Interstatesmen - (DP program book)
from the 1962 Drum Pageant program book
The 65 man strong Interstatesmen Drum & Bugle Corps is recognized and respected by every Drum Corps in the country. This achievement may be directly attributed to the hard work of the talented musicians from dozens of cities and towns within a 200-mile radius of Albany, New York, and the excellent teachings of a top flight team of professional instructors whose collaboration has produced a show comparable to any fine Broadway production.
In 1960, while representing the Berkshire (Massachusetts) and Rensselaer (New York) County Council of American Legion, the silver trimmed, red and black clad Interstatesmen captured the Massachusetts American Legion State and the Connecticut American Legion State (open) competition Senior Marching and Maneuvering Championships. Their high stepping Color Guard, defending Yankee Circuit Color Guard Champions, again showed their superiority by copping the 1960 Northeastern Circuits Championship Color Guard Trophy.
Under the capable field direction of Alan Smyth, the Northeastern Circuits Outstanding Drum Major of 1960, the Interstatesmen will feature their powerful 39-man horn line. As they step off the line they will feature the following selections: "Road Show," "On The Mall," "Maleguena," "It's All Right With Me," "Baia" and concert numbers of "St. Louis Blues," "Mambo" and "Tropical Heat Wave," arranged to present a variety of effects and sounds that are possible to achieve in today's drum & bugle corps.
Drill Instructor is Bill Hooton; Horn Instructor, Don DelRa; Drum Instructor, John Pratt; Drum Major, Alan Smyth; Color Sergeant, Phil Carpenter; Manager, Walter Wood; Chairman, Robert I. Manuel.
posted by NanciD @ 4/15/2006 07:35:00 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
If you have any stories about either Artie Nelson or Ron Ghetti
Please Forward them to me at : john_6444@msn.com , so that I
can pass them on to the Hall of Fame Members who are going
to Nominate Artie and Ron to The World Drum Corps Hall of Fame.
John Pratt has agreed to Nominate Artie and Louis Storck has agreed
to Nominate Ron. Both men are very well respected in the Drum Corps
Community.
JOHN PRATT
John Pratt was inducted into the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame in 1990. As a teenager, he studied with Norman Peth who encouraged him to join the "Appleknockers" Winnek American Legion Post drum and bugle corp. After enlisting in the United States Army in 1949, John was assigned to the U.S. Military Academy Band at West Point. During his career as an Army Band musician, he became Rudimental Drum Instructor of Field Music and in 1959-60 published four books with Belwin, Inc.
While at West Point, he instructed several New York State drum corps including Rochester "Grey Knights," Troy "Interstatesmen," Kingston "Criterions," Bronx "Kingsmen," and the Newburgh "Ambassadors." He also became a member of the All-American Drum & Bugle Corps and Band Association and the All-American Association of Contest Judges in New York State. Also while at West Point, John attended Fairleigh Dickinson University and in 1969, the year he retired from active military service, he graduated suma cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education. Later, he received a Master of Arts degree in English from William Paterson College of New Jersey. John has taught English at Hackensack High School, and Bergen Community College where he continues as an adjunct faculty member.
In addition to having numerous drumming articles, solos and collections published, as a poet, he has had over 50 poems published and received four major awards for his poetry. John Pratt is still active as a clinician, writer and instructor. In 1998 he was honored at a clinic he gave for the Canadian Associates Drumming Rudimental Excellence (C.A.D.R.E.) in Ottawa and was made an honorary member of the Ottawa Heritage Hands Drum Club
LOUIS STORCK
The quintessential Caballero, Mr. Storck began his career in 1955 with Our Lady of Lourdes. He joined the Caballeros in 1966 and remains active today. Mr. Storck has been the Operations Manager for the Caballeros since 1985. He is an active color guard and high school band instructor. Lou currently instructs M&M for the Kearny and Nutley High School bands. The Persuasion Color Guard has won 8 Championships under Mr. Storck’s tutelage. He has been a dynamic presence at DCA congresses for the past twenty years.
Ron Ghetti
Ron was a Soprano Soloist with The Interstatesmen Drum and Bugle Corps. He
>was a Lyric Player with a sound that was so sweet to hear it made you crave
>more. He was The First Soloist from a Senior Drum Corps to play a note in
>Carnegie Hall at The Evening with The Corps Show. In the early 1960's Ron
>ended his playing career and started to teach several of the Local Junior
>Corps in the area. Through this endevor he produced several Young Brass
>Players of the Highest Quality. Ron had a way about him that made you want
>to be a part of it. He used not only his skill as a Brass Player but his
>Charisma and Bigger than Life Personality to project concepts that made his
>students play above where they were capable of performing. Phrasing and
>Articulation were among the tools that he used to make the lines he taught
>sound a cut above the rest. Ron was also able to convey other attributes to
>his students , such as respect of other people and their property. Together
>with Art Nelson (a Percussion Instructor) Ron created the entire next
>Generation of Drum Corps People in The Pittsfield, Mass./ Albany, N.Y.
>Area. In 1975 Ron and Jeff Perkins Merged 2 Local Corps, The Speigleaires
>and The Emerald Knights to form Avant Garde. Ron was Co Director of Avant
>Garde 1975 to 1976 with Jeff.
>Sad to say Ron Passed away in early 2005.
