JMU Marching Royal Dukes
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhfVMXrFmAM&w=420&h=315]

…and the livin’ is easy.”  Or it was, because summer is almost over and what lies ahead is anything but easy. Now the true work begins, where you take all you learned at DMA® and put it to good use. We filled your leadership tool box with lots of the essentials, and now it’s up to you to build that dream season. You have everything you need to succeed, and with hard work, time, and commitment to your goals you WILL have an amazing season!

Many of our Drum Major Academy® Staff are already back at home working with their own bands, just as you are. And just because we are in work-mode doesn’t mean we don’t want to hear from you! Quite the opposite! Many of you have already begun band camp, and we are excited to hear how you are putting your newly acquired skills to use. Have a great story you can share with us that relates to one of the many Starred Thoughts™ you wrote down? Send it to us at <j_ables@drummajor.org> and we might choose your piece as a feature in a future post!

We want to thank each and every one of you who shared a few days with us this summer at DMA; we look forward to every summer session, and they just keep getting better and better. We wish you the best of luck through band camp and beyond, and look forward to staying in touch with you!

With Pride,

jables
the DMA® Blogger
new_logo_trans.pngWho is this “jables”, the DMA® Blogger? She is Jen Ables and will be taking over blogging duties while our fearless leader, Heidi Sarver, is hard at work in her 20th season with the Fightin’ Blue Hen Marching Band from the University of Delaware! Jen (aka “Glass Bones”) started with DMA® as a student in 1989 and joined the staff in the summer of 1991.  She was Drum Major for Downingtown HS in Downingtown, PA from ’89-’91, and then Drum Major for the Temple University Diamond Marching Band in Philadelphia, PA from ’91-’96, during which time she was banned from ever spinning a mace again (see nickname above).  Jen is currently the Executive Director and Founder of Soldiers Who Salsa, a non-profit based in San Diego, CA.

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Heidi is one of our Lead Clinicians for the George N. Parks Drum Major Academy. In her “spare time,” she’s a Professor of Music and