My name is Nathan Kleinknecht and I am a musician from South Florida. I was recently selected to march the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle corps for the 2024 Drum Corps International competitive season. While I am honored and excited to have been offered this opportunity, the costs to be part of such an organization are demanding in every sense of the word.

Drum corps is an activity that combines music, dance, and military finesse in one amazing and entertaining package. The Santa Clara Vanguard in particular has been one of the oldest and most successful groups to be part of the history of drum corps. Here is a clip from one of their productions:

This performance won the organization 1st place that year.

This fundraiser has been created so that I may be able to pay for the opportunity to march this amazing activity with a very storied and decorated organization.

In total, I am being asked to pay $5,300 in fees for the ability to march in this ensemble for the 2024 season. That price is not something I can pay completely out of pocket. All donations from this campaign will contribute towards paying this fee.

As a career musician, being part of this ensemble will help me grow as not only a player, but an educator. After spending the summer touring with the Santa Clara Vanguard, I will go back to school at the University of North Florida to finish a music education degree in order to start my career as a school music teacher. There is a rich lineage of skilled educators and musicians that have come from the drum corps activity in general and the Vanguard organization in particular. Many have actually returned to the activity to teach other organizations along with serving their own communities and schools back at home. Even without drum corps experience, I've been able to teach many bright young minds in the world of marching and music with some amazing and intelligent people.

I want to continue contributing and learning in this activity and art form through the experience of marching a drum corps season.

Here's what a season of drum corps consists of:

Being able to do a season of this activity would be a dream come true for me! Because I am 21 years old and will turn 22 before June 1st of next year, this will unfortunately be my only year to be eligible to march a Drum Corps International ensemble, so any support I can get is greatly appreciated.

ALL FUNDS DONATED WILL GO TOWARDS PAYING THE UP-FRONT COSTS OF DRUM CORPS