Meet the 2014 Jersey Surf Percussion Education Team

MICHAEL CARUSO began his drum corps career as a bass drummer with the 1998 and 1999 editions of the Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps, then hailing from Newark, DE. There, he was fortunate enough to be under the tutelage of Colin McNutt and DCI Hall of Inductee Thom Hannum. After his years with the Crossmen, Michael was a member of the instructional staff at the Reading Buccaneers Drum and Bugle Corps from Reading, PA during the 2001, 2002 and 2003 seasons.
Mike is a graduate of the State University of New York College at Potsdam’s Crane School of Music. There, he completed his undergraduate work in Music Education and his graduate work in Percussion Performance. During that time, he studied under Mr. James Petercsak and Dr. Robert Bridge. Other teachers that Mr. Caruso has studied with include Mr. Mark Edwards, Mr. John Oddo and Mr. Michael Osrowitz.
Michael is excited to start his fourth year with the Jersey Surf. He originally began his tenure with the corps as a Bass Drum Tech and took the reigns as the Percussion Caption Head for the 2012 season.

In addition to his role as co-director of percussion education at Jersey Surf, GEOFF SUMMERS is currently assistant director and co-program coordinator of the Morris Knolls High School marching band in Rockaway, NJ. He is also on the faculty at the Calderone School of Music in East Hanover, NJ, and plays drums for the Brooklyn-based band Batillus. Previously, he has toured Europe and the US with New York’s A Storm of Light and he has been an instructor with many notable marching programs including East Coast Jazz in 2005 and 2006, where he had the pleasure of working with the great Charley Poole, as well as Carmel High School (Carmel, IN), Old Bridge High School (Old Bridge, NJ), and King Philip High School (Wrentham, MA).
In 2003 and 2004, he was a member of the Boston Crusaders tenor line, where he learned under talented educators Omar Carmenates, Lee Hansen, and Rich Viano, and others. At Berklee College of Music, from which he received a bachelor’s degree in Music Business in 2005, he studied with Rod Morgenstein, Mike Mangini, and other drumming greats. In high school, he studied with Mike McIntosh and Richard Saucedo.
Geoff is excited for another opportunity to take Jersey Surf to the next level and is looking forward to working with Surf’s incredibly talented and truly world class design team and instructional staff.

This will be ERIC SMITH‘s third year on the Jersey Surf percussion staff. Eric is a former member of Jersey Surf, having marched snare from 2008 to 2009. He began his marching experience in West Chester Henderson and Bayard Rustin High School’s marching band. From there, Eric marched drum corps in the snareline for the Jersey Surf (2008-2009), Crossmen (2010), and Blue Stars (2011). He also marched in the WGI World Independent group United Percussion from 2009 to 2012, and taught the group in 2013. Eric is currently a DCI Fellow working for Motif Music in Shanghai, China. Eric proudly serves on the Vic Firth Education Team.

BRAD SCHOENER is a former member of the Jersey Surf, having marched in 2008 and 2009. This will be Brad’s second year teaching Jersey Surf as snare technician. He began his marching experience with West Chester East and Bayard Rustin High School’s marching band. As a senior in high school Brad auditioned and was selected nationally to represent the state of Pennsylvania in the 2009 U.S. Army All-American Marching Band. Brad continued on in college to perform for three years between 2009 and 2011 (two of these as section leader/center snare) with the Incomparable Golden Rams Marching Band of West Chester University. Brad was also a member of the Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps in 2010, followed by two years as a member of the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps in 2011 and 2012, working with renowned marching percussion educators such as Tom Aungst and Neil Larrivee. Brad is a senior at West Chester University pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Music Education and Percussion Performance. Besides being a full-time student Brad is currently the percussion coordinator and arranger for the Bayard Rustin High School Golden Knight marching band in West Chester, PA as well as Marple Newtown High School Tiger Marching Band in Newtown Square, PA. Brad has also the opportunity to work with groups in the surrounding areas such as Springford High School Marching Band, Downingtown West High School Indoor Drumline, and Coatesville Area Senior High School Indoor drumline.

