Carolina Crown

https://www.carolinacrown.org

The Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps is a junior drum corps located in Fort Mill, South Carolina and currently hold 1 DCI World Championship title.

## Corps History

The Carolina Crown organization as founded in 1988 as the "Charlotte Drum Corps Association" as a group of local drum corps fans who gathered occasionally to talk about the activity and watch show recordings. The group hosted two drum corps shows, those being the Southern Gold Classic and NightBEAT. However due to financial issues both of these shows eventually went into inactivity. When the NightBEAT committee met with the Charlotte Parks and Recreation department in 1988 NightBEAT to discuss a payment plan, NightBEAT offered a sponsorship for future shows.

In 1989 a gift of $1000 was offered by the Queen City Optimists with the intention of starting a performance group out of it. After discussions was initially centered on starting a drumline, the idea grew and then the Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps was founded. Buying a complete set of drums from a defunct drum and bulge corps, upon arrival the corps found out the drums were seriously damaged, which is when John Cummings of Ludwig Drums offered to repair the drums as part of an informal sponsorship of the corps.

The name of the corps; "Carolina Crown" was adopted as the corps ambition recognize the Carolina States while still recognizing Charlotte, which has a crown in its logo. In the fall of 1989 the groups leadership met, which consisted of several young band directors who were also alumni of the Suncoast Sound, Spirit of Atlanta, and the Madison Scouts, those corps which told them of their efforts to start a new corps in the Carolinas region. After buying "new" horns from the defunct corps, the California Dons, Carolina Crown began recruiting members. The corps later formed a partnership with the Mecklenburg Council of the Boy Scouts of America as Explorer Post #588, which aided the corps by finding space to hold auditions, camps and rehearsals.

In 1990 fielding a corps of 61 members, Carolina Crown opted to compete in DCI Open Class (now World) however, the corps was out-classed by other larger corps in the class but was also beat at prelims by corps that had advanced from A Class and A60 Class. After winning Division II Champion in 1993, Carolina Crown opted to compete in Division I starting in 1994. That year, the corps finished 17th in DCI Semifinals at Boston. In 1995, only in its sixth ever season, Carolina Crown ended up in finals, placing 11th overall, the corps was to be a finalist up untill 2002, but regain their finals placement from 2003 onwards.

### Carolina Crown 2013

Crown's production e=mc^2 won DCI's 2013 Champion title, with the first and only perfect brass score in finals history to date. In later years, Carolina Crown continued to be a fan favorite corps, coming close to winning DCI's 2015 Champion title with their production; "Inferno" but sadly, being beaten by the Blue Devils in finals. One of the many ways Carolina Crown has continued to be a fan favorite is the use of drill. Like some other corps, Carolina Crown has an iconic drill moment, where the "Crown" symbol from their logo is represented on field.

## Notable Events/Shows

1993 "La Fiesta Mexicans" - 1994 "A Southwestern Impression" -Carolina Crown moved from Division II & III (Equivalent to Open Class today) up to Division I (Equivalent to World Class today).

2013 "e=mc^2" - Currently Carolina Crowns only championship title, and highest scoring show ever seen in Crown History.

## Corps Summary (1990-2023)

The Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps competed in DCI Open class in 1990 and 1991, DCI Division I 1992 - 2007, and DCI World Class 2008<. These are the same tier, just renamed.

In 1991, Carolina Crown competed in DCI A Class, DCI Division II & III 1992-1993, these are the same tier and have since been renamed to Open Class

## Caption Awards

At the annual DCI World Championships, DCI presents caption awards to the corps with the highest average scores between prelims, semifinals and finals. With five captions, the Carolina Crown have won the following

### Jim Ott Best Brass Performance Award

* 2009
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2016
* 2017
* 2019
* 2023

### John Brazale Best Visual Performance Award

* 2012
* 2013
* 2016

### Don Angelica Best General Effect Award

* 2013
* 2015