Sponsors

GPG Music partners with music educators to help inspire the next generation by composing music that ignites students’ passions. The company is the premiere source for award-winning pageantry music and design for marching band, inspirational concert music, and powerful, captivating music for percussion. Its staff of composers is dedicated to providing reasonably-priced, custom compositions for all ability levels. Its balanced creative and educational focus will allow ensembles to reach their fullest potential based on the specific strengths of their performers.

Founding Partners

The College Band Directors National Association is a grassroots organization that serves its membership in a myriad of ways. At its inception, CBDNA sought to address common issues facing the college band director, raising the artistry of its conductors and developing a repertoire of music distinct from the orchestral world and traditional marches. One of its early missions was to commission renowned composers who had never written for band, and great new pieces were composed by Ingolf Dahl, Aaron Copland, Howard Hanson, and Ernst Krenek, to name just a few. These efforts resulted in a proliferation of consortia by band conductors that continues to this day, adding to a vibrant repertoire of new music for band.

CollegeMarching.com is the home of College Marching Bands from across the United States. Celebrating the pageantry, tradition and excellence of College Marching Bands, the company features news, shows, and photos of your favorite college bands.

StylePlus is the premier manufacturer and wholesaler of Marching Band and Color Guard Supplies in the United States for more than 40 years.

Halftime Magazine®, which premiered in July 2007, is the only lifestyle publication that presents the sights, sounds and spirit of the marching arts in a highly visual format. Our mission involves education, entertainment, and inspiration for our readers who are marching instructors, students, parents, alumni, and fans. This bimonthly magazine showcases marching participants’ shared experiences about competitions, school spirit, and band traditions with profiles, first-person accounts, and thought-provoking feature stories. The publication also provides tips to enhance students’ musical and marching skills as well as connects the band community through news, events calendars, and product reviews. It covers high school marching band, college marching band, drum corps, winter guard, indoor drumline, indoor winds, and all-age ensembles.

Guard Closet, now owned and operated by Jeremy Williams, was founded in December 2001 after recognizing that a source for used color guard equipment was needed in marching band, indoor guard, and drum and bugle corps activities. While the company is a for-profit business, the primary goal is to help marching arts organizations (mostly band booster groups) recoup material costs. Guard Closet allows equipment to be marketed all over the world, providing an economical way for schools to purchase equipment and to recoup money on equipment that would either be stored in closets or disposed. Since its new ownership, Guard Closet has greatly expanded its offerings into new accessories and costuming with Brand Managers servicing clients all across the United States and beyond.

Since 1887, when it began producing reed organs, the Yamaha Corporation in Japan (then Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd.) has grown to become the world’s largest manufacturer of a full line of musical instruments and a leading producer of audio/visual products, semiconductors and other computer-related products, sporting goods, home appliances and furniture, specialty metals, machine tools, and industrial robots. Established in 1960 as Yamaha International Corporation, Yamaha Corporation of America (YCA) offers a large assortment of high-quality musical instruments and audio products to U.S. customers. Yamaha is committed to empower people to “Make Waves” with their sound and music.

FlipFolder allows band directors to share music virtually with band members through their cell phones. The app replaces the traditional physical setup, comprised of flip folder, sheet music, and portable music stand.

DeMoulin Bros. and Co. is the oldest and largest manufacturer of music performance group apparel in the world. The company manufactures an endless range of uniforms for marching bands, concert bands, color guard, choir, and many other music-related performance groups. The products offered include custom and in-stock marching band uniforms, formal wear for men and women, guard uniforms, and the largest selection of accessory products found anywhere. By combining experience and craftsmanship in garment manufacturing with the most current design elements and quality standards, DeMoulin Bros. and Co. continues to lead the industry in all fields.

Cousin’s Concert Attire offers fashion-forward concert performance apparel and concert uniforms to make your ensemble’s participants look like true stars. The company is dedicated to providing an efficient, personal, and friendly ordering experience. After opening in 1996, Cousin’s has developed a wonderful reputation serving more than 10,000 schools throughout the United States and Canada.

FansRaise is the first-of-its-kind crowdfunding platform specifically built for the performing arts. Its team of passionate makers and doers are obsessed with creating positive change in the performing and pageantry arts space. Through the use of deep social integration, the FansRaise platform allows band, theater, choir, orchestra, and indoor pageantry directors the opportunity to leverage the social networks of members and performers to create undying support.