Fife Instructors

July 13 - 16, 2010 - Ivoryton, Connecticut

Fife instructors

Amanda Avery

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.

John Benoit

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 and The Kentish Guards, prior to those units starting their own corps. Beginning in 1972 John became a member of The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. Upon his discharge in 1975, he went on to perform with The American Fife Ensemble and The Ancient Mariners, and also began instructing and arranging for The Connecticut Blues. In 1988 The Blues won their 8th consecutive Northeastern States Championship, breaking the previous record held by the NY Regimentals and Connecticut Yanks.

In 1984 John started "Fife in the Fast Lane" with long-time musical collaborator, John Ciaglia. In 2005 he co-founded The Grand Republic Fife and Drum Corps with drummer / arranger Scott Mitchell, after playing for several years 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).

John has written and arranged music for several contemporary fife and drum corps, including The Kentish Guards, 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, 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.

Julia Burdacki

Julia Burdacki has been fifing since she was 8 years old, when she joined the First Falls Junior Ancient Fife and Drum Corps from Yalesville, CT. She was also a member of the Colonel John Chester Fife and Drum Corps and the Warehouse Point Junior Fifes and Drums. Competing with these corps, Julia went on to win individual and quartet competitions at both the State and Northeastern levels. She is currently a proud member of the Connecticut Valley Field Music, which she joined in 2007. Always looking for her next challenge, Julia traveled to Sydney, Australia in early 2010 with the Middlesex County Volunteers to perform at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Australia.

An enthusiastic member of the fife and drum community, Julia conveys her passion for fifing through leadership and education. She has instructed the First Falls Fife and Drum Corps as well as the recently formed Abel Joslen Irregulars of Thompson, CT. As an intern at the Company of Fifers and Drummers Junior Fife and Drum Camp, she is once again giving back to the community that has supported her in her development and growth over the years, and hopes to inspire the next generation of young players.

Julia is majoring in Public Health at Southern Connecticut State University, with a concentration in Environmental Health. Her long term goal is to work in either food safety or infectious disease control. An avid reader, Julia also loves to travel and spend time outdoors. In the spring of 2011 she'll combine all of these when she spends a semester studying abroad.

In addition to fife and drum, Julia is a huge country music fan!

Bill Hart

Bill Hart began playing the fife in 1968 with the Colonial Navy of Massachusetts, a relationship that continues to this day. In addition to performing with the Colonial Navy, he is also Director / piccolo player with Ameri-Clique (New England's first Swiss-style corps) and a fifer with the Madison Street Project, an ensemble he organized in 2004. He is a former member of the Connecticut Blues and Connecticut Rebels Fife and Drum Corps.

Bill is very active in the fife and drum community and highly regarded as a performer, arranger and teacher. He is the author of "A New Look at Old Favorites" (arrangements of traditional fife tunes) and "Better, Stronger, Faster" (a manual of exercises for the fife), and currently instructs both the Westbrook Sr. Ancient Fife & Drum Corps and the Marquis of Granby Jr. Ancient Fyfe & Drum Corps. He has participated on numerous recordings, including; "The Company Book II", "The Watrous Book" and "The Sons of Liberty Book" (all for The Company of Fifers and Drummers); "Planxty Pauline" (The Muster Bunch) and "The Last Hour" (The Madison Street Project).

Kara Loyal

Kara Loyal began playing the fife in 1999 at age 13. Inspired by a performance of the Ancient Mariners in her hometown, she attended the Sudbury Ancient Fyfe and Drum Companie's annual muster in Sudbury, MA. She soon became a member of the SAFD Co and has since participated in countless parades, musters and trips such as the one to Virginia to meet the Colonial Williamsburg Fife and Drum Corps. In 2004 she also joined Connecticut Valley Field Music, and enjoyed balancing performances between the two corps.

In 2005, Kara auditioned for and won a position in the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. After attending the 2005 Westbrook Muster, she shipped off to basic training. A member of the Old Guard for nearly five years now, Kara has performed for two Presidents, the Pope, visiting dignitaries and, her favorite, fife and drum musters. Early in 2010, she traveled to Sydney, Australia to perform as a member of the Middlesex County Volunteers in the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

Kara first attended Fife and Drum Camp in 2002, and again volunteered in 2004. She has since been an instructor at several Civil War music schools, as well as the Old Guard Juniors' Workshop. Kara has special ties to Fife and Drum Camp, however, because it was at Camp in 2002 where she met the drummer who would later become her husband – Dave Loyal. She feels she owes a lot to Fife and Drum Camp, and is looking forward to giving back!

Chris Lussier

Chris Lussier has been fifing since 1984, when he learned to play as a member of the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. His musical background is much more extensive, however, having attended the Berklee College of Music where he refined his writing and arranging skills. During his tour of duty with the U.S. Army, he was selected as a cast member for a special touring production, which showcased songs and music relating to the army and the birth of our nation.

