The Madison Scouts announce auditions for the 75th anniversary season, including a virtual live-video audition process intended to help reduce the overall member costs associated with marching in a World Class drum corps. Details and dates are available at www.MadisonScouts.com.

For new brass applicants, the auditions will utilize a virtual live-video audition process. The auditions will be conducted via the Oovoo video conferencing platform and will provide applicants 15 minutes on one-on-one time with both a brass and visual instructor for evaluation. The live-video auditions will be conducted throughout October and November with successful applicants then being asked to attend the December 21-23 callback camp in the Indianapolis area.Battery and front ensemble auditions will be conducted on November 17-18 in the Indianapolis area with callbacks at the December 21-23 camp. Color guard auditions will be conducted at the December 21-23 camp to be held in the Indianapolis area."A major issue in the drum corps activity is the escalating cost to participate," says Executive Director Chris Komnick. "DCI conducts member surveys and we've talked with our guys as well. What we consistently hear are concerns regarding escalating costs, travel, and time.""The Madison Scouts are making a major commitment to help reduce the overall costs for young musicians to participate in Drum Corps International through a few initiatives," continued Komnick. "First, we will not be increasing our tuition costs. We believe we deliver an extremely valuable experience for the price of our tuition. As well, our tuition is all-inclusive. We do not tack on a lot of extra costs such as camp fees, uniform rental, equipment fees, and such.""Secondly, we are aggressively implementing virtualized rehearsal technologies to help reduce the costs of participation. We have continued to implement SmartMusic throughout our brass program and this year, through our virtual live-video audition process, a young musician can dramatically reduce their costs associated with auditioning and participating in the Scouts."The 2013 season will mark the 75th Anniversary for the Madison Scouts and their program is title "Corps of Brothers - 75 Years of Survival" and features selections from Modest Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain" and Rodgers & Hammerstein’s "You’ll Never Walk Alone".