The Academy

Other Names:Arizona Academy

Tempe, AZ United States
Founded: 2001

Active Junior
World Class

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Results from final championship competition of the year Position: 15 Score: 84.300
Repertoire for 2019
The Bridge Between
Dance 1. First Movement by Oliver Davis
Equilibrium by Paul Lovatt-Cooper
London Bridge Is Falling Down by Traditional
Bridge Over Troubled Water by Paul Simon
Horizons by Paul Lovatt-Cooper
Original Music by Steven Vento

The Academy is a World Class competitive junior drum and bugle corps based in Tempe, Arizona.

The corps is sponsored by the Arizona Academy of the Performing Arts and was originally called The Academy Brass & Percussion Ensemble. Planning for the corps began in 2001 with the formation of a board of directors. Performing standstill concerts in 2001 and 2002, the corps added a bit of marching in 2003 and a color guard in 2004.

The corps' first competitive performance took place on June 19, 2004, in Stockton, California, where the corps received a score of 64.30. Although the corps' 2004 season and tour were relatively short, they were undefeated in Division II during that summer. The group's high score for the season was 75.65. Academy's uniforms were all black, with a large black "A" on a red background on their back. The 117-member corps performed a program of brass chamber music in their inaugural Division II competition.

A unique fundraising inducement, in a program called "Be Instrumental," was the offer to engrave benefactors' names on the brass instruments bought with the benefactors' $2500 donations.

The Academy made its first appearance at the DCI World Championships in 2006, finishing their third consecutive season undefeated in Division II with the DCI Division II World Championship crown.

In 2007, the corps moved up to Division I, placing 13th and raising expectations that they would be the next corps to make its first Finals appearance. However, the next year (the first under the name World Class), the corps missed advancing to semifinals, finishing in 18th while ony 17 advanced. The Academy has made World Class semifinals every year since 2009, and in 2016, the corps finally reached its first Finals, placing 11th with the crowd-pleasing "Drum Corpse Bride" program.

The parent organization Arizona Academy of the Performing Arts also sponsors summer and winter color guard programs for youth aged 5-14 and Phenom, a summer marching band that participates in DCI's SoundSport.

[Arizona Academy of the Performing Arts; Drum Corps World (multiple issuae), A History of Drum & Bugle Corps, Vol. 2; Steve Vickers, ed.; DCI Today, Spring '04, p.13; Dave Strickler; Drum Corps Internationa]

Members (18)

Member Name	Section	Years Involved
Bierwas, Danny	Drumline	2004
Blum, Ashlin	Trumpet	2004
Boe, Zachary	Trumpet	2007
Brewster, Seth	Trumpet	2014 to 2015; 2017
Cobbett, Jared	Contra	2006
Cobbett, Jared	BottomLine	2006 to 2009
Cohen-Joppa, Emma	Brass - Baritone	2004
Gryniewicz, Tony	Contra	2003 to 2004
Henderson, Ben	Mellophone	2004
Lee, Alex	Tenors	2003 to 2004
McCrea, Drew	Percussion- Bass Line	2003
Mead, Ryan	Euphonium	2016 to 2017
Orrantia, Danny	Drum Major	2003
Pasteur, Chris	Baritone	2002
Ronan, Kevin	Contra	2001 to 2003
Shillings, Erin	Pit	2001 to 2004
Simon, Natan	trumpet	2003
Sutton, Jonathan	Bass	2003