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CAMP IS FULL Once again, the Junior Fife and Drum Camp has filled up quickly!! We will continue to take registrations for our waiting list. Anyone who is placed on the waiting list will be notified if a space becomes available. Placement on the waiting list will be based on the order in which the registration was received. AUDITION VIDEOS NEEDED Audition videos may accompany your regisration or sent any time BEFORE May 31, 208. All campers are encouraged to do an audio/video. However, this does not mean that if we do not get a video you will not be able to come to camp. It will help us to place you in a compatible music group so you get the most out of camp! If you do not send an audio/video you will automatically be placed in the group with the least amount of experience. Audition requirements can be downloaded here. Audition music is available here in the Library! |
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Amanda Avery
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Amanda began playing the fife at age 7 when her father Art Hutchinson took over as director of Col. John Chester Fife and Drum Corps. She is a 5 time Connecticut State and 4 time Northeastern Champion in the Junior Ancient Female Fife Class. After graduating from college, Amanda took over the role of Lead Fife Instructor where she mentored the corps to 13 consecutive Connecticut State Championships.
She has been instructed by some of the best fifers in the drum corps world. They include Gail Kowalski, Peter Degree, Jim Pomian, Jim Shea, Kathy Hutchinson and most recently Tishka Musco. Amanda has been playing and marching with the Connecticut Patriots since joining them in 1998. She is a graduate of Central Connecticut State University where she obtained a Bachelors in Education. Amanda is currently working in the insurance industry and lives in Middletown with her husband Ken Avery of Stony Creek Fife and Drum. |
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John Benoit
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John Benoit has been fifing for over 40 years, starting in the early 1960's with The 15th Mass Regt. (Capt. James Buxton Fife & Drum Corps) under the tutelage of the venerable Benjamin P. Emerick. During those early years John and several members of The 15th Mass. also performed as: The Sturbridge Martial Band, The Sudbury Minutemen, The Kentish Guards (prior to those units starting their own corps), and The Varnum Continentals. Beginning in 1972 John became a member of The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, where he joined his two older brothers Tom and Paul. While in The Old Guard, he helped form the original "F-Troop", which was started by then current OG members and their families. Upon his discharge in 1975, he went on to perform with The American Fife Ensemble and The Ancient Mariners. At that time he also began instructing and arranging for The Connecticut Blues (then a relatively new corps), with an emphasis on technique, tone, intonation and musicianship. In 1988 The Blues won their 8th consecutive Northeastern States Championship, breaking the previous record held by the NY Regimentals and Connecticut Yanks. Following a hiatus from active drum corps participation, John went on to play with The Sons of the Whiskey Rebellion alongside several drum corps legends such as Ed Olsen, Matt Lyons, and the McGowan brothers (Frank, Dennis and Bobby).
In 1984 John started "Fife in the Fast Lane" with long-time musical collaborator, John Ciaglia, as an avenue to focus on small ensemble playing. In 2005 he co-founded The Grand Republic Fife and Drum Corps with drummer / arranger Scott Mitchell. The Grand Republic recreates the sounds of the 1890's, paying homage to the many town bands and drum corps that were popular around the turn of the century while drawing on the rich heritage of American music from the period following the War Between the States. John has written and arranged music for several contemporary fife and drum corps, including The Kentish Guards, The River Valley Colonials, Menotomy, The Middlesex County Volunteers, The Geese Eaters and The Regulators Fife and Drum Corps. His compositions and arrangements have been recorded by such diverse units as The Bethpage Colonials, Museumsgruppe (Basel, Switzerland), The Middlesex County Volunteers (who have included his music in performance with The Boston Pops), Fife Alive, The Swiss Mariners, and the Tippecanoe Ancient Fife and Drum Corps, to name just a few. John has recorded on the following: The Old Guard Fife & Drum Corps' first recording; "Music of the American Revolution: The Birth of Liberty" (American Fife Ensemble); "Poor Wretches Are We" (Fife in the Fast Lane); and, "The Road to Folly" (John Benoit, John Ciaglia, Xenia Funfschilling and Scott Mitchell). Selections from "Poor Wretches Are We" can be heard on the soundtrack to "Rediscovering George Washington", a documentary that first aired on PBS in 2002. In addition to American fife and drum music, John has composed several marches for the Basel piccolo. His pieces have been performed by the Museumsgruppe at the prestigious Muzeumkonzartli in Basel, and at least one such composition, "Festival Marsch", is played by several ‘cliques' during the annual carnival celebration, Fasnacht. John's music can be found in "Retrospective" which he co-authored with Scott Mitchell, music books of The Company of Fifers and Drummers, "Fife Alive", and several other publications by John Ciaglia. John Benoit plans to publish a major work containing his compositions / arrangements in the future. |
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Jim Williams
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Jim Williams has been playing the fife for over ten years. He started
with Saint John Fife and Drum Corps, followed by the 5th Alabama Field
Music. He then became fife instructor for Saint John's, teaching up to
ten fife students each week. In 2003, Jim published a collection of fife
music he had composed and arranged, entitled 'Fifes on the Green'.
Currently, he plays with both Connecticut Valley Field Music, and The
Grand Republic Fife and Drum Corps.
Besides fifing, Jim has a variety of interests. These include Civil War reenacting, tailoring 19th century clothing, computers, and web designing. Jim runs a fife and drum website at http://fifers.us. |
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