BD Performing Arts

BD Performing Arts is the corporate entity that manages several performance groups for young people in Concord, California. Included in these groups are the three Blue Devils Drum & Bugle Corps, designated "A", "B", and "C"; the Blue Devils International Corps; the Blue Devils Open Class, A Class, and Special Needs Winter Guards; the Diablo Wind Symphony; and BD Entertainment.

In 1957, Tony and Ann Odello and the Concord VFW post assumed control of the Martinettes, a defunct drum corps and drill team. They reorganized the unit as The Blue Devils, taking the name from the V.F.W.'s color (blue) and a local landmark, Mt. Diablo (devil). In its first season, the group performed as an all-boy drum corps with an all-girl drill team. In 1958, the Blue Devils added glockenspiels, becoming a drum and bell corps, while the girls became a separate a baton twirling troupe, the Majorettes. In 1961, the Blue Devils added a flag section to the unit that was then competing in the state's Junior division. Jerry Seawright succeeded Tony Odello as corps manager in 1964. In 1968, the drum and bell corps moved into Senior Division competition, becoming the Blue Devils "A" corps, and a new Blue Devils "B" Junior corps was begun. With all units of the Blue Devils organization enjoying success, the decision was made to transform the "A" drum and bell corps into a drum and bugle corps (D&B).

In 1970, a group of ten buglers was added to the Blue Devils drums and flags, and the corps entered its first competition as the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps. In 1972, the unit advanced from Class B competition to Class A and made its first trip on tour outside California, competing in the Pacific Northwest. In 1973 the organization incorporated as the Blue Devils Parents Association, a California non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation, and that summer, the Blue Devils "A" corp made its first national tour, concluding with its first appearance at the Drum Corps International World Championships in Whitewater, Wisconsin, where the corps finished 24th of 48 corps and earned Associate membership in DCI. Also in 1973, the Junior drum and bell corps became the Blue Devils B D&B Corps and the younger Blue Devils C D&B Corps was formed.

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