1st Place Percussion

Frederick Ford

Fred Ford has been involved in the marching music activity for over 35 years as a performer, instructor, arranger, program coordinator and adjudicator. For fourteen years, Fred served as the assistant director and staff/program coordinator at the East Coast Jazz. He helped lead the corps to eleven Division II/III Finalist berths, six medalist spots and two Division II World Championship titles in (1998 and 2005). As the program coordinator for The Jersey Surf Drum and Bugle Corps, Fred led the corps to the Silver Medal in 2007 and Bronze in 2008. Fred has also taught numerous high school bands in Massachusetts and has served as the chairman of the DCI Atlantic Division Advisory Committee since 2004.

Fred is the current Program Advisor to the Citations Drum and Bugle Corps and serves on the Board of Directors for The Boston Crusaders. He is also the present percussion caption chairperson for Mass Judges Association as well as a music and percussion adjudicator for the NESBA, MAC and MICCA circuits.

Fred is a graduate of Suffolk University (B.A in Liberal Arts) and Lesley College (M.M.A in Management) and resides in Wakefield, MA with his wife Cheryl and 2 children, Sarah and Andrew. He is currently employed by The iconGroupe in Sales and Development.

Matt McGuire

Matt McGuire has been active as an educator in the marching and concert percussion activity for many years. He graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2007 where he studied percussion with Mike Mangini, Ed Saindon, Richard Flanagan, and Nancy Zeltsman. While at Berklee, Matt also studied music education, arranging, and composition. He performed with many of Berklee’s prestigious ensembles as well as with his own bands and quartets professionally in the Boston area.

In 2002, Matt started teaching the concert percussion ensemble at Mansfield High School. Since then he has taken on the role of percussion ensemble director and Arranger. In 2007 and 2008, the ensemble won consecutive WGI Concert Open Class World Championships. In 2008, the ensemble received a near perfect score while capturing their first NESBA indoor percussion championship, and set a WGI scoring record in the Concert Open Class at World Championships.

In 2006, Matt was on the percussion staff for the East Coast Jazz Drum and Bugle Corps, who were awarded the Division II Silver Medal at DCI World Championships and won the High Percussion Award. In 2008, Matt was on percussion staff with the Jersey Surf Drum and Bugle Corps, who captured the Open Class Bronze Medal at DCI World Championships.

Matt is currently the band and choir director for Qualters Middle School in Mansfield Ma, and teaches in the performing arts department at Mansfield High School. He is also the front ensemble arranger and lead technician for the Citations Drum and Bugle Corps, and the assistant band director and percussion arranger of the award winning Bishop Feehan High School Marching Band and indoor percussion program.