Kelsey, Jerry *

Kelsey, Jerry *

Jerry Kelsey played three different horns, soprano, mellophone and baritone, from 1961 to 1971 with St. Joseph’s of Batavia. He was drum major of Auburn Purple Lancers in 1973. In the years since 1978, he has been brass arranger for some of the best-known corps in the country: the Crossmen, Suncoast Sound, Rochester Crusaders, Rochester Empire Statesmen, Racine Kilties, Boston Crusaders, Reading Buccaneers, Capital Regiment, San Francisco Renegades and Madison Scouts. He was brass arranger and instructor in 1998, when the Empire Statesmen became the only drum corps in history to win the triple crown: the World Show Band Championship, with the highest score ever recorded in that contest, in London, England, the Drum Corps Associates (DCA) title and the American Legion (AL) championship. He first proposed that Drum Corps International (DCI) horn lines convert to three-valve instruments. Three-valve horns are now the standard for the activity. He has served as program and staff coordinator for Capital Regiment and Racine Kilties since 2000. Since beginning to judge in 1974, he has served with the New York State Judges Federation, the Southern States Association and the Indiana School of Music.