AARON GRIESSER is returning for his second year as a quad tech with the Jersey Surf. A graduate of West Chester University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Music Education and Percussion Performance, he has performed with a number of professional ensembles and guest artists. He has also been on staff at Nazareth Area High School, Downingtown West High School, and Windsor Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps (DCA). In 2012, he instructed the Downingtown High School Indoor Percussion Ensemble as they placed into the elite finals at WGI World Championships for the first time in the school’s history. Aaron performed with the Glassmen Drum and Bugle Corps in 2008 and 2009, and was the quad line section leader at WCU from 2008-2010.

EUGENE (GINO) DONOFRIO graduated from Old Bridge High School in 2010 and marched 4 years of marching band and indoor there. Dci experience: Marched Jersey Surf 2011, Teal Sound 2012 and Jersey Surf 2013, all on snare. Gino has been teaching Old Bridge’s percussion section since 2010 both indoor and marching band and has also served as the assistant band director there for two years.

ANDREW RICKETTS, a graduate of Hillsborough High School (NJ), began his drum corps experience with the open class Raiders Drum & Bugle Corps in 2008 where he returned in 2009 to complete two seasons as a member of the bass drum line. After graduating high school he went on to study at UMass Amherst and was a member of the UMass Drumline playing bass drum for four years. In that time as a student of Professor Thom Hannum and Colin McNutt, Andrew was a part of the 2011 percussion section that performed at PASIC and the BOA Grand Nationals exhibition in Indianapolis.
After a year off of drum corps Andrew followed Mr. McNutt to become a member of The Cadets in 2011 where he was a member of the bass drum line through his age out in 2012. Recently having graduated from UMass with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Jazz Music, Andrew currently resides in Hillsborough, NJ where he is fortunate enough to work as a Percussion Instructor with the West Windsor Plainsboro High School South – Pirate Marching Band.

RICH KLIMOWICZ started his marching career in 2006 with DCA’s Reading Buccaneers Drum and Bugle Corps and ended with aging out of DCI in 2010 with the Cadets. He will be returning now for a third season as the Front Ensemble Instructor at the Jersey Surf World Class Drum and Bugle Corps. He began teaching Front Ensembles in 2006 and now he is an active Educator and Performer in the northeast region working with multiple programs all year round and performs professionally a few times a month. Currently now Rich is on his sixth year as the Coatesville Area High School Percussion Caption Head, Coatesville PA, fifth year arranging and instructing the Millersville University Front Ensemble, Millersville, PA and on his second year as staff working with WGI’s United Percussion Program as a Front Ensemble instructor. In addition to the marching arts activity as an educator, as an independent Musician Rich performs through out the year and manages his own professional percussion trio, Portal Percussion. During the school year he is a part of the Linden Hall Girls College Prep School, Lititz PA, music faculty serving as a percussion studio specialist teaching private lessons. Rich Proudly serves on the Vic Firth Education Team.

DANIELLE RUSSO graduated last February from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a Bachelor’s degree in percussion performance and music education. She was formally licensed as a teacher shortly after, and is currently pursuing a career in music education and performance. While at UMass, she performed in numerous ensembles including Marimba Band, Marimba Ensemble, Marimba Band One, Percussion Ensemble, Advanced Percussion Ensemble, Chamber Concerts, Wind Ensemble, Symphony Band, and Orchestra. She also performed numerous solos and two recitals. She was also a member of the UMass Marching Band Percussion Section for four years under Thomas Hannum and George Parks in which she was in the front ensemble, cymbal line, and snare line. She marched drum corps for five years, aging out in 2010 with the Cadets Drum Corps. Danielle taught the Jersey Surf Front Ensemble during the summer of 2013, and is currently teaching three high school marching band percussion sections in Central and Western Massachusetts.