To:               Academy Fans!

From:          Thomas R. Stillwell, Vice President

Arizona Academy for the Performing Arts

Re:              ACADEMY IS ON NATIONAL TOUR!

I have terrific news.  Today our drum corps competed, for the very first time, against the full field of DCI corps, at the Southwest Championships in San Antonio, Texas.  I hope you joined me in watching the show on live webcast, at www.dci.org.  Our fingers are crossed that Academy’s score will entitle them to compete again tonight, as one of the four corps that will get to go up against the top eight corps from last year’s world championship!  (If they do, and you want to watch, you’ll still have time to order the webcast.)

The Academy is making history with their success on the field, but even off the field, we are admired by the drum corps world.  One of the observations consistently made is that The Academy is being managed responsibly, so that we don’t fall into the financial problems that have doomed many corps in the past.  As Vice President of the Board, I can tell you that we are committed to continuing a policy of fiscal responsibility, while Mark Richardson continues to teach artistic and personal excellence to our young people.

We’ve had some tremendous highs already this year, but we also face some challenges.  Our expenses for touring have exceeded budget, despite our best efforts, and our revenue from ticket sales for our upcoming August shows is down.  We need your help.  Please make every effort to attend both the August 2 show in Tucson (it’s on the north side of town…not a bad drive) and the August 4 DCI Regional show in Sun Devil Stadium.  Please bring friends, or buy tickets for people who has never seen DCI.  Share the excitement and help us grow our fan base, and in doing so, you will also be helping The Academy through ticket and souvenir sales at those events.

If you cannot make it to DCI Championships in Pasadena, August 9-11, the Tucson and Tempe shows will be your last chances to see the group that has the drum corps world buzzing.  Thank you for all you’ve already done, and for anything you can do now!