about cape
Cavaliers Arts, Performance, & Education, Inc. is a multi-faceted performing arts organization, serving a diverse population across multiple ensembles. Each ensemble promotes our mission: “Inspiring and developing young people of all backgrounds to achieve excellence in the marching arts and to become leaders and champions through education, camaraderie, and a life-changing culture of belonging”. With a deep history starting in 1948 with the formation of The Cavaliers Drum & Bugle Corps, the organization has evolved into its current form comprised of 3 major performing units, described below.
The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps
Boy Scout Troop 111
The Cavaliers were founded in 1948 as the drum and bugle corps for Boy Scout Troop 111 in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood by the troop’s leader, Donald W. Warren. Today, they are a world-class competitive performance ensemble attracting hundreds of auditionees every year. Each summer, their 165-member ensemble along with 50+ instructional staff embark on a competitive tour, attending roughly 25 competitions across the US and culminating at Drum Corps International World Championships in Indianapolis in August.
Over their 75 years, they have proudly received numerous accolades, including 7 Drum Corps International World Championships, and several top placements in Brass, Percussion, and Visual captions. The Cavaliers are one of the most decorated and easily recognizable drum corps in the activity today.
chromium winds
Chromium Winds is a co-ed indoor marching wind ensemble that participates and competes in WGI competitions. Chromium has received the title of WGI Sport of the Arts Winds Independent Open Class Champion four times, and has been a finalist each year they’ve competed. Chromium is under the direction of Bobby Bonslater, a Chicago native who specializes in music education for underserved communities.
King Cobras
The King Cobras Drumline launched in 2022 as a way for students of any ability, including differently abled or challenged students, to participate in a music ensemble and learn to play drums. This group performs on Yamaha drums to pre-recorded music, developing hand-eye coordination, bilateral coordination, motor planning, grasping skills, and attention skills. Most importantly, they have a ton of fun while doing it!
Due to the popularity and success of the King Cobras Drumline, the King Cobras Color Guard launched in the fall of 2023. CAPE plans to continue serving this demographic of student through the continued expansion of these programs across Greater Chicago and beyond.
A Legacy of Excellence
Throughout our long history, CAP&E has presented a number of educational music ensembles, each with their own legacy of excellence and championships beyond those that are active today. Each of these impressive and notable groups in our history has contributed to what CAP&E is today.
Cavaliers Winter Guard
As charter members of Winter Guard International (WGI) and longtime members and supporters of the Midwest Color Guard Circuit (MWCGC), The Cavaliers have an impressive history in the winter guard activity. The Cavaliers 'Comp' Guard competed in the MWCGC during many of the pre-WGI years bringing the guard into national prominence by becoming the 1964 Midwest Circuit Champions and competing throughout the Midwest periodically during the late 1960's and early 1970's. The Cavaliers Winter Guard competed in WGI from 1978 through 1983, as well as 1985 and 1988, winning a total of five medals: one (1) bronze in 1980, one (1) silver in 1988 and three (3) gold in 1981, 1982 and 1983.
Cavalier Cadet Corps
While ensemble began as a developmental ensemble to prepare young members for drum corps, the Cavalier Cadets quickly rose to become champions themselves. They earned the Cadet Corps International Championship in 1982, and continued operating for much of the 1980s. This ensemble developed many of the members and instructors that created the foundation for the corps rapid rise in the mid 1980’s to the dominant championship years through their success in the early 2000s and beyond.
Classic Cavaliers
Green Thunder and Cavaliers Indoor Percussion
We March Along And Sing This Song…
"I remember it as if it was yesterday, pulling the green satin blouse over my head, fastening my chrome buckle, carefully placing my painted white sticks and plumbed black shako on my green sparkle snare drum. Once the ritual was completed, I walked to the gathering circle of Cavaliers brothers, placing my hand on the shoulder of the Cavalier next to me. Together, we stand the opening words of our corps song, “We are the corps the Cavaliers”.
-Gary W. Moore, Award winning author of Playing with the Enemy: A prodigy, a World at War, and a Filed of Broken Dreams …and a proud Cavalier" as published in Building the Green Machine by Colt Foutz.
