About the UMass Drumline
The UMass Drumline, the percussion section in the UMass Minuteman Marching Band, has been steadily gaining recognition since the early 80's. Our instructor, Thom Hannum has long been regarded as one of the nation's foremost percussion arrangers, instructors, and clinicians having presented numerous seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Southeast Asia. He is well known for his work with the Drum Corps International World Champion Cadets of Bergen County and Star of Indiana. Thom is a member of the design team for the Tony Award Winning show Blast! as well as CyberJam. In the summer of 2001, Mr. Hannum was selected for induction into the DCI Hall of Fame.
Thom has developed an outstanding percussion program here at UMass where he serves as the Associate Director of the Minuteman Marching Band. He is a product consultant and clinician for the Avedis Zildjian Cymbal Company, Evans Drum Heads, the Pearl Corporation, and Vic Firth Sticks & Mallets where he has developed several Signature Series drumsticks and keyboard mallets for marching percussion. Thom is an active member of the Percussive Arts Society and the current President of the Massachusetts PAS Chapter. Our other staff include Colin McNutt (1992 DCI I&E Tenor Champion, Percussion Caption Head for The Cadets), Jeff Hope (former Percussion Tech for Madison Scouts and Magic of Orlando, percussion arranger for The Targets), and Ian Hale (Percussion Tech for Carolina Crown).
For more on the DCI-UMass connection, visit DCI.org and read this article, titled University of DCI.
Our staff's teaching ability, combined with our traditions of hard work and dedication, allow us to produce a quality of performance unmatched by most other collegiate drumlines. We rehearse daily under some of the best percussion names in the business. Our work ethic is a result of their inspriation and drive. Our program is designed to be one of effort, progress, and performance.
The Minuteman Marching Band has long been a source of great pride for the University of Massachusetts and the surrounding region. Under the leadership of George N. Parks, founder of the George N. Parks Drum Major Academy, and assisted by Mr. Hannum, the Minuteman Band has emerged as one of the nation's outstanding band programs. Each week at home football games, the "Power and Class" performs its traditional Post Game show for thousands of enthusiastic dedicated fans who don't leave the stadium until the last note.
Over 300 students experience the excitement of college marching band at UMass. The Minuteman Band has performed for Presidential Inaugural Ceremonies in 1981, 1985, and 2001. In 1993, 2001, and 2004, the band performed at Bands of America Grand Nationals in Indianapolis, IN! In 1998, the Minuteman Marching Band received the most prestigious honor bestowed upon college bands, the Louis C. Sudler Trophy, which is awarded in recognition of "the highest of musical standards and innovative marching routines and ideas, and which has made important contributions to the advancement of the performance standards of college marching bands over a period of several years."
