Wikipedia / Drum Corps International World Class Champions
Wikipedia / Drum Corps International World Class Champions
At the end of the summer season, Drum Corps International (DCI) World Class corps compete to earn the title of DCI World Class Champion (formerly DCI Division I World Champion). The championships consist of three rounds—Preliminaries, Semifinals, and Finals—held on the first or second Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of August. Through 2010, all active World Class corps (21 corps as of 2024) competed in the Quarterfinals, with the top 17 advancing to the Semifinals. The top 12 corps from Semifinals then advanced to the Finals. Since the 2011 season, all active DCI corps (Open and World Class) have been permitted to compete for the championship. In this format, about 40 corps compete in Preliminaries, while the top 25 advances to Semifinals, with the top-scoring 12 advances to Finals. The champion is determined by the overall high score in the Finals competition. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the DCI World Championship and tour were cancelled. In 2021, to mark the return of drum corps, there were no scores given during the season, and the season concluded with a three-day celebratory event at Lucas Oil Stadium consisting of exhibition performances.
Only 11 corps have ever won the title (including 3 ties):
Blue Devils – 21 titles (2 ties - 1996, 1999)
The Cadets – 10 titles (1 tie - 2000)
The Cavaliers – 7 titles (1 tie - 2000)
Santa Clara Vanguard – 7 titles (1 tie - 1999)
Bluecoats – 3 titles
Madison Scouts – 2 titles
Phantom Regiment – 2 titles (1 tie - 1996)
Anaheim Kingsmen – 1 title
Boston Crusaders – 1 title
Carolina Crown – 1 title
Star of Indiana – 1 title
The Anaheim Kingsmen, Star of Indiana, and The Cadets are no longer active.
Year | Champion & Repertoire | Score |
2026 |
Gravity and Grace
| 99.100 |
2025 |
BOOM
| 98.425 |
2024 |
Change is Everything
| 98.750 |
2023 |
The Cut-Outs
| 98.975 |
2022 |
Tempus Blue
| 98.750 |
2021 | No scored competitions |
2020 | Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic |
2019 |
Ghostlight
| 98.325 |
2018 |
Santa Clara Vanguard (Santa Clara, California)
Babylon
| 98.625 |
2017 |
Blue Devils (Concord, California)
Metamorph
| 98.538 |
2016 |
Down Side Up
| 97.650 |
2015 |
Ink
| 97.650 |
2014 |
Felliniesque
Act 1 - Fellini's Religion
|
Act 2 - Fellini's Circus
|
Act 3 - Fellini's Fantasy
| 99.650 |
2013 |
e=mc2
| 98.300 |
2012 |
Blue Devils (Concord, California)
Cabaret Voltaire
| 98.700 |
2011 |
The Cadets (Allentown, Pennsylvania)
Between Angels and Demons
| 98.350 |
2010 |
Blue Devils (Concord, California)
Through a Glass, Darkly
| 98.900 |
2009 |
Blue Devils (Concord, California)
1930
| 99.050 |
2008 |
Phantom Regiment (Rockford, Illinois)
Spartacus
| 98.125 |
2007 |
Blue Devils (Concord, California)
Winged Victory
| 98.000 |
2006 |
The Cavaliers (Rosemont, Illinois)
Machine
| 97.200 |
2005 |
The Cadets (Allentown, Pennsylvania)
The Zone: Dreamscapes in Four Parts with a Door
| 99.150 |
2004 |
The Cavaliers (Rosemont, Illinois)
007
| 98.700 |
2003 |
Blue Devils (Concord, California)
The Phenomenon of Cool
| 98.800 |
2002 |
Frameworks
| 99.150 | |
2001 | The Cavaliers (Rosemont, Illinois)
| 98.350 |
2000 |
We Are the Future
|
The Cavaliers (Rosemont, Illinois)
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
Richard Saucedo Original Composition
97.650 | |
1999 |
Rhythms...At the Edge of Time
|
Santa Clara Vanguard (Santa Clara, California)
Inventions for a New Millennium: Music by Samuel Barber and Frank Ticheli
The Canyon
Blue Shades
98.400 | |
1998 |
Jan Van der Roost's Stonehenge
| 98.400 |
1997 |
As Time Goes By...
| 98.400 |
1996 |
Club Blue: A Gangster Chronicle
|
Phantom Regiment (Rockford, Illinois)
A Defiant Heart: The Music of Dmitri Shostakovich
Fourth Ballet Suite
First Symphony, Second Movement
Fifth Symphony, Fourth Movement
97.400 | |
1995 |
| 98.300 |
1994 |
| 98.400 |
1993 |
In the Spring, At the Time When Kings Go Off to War
| 97.400 |
1992 |
Revolution and Triumph
| 97.500 |
1991 |
Roman Images: The Music of Ottorino Respighi
| 97.000 |
1990 |
A Bernstein Celebration
97.700 | |
1989 |
| 98.800 | |
1988 | Madison Scouts (Madison, Wisconsin)
| 97.100 |
1987 | 97.900 | |
1986 | Blue Devils (Concord, California)
| 98.400 |
1985 | Garfield Cadets (Garfield, New Jersey)
| 98.400 |
1984 | Garfield Cadets (Garfield, New Jersey)
| 98.000 |
1983 | 94.400 | |
1982 | Blue Devils (Concord, California)
| 95.250 |
1981 | Santa Clara Vanguard (Santa Clara, California)
| 94.000 |
1980 | Blue Devils (Concord, California)
| 90.600 |
1979 | Blue Devils (Concord, California)
| 93.550 |
1978 | Santa Clara Vanguard (Santa Clara, California)
| 91.550 |
1977 | Blue Devils (Concord, California)
| 92.050 |
1976 | Blue Devils (Concord, California)
| 92.700 |
1975 | Madison Scouts (Madison, Wisconsin)
| 92.500 |
1974 | Santa Clara Vanguard (Santa Clara, California)
| 89.500 |
1973 | Santa Clara Vanguard (Santa Clara, California)
| 88.650 |
1972 | Anaheim Kingsmen (Anaheim, California)
| 88.100 |