YAMAHA SWEEP AT 2002 DRUM CORPS INTERNATIONAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

—Cavaliers take 1st and High Brass; Cadets take 3rd and High Percussion—

GRAND RAPIDS, MI (September 6, 2002)—Yamaha ensemble the Cavaliers of Rosemont, IL, recently earned a record high score of 99.15 to win the 2002 Drum Corps International World Championship. This is the corps' fifth DCI World Championship. The Cavaliers took perfect scores in General Effect Visual, Colorguard, and Music Ensemble, and with this win end the season undefeated. The corps also won the Jim Ott Best Brass Award.

2002 Cavaliers

The Cavaliers, who won their first state title in 1953, have won 14 National Championships and have won every major title available to a junior drum and bugle corps.

"The Cavaliers are the best of the best and it is gratifying to see them enjoy success using Yamaha instruments," says Kurt Witt, wind instrument product manager, Band & Orchestral Division, Yamaha Corporation of America.

"From the first notes performed in 2001 using our new instruments to our Drum Corps International Brass Championship performance in August 2002, the Yamaha Bb brass instruments have added another dimension to the Cavaliers' outdoor brass performance," says Jeff Fiedler of the Cavaliers. "We're overwhelmingly pleased with the instrumentation and the sound we continue to produce and refine."

The Cadets of Bergenfield, NJ, placed third with a score of 96.75 and, for the second year in a row, won the Fred Sanford Award for Best Percussion Performance. They also won the Division I Spirit of Disney Award, Music Percussion and took second in Visual Performance.

The championships took place in Madison, WI, in front of 26,000 fans at Camp Randall Stadium from August 5-10, 2002.

Drum Corps International (DCI) is a nonprofit youth organization serving junior drum and bugle corps across the world. Since its inception 1972, DCI has developed into a powerful youth activity with numerous influences on the world's drum and bugle corps, marching bands, and related activities.

For more information, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Band & Orchestral Division, 3445 East Paris Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49518; call (616) 940-4900; send e-mail to infostation@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamaha.com/band.