Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps

Mandarins
Drum and Bugle Corps

Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps logo
Location	Sacramento, CA
Division	World Class
Founded	1963
Director	JW Koester
Championship titles	Division III 1987, '88, '92, '96-99 Division II 2001
Uniform	(2016) Deep purple fading to black cadet 3 golden chinese frogs Red sash Long purple sleeve and black gloves Black pants Black shoes Purple/Black shako w/black bill & plume Golden chain Golden Mandarins '\\\ on shako

The Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps is a World Class (formerly Division I) competitive junior drum and bugle corps. Based in Sacramento, California, the Mandarins is a member corps of Drum Corps International (DCI).

The corps was founded in 1963 as the Ye Wah Drum and Lyre Corps, an activity for youth of Asian-American heritage. Roy Wong, Frank Lim, Thomas Fong, and Yuk Fong had originally approached the Sacramento Chinese community with the intent of starting a drum and bugle corps to perform at the many festivals and parades held each year in the Sacramento area. After struggling to get underway, the corps made its debut on the Fourth of July, 1963. A color guard was added to the corps in 1964 and became a competitive unit in 1965.

Entering the field as a competition corps, the group changed its name to the Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps in 1967. The corps competed only in Northern California until making its first trip to Southern California in 1970. Since that first trip, the corps has represented its community, Sacramento, and California around the country and abroad. Mandarins appeared in the Taiwan presidential inaugural ceremonies in 1972 and '78. In 1974, they went to Hawaii to march in the King Kamehameha Parade. In 1975, they made their first trip to the Pacific Northwest and Canada. They made their first appearance at the DCI World Championships at Denver in 1978.

In 1983, under the leadership of Executive Director Ray Mar, the corps began working toward becoming a highly successful competitive corps, and they have been regular competitors in DCI since 1986, winning Class A60/Division III championships in 1987, '88, '92, and '96 through '99 and the Division II title in 2001. Mandarins moved into Division I (now World Class) in 2003, and their highest finish has been 17th place, earned in 2005, 2006, and 2016.