Upon his discharge from the Army, Chris took several teaching positions within the fife and drum world, including The Milford Volunteers, The Westbrook Seniors, and The Hammonaset Junior Fife and Drum Corps. In 1992, he wrote and published "Twenty-five (or so) Tunes to Make Your Face Fall Off," a collection of original music (available through the Company Store).

Chris took a hiatus from fifing in late 1992 in order to pursue other musical interests. He briefly returned to his Jazz and R&B roots, working with several bands and doing session work for various recording projects in southern New England. For ten summers, he helped to organize a musical event / concert in Foster, Rhode Island, to benefit the Robert H. Lenth Scholarship Fund. In 1996, he began a long-standing working relationship with Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, RI, working first as a musician in various plays, and then as the Properties Artisan in the Production Department, a position he still holds.

In 2005, Chris came back to fife and drum, renewing acquaintances with the Ancient Mariners and Kentish Guards, and is an active member of both groups. Chris produced the Kentish Guards CD, "Then and Now," released in 2009. Still composing, Chris has increased his original music portfolio to nearly 200 tunes and has also worked on new music and arrangements for the Grainfield F&D Corps and the Argovia Rebels, both from Switzerland, as well as for several groups here in the States.

Chris's greatest joy is to pass along his knowledge to young people who want to learn. He is very happy to be a staff member at this year's camp.

Corinne Mancevice

Corinne began fifing in 1996 with the Sudbury Ancient Fife and Drum Company, and performed at the International Muster in Switzerland the following year. An accomplished musician on several instruments (fife, recorder, clarinet, and saxophone), Corinne was soon tapped to teach new fifers for Sudbury. In addition to Sudbury, Corinne played with the Black River Fife and Drum Corps.

In 1999 Corinne joined the Middlesex County Volunteers Fife and Drums, and continues as a member today. While in MCV she has served on the Executive Committee and again instructed new fifers. With MCV she has toured in the UK (1999), Canada (2000), the UK and France (2001), and her most recent overseas appearance, the 2007 Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Scotland.

Corinne currently performs with the Grand Republic Fife and Drum Corps in addition to the Middlesex County Volunteer Fife and Drum Corps, and teaches the Lincoln Minute Men.

Corinne received a BS in Physics with a specialization in Radiation Sciences in 2005 and is currently finishing her MS in Radiological Sciences and Protection while working as a Sr. Health Physicist.

Karen McGuire

Karen started fifing when she started school, growing up in a family where drum corps and practice were a part of daily life. The daughter of two former Chas T. Kirk members, Charles and Alvina Riley, Karen played with the Good Shepherd Junior Ancient Fife and Drum Corps from Plainview, Long Island and the Mt. Kisco Fife and Drum Corps from “upstate”. Her parents founded Good Shepherd and were the fife instructors. The drum line was taught by Howie Reiff and George Ripperger (Mr. Ripp). The musical standards, discipline and inspiration instilled by these instructors not only made for a championship corps, but also left a legacy to be followed.

Karen has brought her love of the fife and drum tradition to Colorado, where she is the director of the Mile High Fife and Drum Corps. In addition to her affiliation with Mile High, Karen also plays with the Monumental City Ancients and the American Originals out of Baltimore, as her schedule permits.

In the past few years, Karen's fife and drum interests expanded to more historical contexts, including re-enacting and field music. She began teaching at The Don Hubbard Field Music School, where the emphasis has been on historically authentic music as played by the military during the Civil War. In just a few years, she has been thrilled to hear former students grow in their abilities, and expand their repertoire and love for the very varied world of Fife and Drum.

Karen rarely travels without her fife – ask her about it sometime.

Jim Shea

Jim Shea began playing the fife in 1957 with the Hartford VFW Post 254 Sons and Daughters of Liberty Fife and Drum Corps, and he's still going strong more than a half century later. In between he has played with several corps, including: The Warehouse Point Ancients, Saint Patrick's and Saint Anthony's, and Captain Forwards Company of the 18th Connecticut Regiment of Militia. In 1972 Jim became a member of the famous Connecticut Yanks, where he played until their last performance / competition in 1976. Following “The Yanks” Jim went on to play with The Yalesville Seniors, Connecticut Blues and Connecticut Patriots. Today he is an active member of both Saint Peter's and the Grand Republic Fife and Drum Corps.

Jim has also instructed several corps, including: The Marquis of Granby, Nathan Hale, Windsor Locks Fire Department, Sgt. Daniel Bissel, Portland, Connecticut Yanks Juniors, Hannon Hatch, Prospect, Col. John Chester, Connecticut Blues, and Connecticut Patriots. In addition, he is the only fife instructor who has been at every Junior FDC camp since its inception.