson / Trilogy by Keith Emerson & Greg Lake | 84.400 | 6th Place Division III Finalist |
| 2000 | Traditions and Innovations Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff / Kashmir by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant & John Bonham / Sunrise by Donna Jean Godchaux | 80.750 | 12th Place Division III |
| 2001 | Pictures at an Exhibition Promenade, Gnomus, The Old Castle, The Hut of Baba-Yaga & The Great Gate of Kiev All from Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky | 88.500 | 2nd Place Division II & III Finalist |
| 2002 | Balance Festive Overture by Dmitri Shostakovich / Masque by W. Francis McBeth / Fifth Symphony, Mvt. 4 by Dmitri Shostakovich | 78.300 | 8th Place Division II & III |
| 2003 | Carmina Burana Carminua Burana by Carl Orff | 81.200 | 4th Place Division II & III |
| 2004 | Adams: A Sound Story Wild Nights of Harmonium, Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Harmonielehre - Mvt. III & Fearful Symmertries All by John Adams | 79.650 | 6th Place Division II & III Finalist |
| 2005 | Jesus Christ Superstar Overture, Heaven on Our Minds, John 19:10, Garden of Gethsemene, Simon Zealotes & Jesus Christ Superstar All from Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice | 87.750 | 1st Place Division II & III Champion |
| 2006 | Coast to Coast Awayday by Adam Gorb / Letter from Home by Pat Metheny / Strawberry Soup by Don Ellis | 80.500 | 3rd Place Division II & III Finalist |
| 2007 | West Side Story Prologue, Cool, I Have a Love, One Hand, One Heart, Mambo & Tonight All from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim | 84.400 | 6th Place Division II & III Finalist |
| 2008 | Deep Blue Selections from A Perfect Storm by James Horner / Original Music by Michael Hamilton & Colin Bell | 86.250 | 9th Place Open Class Finalist |
| 2009 | Isle of Hope American Elegy by Frank Ticheli / Hungarian Peasant Songs, Romanian Dance for Orchestra, Sz. 47a & Swineherds Dance by Béla Bartók / Gan Ainm (Traditional) / Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini | 88.250 | 6th Place Open Class Finalist |
| 2010 | Platinum Celebration Celebration Fanfare by Michael Hamilton / Exulate by Samuel Hazo / Exhilaration by Larry Clark / New Beginnings by Peter Boyer | 89.150 | 5th Place Open Class Finalist |
| 2011 | Blueecentric Blue Shades by Frank Ticheli / Bluesette by Toots Thielemans / Blue Rondo à la Turk & Bluette by Dave Brubeck / Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin | 81.900 | 10th Place Open Class Finalist |
| 2011 | Blueecentric Blue Shades by Frank Ticheli / Bluesette by Toots Thielemans / Blue Rondo à la Turk & Bluette by Dave Brubeck / Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin | 57.500 | 35th Place World Class |
| 2012 | Warped Warped by Key Poulan | 82.000 | 10th Place Open Class Finalist |
| 2012 | Warped Warped by Key Poulan | 61.050 | 32nd Place World Class |
| 2013 | The Raven: A Descent Into Madness The Raven by Key Poulan | 84.950 | 9th Place Open Class Finalist |
| 2013 | The Raven: A Descent Into Madness The Raven by Key Poulan | 64.900 | 31st Place World Class |
| 2014 | Seasons of the Earth October by Eric Whitacre / Month of the Cold Moon by Roland Barrett / Into the Joy of Spring by James Swearingen / Kingfishers Catch Fire by John Mackey | 69.100 | 9th Place Open Class Finalist |
| 2014 | Seasons of the Earth October by Eric Whitacre / Month of the Cold Moon by Roland Barrett / Into the Joy of Spring by James Swearingen / Kingfishers Catch Fire by John Mackey | 66.250 | 31st Place World Class |
| 2015 | From the Ashes Olympiada by Samuel Hazo / Fanfare - A Vision and A Dream by Ryan Nowlin / Our Yesterdays Lengthen Like Shadows by Samuel Hazo / Into The Light by Jay Bocook | 63.600 | 11th Place Open Class Finalist |
