John Kreitzer has been involved with drum and bugle corps and marching bands for more than 40 years. Following his time as a brass performer, he began instructing many drum corps and high school bands. He still plays tuba with large groups and smaller ensembles in central and southern Delaware. He began judging in 1978 with the Mid Atlantic Judges Association, then the National Judges Association. He began judging with Drum Corps Associates (DCA) in 1985, serving as DCA Judging Coordinator since his appointment to the position in 2008, just prior to DCA directors considering a new judging system at the 2009 Rules Congress. Under his direction, the judging administration worked with corps representatives to develop a new system that focusses on the audience. Communicating and engaging with the audience was a new idea that required enhanced professional development for the judges so they could meet requirements different from other judging systems. DCA program designers had to realize the judging response could be more emotional and less analytical. As the drum corps world adapted to performing in pandemic times beginning in 2020, he provided extensive guidance to DCA member corps on how to make the best use of cameras in covering field shows during virtual competition. During his time with DCA, he has judged each visual caption on many prelim and final championship tournament weekends. He has also judged championship events with organizations including Cavalcade of Bands, Cavalcade Indoor, Keystone Indoor, Festivals of Music and Homestead Festivals.
