James Ancona is an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Delaware. He is the Assistant Director of the Blue Hen Marching Band, Director of the Basketball Pep Band and Co-Director of the Symphonic Band. James received his Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his Master's Degree in Performance from Indiana University where he was awarded the prestigious Performer's Certificate. His former teachers include Gerald Carlyss, Thomas Hannum, William Roberts, Peter Tanner, and Leigh Howard Stevens.
James has 30 years of experience as an arranger and instructor for world class drum and bugle corps including The Cavaliers, Star of Indiana, Santa Clara Vanguard, The Crossmen, Carolina Crown and Cadets. He is currently a percussion advisor for the Boston Crusaders. James' honors in the activity include having been a member of the 1990 DCI World Champion Cadets of Bergen County, having been on the instructional staff of Star of Indiana's (1993), Santa Clara Vanguard's (2004) and The Cadet’s (2013) World Champion percussion sections and having served as the Percussion Caption Head for the 2006 DCI World Champion Cavaliers and a consultant for the 2011 DCI World Champion Cadets . His Vanguard Percussion Ensembles and Mixed Ensembles (with brass) have won at the Drum Corps International Individual and Ensemble Championships. Several of his percussion arrangements appear on recordings of Star of Indiana's "Brass Theater" and “BLAST” (the Tony and Emmy Award winning Broadway show). James has several works published by Tap Space Publications including Up Front: A Complete Resource for Today's Pit Ensemble. He is an endorser and clinician for the Avedis Zildjian Company, Remo, Inc., Pearl Drums and Adams Percussion, and a Signature Artist for Innovative Percussion, Incorporated.
Mike Windish - Battery Supervisor
Mike is a battery technician for the University of Delaware Drumline. He graduated from UD in 2006 with a Bachelor's Degree in History. He is now a real estate agent licensed in Delaware and Pennsylvania. Mike marched with the UD drumline for four years, serving as captain for two years. He also marched with the 11-time DCA Champion Reading Buccaneers in 2004, 2005, and 2007. In 2005, Mike marched with the WGI Indoor Drumline, Aftermath, receiving the SIlver Medal in the Percussion Independent Open Class World Championships.
Mike's teaching experience consists of many local high school drumlines, including Penns Grove HS, North Penn HS, Spring-Ford HS, Cab Calloway School of the Arts, and currently Appoquinimink HS in Middletown, DE. He also taught Aftermath Indoor Drumline and Penn State Indoor Drumline. Mike has been teaching the University of Delaware drumline since 2006 and he looks forward to continuing the program's growth into the future.
John Grossbauer - Tenor Drums
Seth Hastings - Bass Drums
Rich Weaver - Cymbals
Abby Molen - Cymbals
Bryan VonHagel - Cymbals
Jeancarlo Rodriguez - Front Ensemble