Mission Statement of IYAO:
Impulse Youth Arts Organization (IYAO) was born in the winter of 1998 made up of many dedicated alumni from local Southern California Drum & Bugle Corps. IYAO strives to provide this great activity to the Southern California community of teens and young adults while continuing to bring an audience friendly, highly competitive drum corps to the field. Impulse strives to create productions, much in the spirit and style of the Bridgemen and Velvet Knights of the late 70’s and early 80’s, with a modern Southern California flare.
IYAO is determined to aid in the proliferation of Drum & Bugle Corps and the pageantry arts youth activities in a region that contains several million young musicians and performers. Over the last 18 years, IYAO has accomplished the following:
1998: Impulse Youth Arts Organization is formed.
1999: IMPULSE Drum and Bugle Corps enters it's first competitive season.
2000: IYAO helped establish San Diego ALLIANCE drum & bugle which experienced competitive success throughout their existence.
2001: IYAO established Rhythm Regiment Junior Drum Corps as corps for kids between the age of 3 and 13.
2001: IYAO helped establish So Cal Dream “all aged” drum & bugle corps.
2003 & 2005: Impulse winter guard was formed.
2004 & 2005: Impulse places in the top six at DCI Division II/III finals
2005: PULSE percussion ensemble was established and within in their first year they placed 9th in WGI’s Independent World Class. The unit was started by Ike Jackson, Caleb Rothe and Ray Santos was the group’s first director.
2006: Impulse attended DCI Championships in Madison, Wisconsin where they took first place with “Me, Myself and I“ in division III.
2009: PULSE percussion finished 4th place with a score 93.513 at WGI Finals in Dayton, OH.
2013 & 2014: Impulse extends tour to include stops in Idaho and Utah in preparation for return to Finals.
2015: Impulse extends tour once again to include additional stops in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Utah
One of IYAO’s many goals is to build stronger performers and train more quality instructors to benefit the surrounding school music programs. By supporting school music and pageantry programs, Impulse creates a win/win situation for all involved.