Band Leadership Home Camps

Bring the impact and energy of a United Spirit Association summer camp directly to your program with a USA Band Leadership Home Camp. Designed with band directors in mind, each home camp is custom-tailored to address your program’s specific leadership needs while reinforcing collaboration, communication, and student ownership within your ensemble. The curriculum is built on research-based leadership models that are engaging, practical, and immediately applicable for student leaders. Camps are facilitated by trained and certified USA summer camp instructors who complete an intensive, week-long leadership development training. The program is led by USA Drum Major & Band Leadership Program Director Acey S. Blanco, who holds dual master’s degrees and multiple professional certifications in leadership, organizational development, and education, and works professionally at the third-largest organ procurement organization in the United States—where he develops and mentors senior and executive leaders. The result is a high-quality, intentional leadership experience that directly supports your goals as a band director and strengthens the long-term success of your program.

Drum Major Home Camps

USA Drum Major Home Camps offer band directors a highly customized approach to developing their drum major(s), with instruction tailored to support field show performance, parade performance, or both. Our instructional team is capable of teaching your field show or parade march directly to your drum majors, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the show or march. USA instructors are also formally trained in partnership with Peacock’s American Drum Major Competitions, ensuring alignment with statewide adjudication philosophies, principles, and performance standards. The USA Drum Major Program also maintains formal partnerships with the Northern California Band Association and Peacock’s American Drum Major Competitions, allowing directors to trust that instruction is current, consistent, and reflective of the competitive landscape. Drum majors walk away more confident, better prepared to perform their field show or parade march, and energized by the same connection and excitement students love at USA camps.

Partnerships

USA partners with the following companies:

• Northern California Band Association
• Peacocks American Drum Major Competitions
• Varsity Performing Arts

Pricing Model

For drum major home camp pricing and/or general pricing inquiries, please email Acey Blanco at Ablanco@varsity.com. 

BAND LEADERSHIP HOME CAMP PRICING

# of Students

1-Day Camp Pricing

2-Day Camp Pricing

0-9

$          1,650 ($183 per student)

$          2,500

10-14

$          2,500 ($178 per student)

$          4,000

15-20

$          3,000 ($150 per student)

$          5,000

The USA Drum Major & Band Leadership Staff

The USA Drum Major and Band Leadership Instructional Staff is a team of highly trained, accomplished educators and professionals, including certified adjudicators with the Northern California Band Association (NCBA) and Peacock’s American Drum Major Competitions (ADMC), award-winning state champions, internationally ranked competitors, music educators, and leadership development professionals. Throughout the year, our staff remains active in band reviews, festivals, and conferences across Northern and Southern California, and completes an annual, week-long certification training to qualify for instruction at USA summer camps. Together, this best-in-class instructional team brings a balanced focus on field show and parade performance, along with intentional leadership development—ensuring a high-quality, well-rounded educational experience for every student we serve.

Meet the USA Drum Major & Band Leadership Program Director of Staffing & Curriculum, Acey S. Blanco, MSML, MSHRM, CAL1

Acey S. Blanco serves as the Program Director of Staffing and Curriculum for the United Spirit Association (USA) Drum Major & Band Leadership Program, where he oversees curriculum design, instructional staff development, and program delivery for the largest drum major summer camp organization on the West Coast. With more than a decade of experience in the marching arts and leadership education, Acey brings a rare combination of competitive excellence, educational rigor, and real-world leadership development experience to every program under his direction.

A graduate of North Monterey County High School in Castroville, California, Acey distinguished himself early as a four-year drum major with an undefeated competitive record in the Northern California Band Association (NCBA) as a military-style drum major. His competitive career culminated in earning the Santa Cruz Band Review – the largest band review in California – Drum Major Sweepstakes Award with a score of 95.00. Building on this foundation, Acey remained actively engaged in the marching arts as a private instructor for programs throughout Monterey County and as a member of the USA Drum Major instructional staff. In 2017, after serving as both a camp instructor and Head Instructor, he was appointed Program Director of the USA Drum Major & Band Leadership Program, where he continues to lead and expand comprehensive leadership training for student drum majors and band leadership teams statewide.

In addition to his work with USA, Acey is a dual-certified adjudicator for Peacock’s American Drum Major Competitions (ADMC), the largest independent drum major competition circuit in Southern California, and the Northern California Band Association. He is also a co-founder of the California State Drum Major Championship (CDMC), working in close collaboration with ADMC Managing Partner Esteban De Leon and NCBA Founding Member Richard Wilson. Through these roles, Acey stays closely connected to statewide adjudication philosophies and performance standards, helping shape best practices that elevate drum major education and the student experience.

Outside of the marching arts, Acey maintains a professional career in healthcare, specializing in leadership and organizational development for the third-largest organ procurement organization in the United States. In this role, he designs and delivers enterprise-level leadership development programs supporting leaders from first-time supervisors through executive and C-suite leadership. He holds dual master’s degrees in Management & Leadership and Human Resource Management from Western Governors University, along with multiple professional certifications from the Association for Talent Development (ATD), the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and the Scrum Alliance. His expertise spans leadership development, instructional design, coaching, and program strategy—ensuring USA programs are grounded in both research-based methodology and real-world leadership practice.