Drum Instructors

July 13 - 16, 2010 - Ivoryton, Connecticut

Drum instructors

John Lovett
Bass Drum instructor

Graduated UMASS Amherst 1993 - BS Mathematics
Currently employed by Fidelity Investments
Current home in Raleigh, NC

Started in marching bands at the age of 10 with the middle school band - mostly little league and holiday parades in town.
OAHS marching band - NESBA competitive circuit 1984 - 1988.
UMass Minuteman marching band 1988 - 1992
Boston Crusaders Drum & Bugle Corps 1990 - 1991, staff 1993
MCV Fife & Drum - 1994 - present
Top Secret DC - 2005
Grand Republic F&D - 2006 - present
Legends of Drum Corp performance band - 2002 - 2006
Colonial Williamsburg F&D - staff 2007 - present

Brendon Mason
Snare Drum instructor

Brendan started playing snare drum in the Col. John Chester Drum Corps when he was 7 years old. He started competing with the Corps soon after joining and won the Connecticut, Massachusetts, Hudson Valley and Northeastern States Championships many times. He is the current Northeastern States Senior Snare Drum Champion Brendan performed with the world famous Top Secret Drum Corps for their trip to the Sydney, Australia Military Tattoo. He currently teaches the Connecticut Patriots drum line, the Col. John Chester drum line and the Cheshire High School Marching Band drum line. He is a member of the Connecticut Patriots Fife and Drum Corps and the Grand Republic Drum Corps. Brendan has become know for his innovative drum compositions for the Connecticut Patriots and the Col. John Chester Drum Corps, and wrote a number of the drum parts on the recent Madison Street Project recording, “The Last Hour”. Brendan has taught for several years at the Jr. Fife and Drum Camp.

Don Mason
Bass Drum instructor

Don began playing bass drum in the Connecticut Yanks Drum Corps in 1965 and played with the Corps until it disbanded in 1976. After attending College, Don joined the Connecticut Patriots Sr. Fife and Drum Corps, where he has played since 1980. Don has competed for many years in individuals, duets and quartets, as well as with the Corps.

Don’s family has long been active in drum corps; he met his wife Patricia in the Ct. Patriots and their children, Brendan, Colin, Peter and Maureen have all participated in the Fife and Drum Camp and are currently in the Connecticut Patriots.

Don joined the Connecticut Valley Field Music Corps where he plays a bass drum that is more than 100 years old. Don teachers Bass drum in the Patriots, the Middlesex County Volunteers from the Boston area and the Col. John Fife and Drum Corps from Wethersfield, CT. He is a past president of the Connecticut Fifer’s and Drummer’s Association and has taught the bass drum section at the Fife and Drum Camp for many years.

Scott Mitchell
Snare Drum instructor

Scott Mitchell has been drumming for over 30 years, starting with the Sudbury Ancient Fife & Drum Company and playing with a variety of historical reenactment groups throughout the bicentennial. In 1981 Scott began playing with a loose organization of players that would ultimately develop into the Middlesex County Volunteers. He was drum sergeant and primary drum arranger for MCV from the age of 15 until he left the corps in 1990. In addition to those organizations, Scott has also played with Fife in the Fast Lane, the Ancient Mariners, and the Sons of the Whiskey Rebellion. He currently arranges and performs with the Grand Republic Fife and Drum Corps, a corps that he co-directs with John Benoit.

In addition to his field drumming Scott in an accomplished set drummer. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music and has numerous performance and recording credits. While living in Boston he had the privilege to study with Alan Dawson, Fred Buda, Bob Moses, and Bob Gullotti.

Scott has performed extensively in the USA and abroad with appearances in every state from Maine to Virginia on the East Coast, and throughout the Midwest and South of the US. He has performed in France in 1983 with the Regt. d’Saintonge (a French reenactment group), Switzerland in 1998 with the Ancient Mariners, and his most recent overseas appearance was with the Middlesex County Volunteers at the 2007 Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Scotland.

Scott is a prolific drum arranger whose work has been performed and recorded by a number of fife and drum organizations: Middlesex County Volunteers, Bluff Point Quahog Diggers Band, Kentish Guards, River Valley Colonials, and the Ancient Mariners. He has co-authored two books of musical arrangements: "Retrospective" with John Benoit, and "Fife Alive" with John Ciaglia. His arrangements have been published in Volume III and Volume IV of the "Company Book". He has instructed the Middlesex County Volunteers and the Kentish Guards, and has taught numerous master classes and clinics, including the very first Company of Fifers and Drummers Camp and Freezer Jam.

While Scott’s musical influences range from historically accurate field music to the contemporary he has been most heavily influenced by the "Ancient Easy" style he learned by playing with the field drumming masters Ken Lemley, Freddie Bruder, Bobby and Dennis McGowan, Matt Lyons, and especially Ed Classey Jr.

Scott’s playing can best be heard on the following recordings: "The Banks of Allan Water" (Middlesex County Volunteers), "The Road to Folly" (John Benoit, John Ciaglia, Xenia Fünfschilling and Scott Mitchell), and "The Twist of Distinction - Fife Alive" (Xenia Fünfschilling, Kevin Klapka, Scott Mitchell).

Mark Reilly
Snare Drum instructor

Mark Reilly, a senior instrumentalist with The 3d US Infantry Regiment "The Old Guard" Fife and Drum Corps from Ft. Myer, VA, serves as the corps’ Production Staff Percussion Arranger. He is a student of Mr. Nick Attanasio of the famed Son’s of Liberty Fife and Drum Corps from Brooklyn, NY. Mark is a three time Northeastern States Drum Corps Association individual snare drum champion and has also placed as 1st Runner Up in the 2002 PASIC Marching Festival College Level Snare Drum Competition.

While earning his bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Northwestern State University in 2002 he studied percussion extensively under Mr. Ken Green. In addition to serving as percussion section leader for The Spirit of Northwestern Demon Marching Band, Mark has also performed with NSU’s Wind Ensemble, Wind Symphony, Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble, and served as president of the Gamma Rho chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinphonia.

He is still an active performer, arranger, clinician, and instructor in the Northern Virginia area. Mark is an Innovative Percussion Performing Artist, Member of the Percussive Arts Society's Marching Percussion Committe, and is a consultant for the Top Secret Drum Corps from Basel Switzerland.