Registration is now closed and music has been distributed.

Venue: UMass Extension School (4-H): 240 Beaver Street, Waltham, MA

 

 

Open to all Junior Level Fifers, Snare drummers and Bass drummers (18 and under please)

 

List of Workshop Instructors:

Fife Instructors

• Sarah MacConduibh, Fifer, MCV
• Sean Quint, Fifer, MCV
• Larissa Sasgen, Fifer, MCV, Music Director, Advanced Fife Instructor Middlesex County 4H Fifes and Drums
• Steven Taskovics, Fife Sergeant, MCV

 

Snare Drum Instructors

Michael Godin, Drum Sergeant, MCV

Andrea Wirth, Snare Drummer, MCV

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.

 

 

Note - if you are a student you have already received an email with the link to a private website that has all of tunes and exercises that you will need to prepare for the workshop.

 

For more info 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 from 1994 to 2012, 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 Vice President of Air Force Programs at The MITRE Corporation.  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.

Sean Quint has been playing the fife since he was eight years old; starting his journey with the Marlborough Junior Ancient Fifes and Drums in 1998, and has been playing the fife ever since. Sean has been a captive of MCV for almost two years, and has been treated very well during that time. When he isn't driving to and from events, Sean spends his time earning his degree in History at the University of Connecticut, with aspirations to become a teacher. This will be Sean's second time volunteering at the workshop.  

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.

Andrea Wirth is a reliable standard of the fife and drum community in the Boston area.  She saw MCV play in Michigan in 1987 and knew that one day she would join this group!  She finished her BMusA degree in Percussion Performance at the University of Michigan and headed east.  The rest is history.  This year will be her 22nd season in MCV.  She served as the drum sergeant from 1994-1999 or so (can't remember back that far….).  Andrea has drummed in a red coat for the British reenactors from the ramparts of Yorktown and in concert black with the Boston Camerata on tour in Germany.    She remembers fondly playing timpani for the Finale of the Halifax Tattoo and falling in love with Edinburgh Castle.  A major highlight was performing in front of millions live and on TV with the Boston Pops on July 4th.   Though she's played percussion for over 30 years now, she works days at MIT where people could hardly guess that she wears a wig and drums on the weekends. When not drumming, she enjoys spending time with her partner, Michael, and traveling to old walled cities around the world.

Additional biographies to be posted soon.