Thanks to all who helped make this event a great success!
Open to all Junior Level Fifers, Snare drummers and Bass drummers (18 and under please)
List of Workshop Instructors:
Fife Instructors
- Sarah MacConduibh, Fife Section Lead, MCV
- Sean Quint, Fifer, MCV
- Larissa Sasgen, Fifer, MCV, Music Director, Advanced Fife Instructor Middlesex County 4H Fifes and Drums
Snare Drum Instructors
- Michael Godin, Drum Sgt, MCV
- Bill Whitney, Drum Instructor, Middlesex County 4-H Fifes & Drums
Bass Drum Instructors:
- Don Mason, Bass Drummer, CT Patriots, CVFM
- Michaella Puopolo, Bass drummer, MCV, Bass Drum Instructor, Middlesex County 4H Fifes and Drums
Note: Master Classes will also be offered.
Registration Form: please download and bring to workshop!
Late Registration Deadline was 3/1/2012.
For more information please contact Larissa Sasgen, Workshop Chair. E-mail:
MCV Junior Fife & Drum Workshop Instructors Biographies
Michael Godin has been playing drums for 30 years. He performed snare drum with the Boston Crusaders for 4 years and has since been with MCV for the past 18 years. Michael is currently the drum section lead for MCV and composes the majority of the drum charts. Michael has also performed with the Top Secret Drum Corps from Switzerland and currently also performs with the Legends of Drum & Bugle Corps.
Sarah MacConduibh has been a fifer with MCV since 1984 (ouch!), Manager since 1990, and fife section lead since 1994 where she continued to build the fife section on the strong foundation established by her predecessors, Kerri Cunningham and Jane Law, striving for excellence in musicality and pushing the envelope with the fife. In the early 90s Sarah also joined John Ciaglia, John Benoit, and Jane Law in Fife in the Fast Lane. MCV has since become source music for the greater Boston area, performing with the Boston Camerata, and frequently appearing with Keith Lockhart or John Williams and the Boston Pops. During Sarah's tenure, MCV highlights include eight CDs and 15 performance tours both in the US and abroad, including international military tattoos at Basel, Edinburgh, Halifax, Sydney and Malmö (gee, get a life!). Sarah also performs Irish flute and whistle with the Celtic quartet Fellswater. Alas, music is still only an avocation: In 'real life' she studied electrical engineering, was an Officer in the Air Force, and is now an Executive Director at The MITRE Corporation, responsible for MITRE's Air Force work program. Married to Jim MacConduibh (snare drummer and Director of MCV, and guitarist in Fellswater), they share their home with five cats and a dog, and when not working or playing music they spend as much time as possible underwater (scuba diving), and sampling the cuisine and cultures in remote corners of the world.
Larissa Sasgen holds a degree in music performance from Northern Illinois University, she has played music for over 18 years, fife and drum specifically for 10. Larissa has been teaching both private lessons and small groups for the past decade, and she is currently the advanced fife instructor and Music Director for Middlesex County 4H Fifes and Drums. In 2007, she joined MCV and moved from Illinois to Massachusetts (in that order). She has met many dear friends through music and lives her life with a constant soundtrack. When not creating or teaching music, you can typically find her on a rock wall or sailing on the Charles River.
Bill Whitney earned a degree in music education and jazz studies from James Madison University in 2003. Following college, he moved to Boston and taught high school band for 5 years and performed frequently. Currently, Bill is the Drum Instructor for the Middlesex County 4-H Fife & Drum Corps. Bill also is a composer and sound designer for the Cambridge based video game studio, Harmonix, where he has been involved in the development of the RockBand games. Outside of Harmonix, Bill is an active freelance bassist and plays guitar in the Boston-based band, Milquetoast & Co.