>This is a Short List of The Drum and Bugle Corps that Ron Ghetti was
involved with as a Performer or an Instructor :
>The Empire State Grenadiers (1952-1958) Soloist
>Interstatesmen (1958-1963) Soloist
> Pittsfield Sky Hawks (1962-1965) Brass Instructor
>The Pittsfield Monarchs (1960- 1965) Brass Instructor
>The Pittsfield Cavaliers (1965- 1968) Brass Instructor
>The Pittsfield Imperials (1964 - 1968) Brass Instructor
>The Fort Edward Vagabonds (1965- 1969) Brass Instructor
>The Wynantskill Killmen (1966- 1967) & (1971) Brass Instructor
>ST. Joseph's Islanders (1960- 1967) Brass Instructor
>The Speigleaires (1960- 1974) Brass Instructor
>The Volunteers (1973-1974) Brass Instructor
>The Golden Marauders (1975) Brass Instructor
>Avant Garde (1975-1976) Founding Co-Director
Artie Nelson
>Artie was a snare drummer in the Interstatesmen
Drum and Bugle Corps. In the early 1960 Artie began to teach
the Junior Corps in the Area. The word that best describes his teaching
style is intense. He was very strict and very musical. Artie
demanded a very high level of focus from his drummers that would always pay
>big dividends in the end. His part writing was ahead of it's time . Through
>the use of such techniques as tuned Bass he was able to portray the
>percussion section as a musical unit instead of just an accompaniment to
>the brass. If you listened to any percussion part written by Artie you
>could hear that it fit and that it made musical sense.
>
>Artie taught several of the corps in both Upstate N.Y. and Western
>Massachusetts from the early 1960'S to the mid 1970's. Ironically Artie did
>not drive. He took a bus to where ever he had to teach. In 1972 Artie was
>the percussion Caption Head for the Magnificent Yankees from Utica , N.Y..
>During that season the corps had beat Blue Rock in Percussion Excellence.
>Together with Brass Instructor Ron Ghetti, Artie help to create the entire
>next generation of Drum Corps People in The Pittsfield, Mass./Albany , N.Y.
>Area.
>Once a year Artie would take a trip to Switzerland. He had established a
>relationship with Alfonse Grieder and Hans Berger it was through these relationships that
>Artie became one of the first percussionist to introduce Swiss Rudiments to American Drum Corps.
>Artie also was instrumental in bringing the Rudibang drummers from Switzerland to perform at DCA shows in the US. They would turn out the stadium lights and do things with their sticks which were coated with phosphorous. The sticks looked like they were dancing when they played.
>Artie also had a reputation for being a great field percussion Judge. He
>was known for his Fairness and Knowledge of Music. He was a Chief
>Percussion Judge who was in charge of training new Percussion Judges in The
>All American Association.
>Artie Passed away in 1974.
>Several Young Percussionists can thank this man for a very high level of
>performance that he showed them the way to.
Time line for Artie Nelson:
>Performance:
>Empire State Grenadiers 1954- 1958 (Snare Drummer)
>Interstatesmen 1958- 1960 (Snare Drummer)
>Schenectady Symphony & Symphonic Band
1970 - 1974 (Percussionist)
>Percussion Instructor and Arranger
>Valiant Crusaders (Rensselaer, N.Y.) 1957 - 1964
>Monarchs (Pittsfield, Mass.) 1960 - 1965
>Sky Hawks (Pittsfield, Mass.) 1960 - 1964
>Islanders (Green Island, N.Y.) 1960 - 1967
>Blue Angels (Pittsfield, Mass.) 1962- 1967
>Vagabonds ( Ft Edward, N.Y.) 1968- 1969
>Killmen (Wynantskill, N.Y.) 1965- 1971
>Magnificent Yankees (Utica , N.Y.) 1967- 1974
>Percussion Consultant
>Speigleaires (Troy, N.Y.) 1972-73
>Emerald Knights ( Saratoga, N.Y.) 1973-74
>Percussion Arranger
>University of Indiana Marching Band 1973
> Percussion Judge
>New York State All American Judges Association 1964-1974
We need any and all tid-bits that you may have regarding the drum corps careers
of both Artie and Ron so that we can get them into The World Drum Corps Hall of
Fame. The Goal is for 2007. It is my greatest fear that if we do not do this The Accomplishments of these Great Men will be lost in History.
Your Friend,
Jay McBride
I was a snare drummer in the Monarchs from the time the corps came into existence in 1958 and when Artie started as "drum" instructor until I left at the end of the 1965 season. Artie was not only a great instructor, but a very generous man. He purchased full sets of new drums for the corps on more than one occassion. He also treated his drummers to 'Big Beef' sandwiches from the local Friendly's on a weekly basis. Artie was one of the most gentle, kind hearted human beings I've ever had the privilege of being around. I still think of Artie to this day. What a great, great man and positive influence he was to all of us. George DiPietro, Monarchs, 1958-1965.
In 1970 I answered an ad in the Utica Observer-Dispatch: “Free Drum Lessons”. At ten years old I joined the Yankee Cadets (feeder to the Magnificent Yankees) and met the legendary Artie Nelson who scared me into practicing an hour a day, gave me the pickles off his hamburgers, and instilled a love of precision drumming that has me returning to march in the Avant Garde Alumni Drumline 40 years later.
Wayne Higdon
Now, how cool is that!?!
I was fortunate to march with both Killman's feeder Corps and the Killman itself. Artie was the ominous bigger than life man who got the entire line to practice with lead pipes to strengthen our forearm muscles, stand for hours doing rudiments, and coming up with the most reputed drum solo names. Our solos were by far the most difficult of the time for Junior Corps, and our scores showed them.
Post a Comment
<< Home