Avant Garde, was a junior drum corps out of Saratoga County in New York.
It was the result of a merger of the Bethesda Emerald Knights and the Speigleaires in 1975.
The Corps’ Director was Jeff Perkins. Jerry Kaiser was the drum major from 1976 through 1981 when he aged out.
In its first year of competition (1975), the Corps placed 25th at DCI Nationals.
Avant Garde’s best placement at DCI’s was in 1984.
The Corps’ last appearance at DCI’s was in 1985.
During its competitive life, Avant Garde wore three different uniforms… black cadet jackets with green trim from 1975 to 1977; light green “SCV” style jackets with “Aussie” style hats and then shakos from 1978 to 1981; and bright yellow Seneca Optimists cadet jackets from 1982 through 1985.
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The hope is to populate this page with pictures, audio and video of the original corps.
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Here are the MP3s of the complete shows from all 11 seasons!!
1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985
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And here are a few video clips – the openers performed at the DCI Semifinals…
1982 1984 1985
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Here are the few pictures I have so far…
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