Everyone deserves the right to pursue musical opportunities, regardless of disabilities. United Sound and several drum corps want to showcase that belief during four performances this summer.
Founded in 2014, United Sound is an instrumental music club for students with disabilities and their typical peers who develop a mentorship relationship. The not-for-profit serves more than 2,000 students at 85 locations across the country, says Julie Duty, United Sound executive director.
United Sound musicians will perform with The Blue Devils during encore performances in San Bernardino, California, on June 30 and in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on July 26. They will perform with The Cavaliers in Mesquite, Texas, on July 22 and with Carolina Crown in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on July 28.
The Blue Devils will create original songs that will be learned by United Sound musicians at their respective schools and then performed alongside corps members.
“[It’s important] for us all to take a step back and remember why we care about music as much as we do and that everybody belongs,” Duty says. “There’s nobody that’s so different from you that you couldn’t be their friend and you couldn’t include them, from marching with The Blue Devils to going to a movie on a Saturday night.”