WEST BERLIN, NJ – March 14, 2023 – The Board of Directors of Jersey Surf, Inc., the not-for-profit parent organization of The Jersey Surf World Class Drum Corps, announced today that the scope of the program’s operations for the 2023 Summer Tour will shift from a 10-week competitive drum corps program to a slimmed-down, regionally-focused 7-week tour. 

“Our goal is to provide young adults with an outstanding opportunity to grow as performers, as leaders and as people,” says Dr. Julie Hill, chair of the Jersey Surf Board of Directors. “By adjusting our tour for the coming season – with the assistance of Drum Corps International and its tour event partners – to achieve a more regional focus, we will be positioning our organization to fully deliver against its mission while also lowering some of the barriers to participation which have been encountered by our would-be participants in the past few seasons. These include our pre-tour move-in date, the overall length of their time commitment and total cost of participation.”

The reimagined 2023 summer tour plan will, among other benefits, better accommodate later school dismissal dates for many of the students participating in the Jersey Surf program, enabling the corps to begin pre-tour rehearsals with everyone present – which has been an increasing challenge as the corps membership has expanded well beyond its traditional Southern New Jersey / suburban Philadelphia home base area in recent years.

“Like many extracurricular activities in the post-COVID period, the Jersey Surf has been faced with significant challenges reengaging high school and college students, aged 16-21, in our organization,” added Rich Klimowicz, Jersey Surf director of operations. “By starting a little later and keeping our travel focused primarily on the I-95 corridor for a portion of the tour prior to heading to Indianapolis for the 2023 DCI World Championships, we will compress the tour itinerary while continuing to provide exciting educational opportunities for aspiring world class performers.

Klimowicz added that this more focused scheduling format “will help the organization realize financial savings in key areas such as transportation, food service and the rental of rehearsal and housing locations that will in turn facilitate manageable costs of participation for our members.”

In this updated arrangement, the Jersey Surf will start its performance season with a mid-July exhibition performance on the all-age Drum Corps Associates event calendar, prior to performing at DCI tour stops throughout the eastern seaboard from mid-July through mid-August. The tour will include some ten July events including NightBEAT in Winston-Salem NC (July 30) and additional perennial favorites such as Annapolis, MD (Aug. 1), a Surf-hosted event at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ (Aug 2), Allentown, PA (Aug 5) and Edinboro, PA (Aug 7) prior to heading to Indianapolis for the 2023 Drum Corps International World Championships.

“We are still actively and methodically recruiting brass musicians and color guard performers for the 2023 tour,” said Assistant Corps Director and Tour Manager Stephanie Dutcher. ”We have been enjoying a strong winter rehearsal season with an excellent team of new and returning members and educators, and are looking forward to continuing the momentum into the spring and summer seasons with an even larger group of passionate people. 

“With just a few more brass players and color guard performers, the Jersey Surf will again achieve its goal of providing an excellent experience for our performers, staff and volunteers as we continue to share our love of performance with the world.”

Revised Jersey Surf 2023 Tour:

Jul 4, 2023 – 4th of July Parades, Philadelphia/Southern NJ Area
Jul 15, 2023– Reading Buccaneer Classic, Landisville, PA (DCA Exhibition)
Jul 19, 2023– DCI Richmond VA area
Jul 21, 2023– White Rose Classic, Dover, PA
Jul 22, 2023– Summer Thunder, Sewell, NJ
Jul 23, 2023– DCI Connecticut, Fairfield, CT area
Jul 25, 2023– DCI New Hampshire, Manchester, NH
Jul 26, 2023– DCI Syracuse, Syracuse, NY area
Jul 28, 2023– Music on the Mountain, Sheffield, PA
Jul 30, 2023– NightBEAT, Winston-Salem, NC
Aug 1, 2023– Drum Corps: An American Tradition, Annapolis, MD
Aug 2, 2023– DCI Glassboro, Glassboro, NJ
Aug 5, 2023– DCI Eastern Classic, Allentown, PA
Aug 7, 2023– Lake Erie Fanfare, Edinboro, PA
Aug 8, 2023– DCI World Championships Prelims
Aug 9, 2023– DCI World Championships Semi Finals

Mission Statement
of The Jersey Surf, Inc., a New Jersey Non-Profit Corporation

The Jersey Surf is a non-profit corporation, dedicated to providing quality educational opportunities for young people in the performing arts.

These opportunities will occur in an environment which promotes the social and artistic development of the organization’s participants through creative programs, designed with the highest possible quality of leadership & instruction.