| 2015 | From the Ashes Olympiada by Samuel Hazo / Fanfare - A Vision and A Dream by Ryan Nowlin / Our Yesterdays Lengthen Like Shadows by Samuel Hazo / Into The Light by Jay Bocook | 56.675 | 36th Place World Class |
| 2016 | Industrial Evolution Fearful Symmetries by John Adams / Hymn of Acxiom by Vienna Teng / Ballet Sacra by David Holsinger | 66.825 | 10th Place Open Class Finalist |
| 2016 | Industrial Evolution Fearful Symmetries by John Adams / Hymn of Acxiom by Vienna Teng / Ballet Sacra by David Holsinger | 64.850 | 33rd Place World Class |
| 2017 | Iconic Who Wants to Live Forever by Brian May / Beat It by Michael Jackson / Let It Be by Lennon–McCartney / Runaway Baby by Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine & Brody Brown (The Smeezingtons) / Knights of Cydonia by Matt Bellamy / Bohemian Rhapsody by Freddie Mercury | 64.975 | 12th Place Open Class Finalist |
| 2017 | Iconic Who Wants to Live Forever by Brian May / Beat It by Michael Jackson / Let It Be by Lennon–McCartney / Runaway Baby by Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine & Brody Brown (The Smeezingtons) / Knights of Cydonia by Matt Bellamy / Bohemian Rhapsody by Freddie Mercury | 63.525 | 36th Place World Class |
| 2018 | Beowulf: The Rise of a Legend Beowulf: The Rise of a Legend by Jake Kaplan | 62.675 | 14th Place Open Class |
| 2018 | Beowulf: The Rise of a Legend Beowulf: The Rise of a Legend by Jake Kaplan | 60.025 | 39th Place World Class |
| 2019 | Gateway to the Unknown Discovery of the Portal, The Conversation, The Veil of Isolation, Teleportation & Our Connected Universe All by Key Poulan, Dan Bryan & Travis Peterman | 64.250 | 12th Place Open Class Finalist |
| 2019 | Gateway to the Unknown Discovery of the Portal, The Conversation, The Veil of Isolation, Teleportation & Our Connected Universe All by Key Poulan, Dan Bryan & Travis Peterman | 62.450 | 35th Place World Class |
| 2020 | Season canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Season canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Season canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2021 | Opted out of competition for the season | Opted out of competition for the season | Opted out of competition for the season |
| 2022 | Use Your Imagination Pure Imagination by Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley / Hymn of Acxiom by Vienna Teng / Original Music by Key Poulan, Dan Bryan & Travis Peterman | 67.625 | 13th Place Open Class |
| 2022 | Use Your Imagination Pure Imagination by Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley / Hymn of Acxiom by Vienna Teng / Original Music by Key Poulan, Dan Bryan & Travis Peterman | 65.825 | 34th Place World Class |
| 2023 | Circus Reversus Blazes and Thunder, Trip to the Circus & Clowns the in Send by Key Poulan & Marc Garside / From Now On (from The Greatest Showman) by Justin Paul & Benj Pasek | 68.650 | 10th Place Open Class Finalist |
| 2023 | Circus Reversus Blazes and Thunder, Trip to the Circus & Clowns the in Send by Key Poulan & Marc Garside / From Now On (from The Greatest Showman) by Justin Paul & Benj Pasek | 67.175 | 31st Place World Class |
| 2024 | Fan the Flame Spark by Ed Sheeran & Aaron Dessner / Raging Out of Control by Michael Terry / Fire of Eternal Glory by Dmitri Shostakovich / We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel | 73.375 | 7th Place Open Class Finalist |
| 2024 | Fan the Flame Spark by Ed Sheeran & Aaron Dessner / Raging Out of Control by Michael Terry / Fire of Eternal Glory by Dmitri Shostakovich / We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel | 71.300 | 28th Place World Class |
| 2025 | Time is...Time{less} Time by Pink Floyd / Ebb & Flow by Michael Terry and Marc Garside / Time in a Bottle by Jim Croce / Clocks by Coldplay | | Open Class |
| 2025 | Time is...Time{less} Time by Pink Floyd / Ebb & Flow by Michael Terry and Marc Garside / Time in a Bottle by Jim Croce / Clocks by Coldplay | | World Class |