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Gregory M. Kuzma reflects on his experience performing in a world-class DCI corps

DENVER, CO — The activity is physically demanding and mentally exhausting. The journey brings a full range of emotions from agony to joy. It has the elements of a movie screenplay, but this is not Hollywood.

This is drum and bugle corps.

Author Gregory M. Kuzma has captured a summer on the practice field in his nonfiction book, On the Field from Denver, Colorado ... The Blue Knights! The memoir is Kuzma's reflection of his drum corps summer of '94 when he played mellophone with the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps. The Blue Knights rose to seventh place at that year's Drum Corps International World Championships, the first time the corps had risen that high in the standings.

On the Field provides personal insights on the entire summer, from preparing for all-days to the flight home after championships. The book allows readers to experience the DCI Summer Music Games and the intense preparations it took to compete there.

"My intent was to tell my story so that readers would feel as though they were right there with me," Kuzma said. "After a few days with the Blue Knights, I knew I was going to have an interesting story to tell — I wrote something down every day."

The book is intended for those who enjoy participating in the marching arts, but can be enjoyed by anyone who is curious about the competitive drum corps activity. Themes that emerge from the book include sacrifice, joy, heartbreak, physical agony, lifelong friendships, lessons learned and rewards earned.

Completed and published in 2004, Kuzma's book was one of the first works detailing the personal experience of performing in a World Class DCI drum corps. Kuzma has held book signings at bookstores and drum corps shows to promote its release and has committed to give a percentage of sales to charity. For book purchases in spring 2010, Kuzma has pledged to donate $1 per book toward a DCI member who needs a little extra support for the summer.

Kuzma is a 1998 graduate of the University of Central Florida. He currently resides in Florida where he works as a consultant for the performing arts.

On the Field from Denver, Colorado ... The Blue Knights! is available in paperback (206 pages). For more information about the author or to order an autographed copy of the book, visit GregoryMKuzma.com.


Photo courtesy of the author.

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