Brass Staff Biographies

Wayne Downey

Wayne returns to the Brigadiers for his 9th season. In additions to his continued work with the Brigadiers, Wayne is also the Music Director of the twelve-time DCI Champion . Under his supervision as arranger and teacher, the brass section of the Blue Devils has been awarded the Jim Ott Memorial Trophy for "Excellence in Brass Performance" for an unprecedented 21 times, more than any other brass section in the history of DCI.

Being distinguished as one of the finest brass teachers/clinicians and arrangers in the world, Wayne enjoys an active teaching schedule in the capacity of arranger and musical consultant with the Tony & Emmy Award winning show "Blast", the All Japan Marching Band Champion Soka Renaissance Vanguard, the DCI Division II Champion Magic of Orlando, the award winning RCC Marching Tigers, the Bands of America regional champion Northmont High School, as well as many other fine high school and college programs.

In the role of program consultant, Wayne has guided The Woodlands H.S. band from The Woodlands, Texas to the Bands of America 3A National Championship and the Lassiter H.S. Band from Marietta, Georgia and the Westfield H.S. Band from Houston, Texas to the coveted crown of Bands of America Grand National Champion.

In 2004, Wayne brought his many years of experience to Blast II, "Cyberjam," as its musical director, arranger and member of its creative team. Along with fellow arranger Jim Prime, the League of American Theatres and Producers nominated Wayne in the "Best Score" (Orchestrations) category for the National Broadway Theater Awards for the touring production of "Blast". His other recent accomplishment includes scoring instrumental cues for 20th Century Fox's film production of "The First 20 Million is Always the Hardest" and Universal Pictures latest edition of "American Pie: Band Camp".

Known for his work in educational music publishing, Wayne has served as an arranger/composer for Jenson Publications, Warner Bros./Columbia Pictures Publishing, Arrangers Publishing Co. as well as Barnhouse Music Publishing. Wayne co-authored the "State of the Art Ensemble Techniques for Marching Band" with his colleague Jack Meehan and co-authored the Yamaha Corp. of America’s curriculum for the "Sounds of Summer" Music Camps with Jay BoCook, Tim Salzman and Jay Dawson. Wayne is currently clinician/endorser and design consultant with Dynasty USA and DEG Music Products Inc.

His recent works in the educational field include: "Dynasty of Brass" an educational DVD for teachers and students alike in 5.1 Surround Sound complete with performance examples and downloadable exercises, Etude of the Month and CyberLesson. All three of these products as well as many other exciting educational tools can be found on his new website.

His other professional experiences include: Marching Band Director of the San Jose State University Marching Spartans and Conductor/Coordinator for the Sugar, Gator and Orange Bowl halftimes.

In 1991 Wayne was inducted into the Drum Corps International Hall of Fame for his contributions to the Drum & Bugle Corps activity as the musical director for the Concord Blue Devils Drum & Bugle Corps.

Tom Santino

Tom received his Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from the University of South Florida and his Master's Degree in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. Tom began his teaching career as the founding Director of Bands at G. Holmes Braddock Sr. High School in Miami Florida in the fall of 1990. Tom directed the marching band, concert bands, jazz bands, and winter guards at Braddock from 1990 through 1997. In the fall of 1997, Tom became the Director of Bands at Howard Doolin Middle School in Miami during the school's opening year. From 1998 to 2003, Tom directed the musical ensembles at Indian Ridge Middle School in Davie, Florida. During his five years at Indian Ridge, Tom directed the concert and jazz bands, orchestra, and choral groups. From 2003 to 2006, Tom served as Assistant Director of Bands at Flanagan High School in Pembroke Pines, Florida. Currently, Tom is an Assistant Principal at Flanagan High School.

Tom began his drum corps career marching in the Florida Wave, before moving to Suncoast Sound. Tom finished his marching career with the Concord Blue Devils. Tom's instructional experience began in 1990 as a brass instructor with the Magic of Orlando. From 1994 to 1996, he served on the brass staff of the Concord Blue Devils, and in the fall of 1997, he began is first season as Caption Head for the Boston Crusaders. From 2002 through 2004, Tom Served as Brass Caption Head for The Brigadiers. During this period of time, The Brigadiers won the DCA championships. In 2002, Tom assisted Magic of Orlando in setting several records en route to becoming DCI Division II World Champion. Magic became the first corps to win a championship after an inactive season, achieved the highest score in the history of Division II Finals, and was the first Division II corps to achieve DCI Division I Finalist status all in one season. The following year, Tom helped the corps maintain their Finalist status in their first season back in Division I. Tom returned to the Boston Crusaders brass staff in 2004 as a Brass Technician. In 2005 and 2006, Tom once again served as Brass Caption Head for the Boston Crusaders. Tom returns to the Brigs in 2008 for his second year as Brass Coordinator.

Tom currently lives in Pembroke Pines, FL. Email him at tsantino@yahoo.com.

Peter Blake

Peter is currently beginning his 11th season with The Brigadiers and his third as the brass caption head. After joining the corps in 1998 as a member of the soprano section, he has served many roles during his tenure with the corps. Peter's formal music training comes from Syracuse University where he graduated in 1999 with a BA in Music Education. His brass technique and pedagogy training is primarily from the teachings of Wayne Downey, Gino Cipriani, and Tom Santino over the past decade. 1997.

Aside from working with The Brigadiers, Peter has spent time on the brass staff of The Cadets (DCI) as well as working with several marching bands throughout the country. He is currently the music designer for Northern Highlands H.S. (NJ), Copiague H.S. (NY), Marcus Whitman H.S. (NY), and a composer in residence for the Suffolk County BOCES (NY). Along with his musical design positions, Peter is also a program consultant for the East Syracuse Minoa marching band. He has been involved in the marching activity since 1989, and has been associated with groups at all levels that have consistently achieved high levels of success.

Peter currently lives in Syracuse, N.Y. where he is a middle school band director and music teacher in an alternative program for the city schools. He is also working on a masters degree in Educational Leadership at LeMoyne College.

Paul Cullen

Paul is currently in his 8th season with The Brigadiers and his third as a member of the Brass staff. He joined the corps in 2001 as a member of the soprano section, and has served in many roles during his time with the corps. Paul received his Bachelor's of Music Degree in Film Scoring from the Berklee College of Music in 2003 where he also studied Conducting and Trumpet performance.

Having been involved in the activity for the past 14 years, Paul has been a performer, educator, designer and consultant to numerous music and marching programs in both wind and percussion areas. He has also been a Music Designer and Music Editor to many Scholastic and Independent Winter Guards throughout the United States. Paul composes extensively and has written or arranged a collection of works for Orchestra, Symphonic Ensembles, Concert Band, Big Band, Winter Percussion, Marching Band and Drum Corps in all styles and genres.

Paul currently lives in Minoa, New York with his wife Lisa and their daughter, Madison.

Tom Ruby

Tom Ruby has been involved with Drum and Bugle Corps since the age of 16. His marching experience began with the Empire Statesmen in 2001 where he played baritone, and continued to 2002 when he switched to the contra line. He marched with The Brigadiers in 2004 as a Lead Baritone. He also marched with the Eastridge Lancer Marching band for 3 years from 2000 to 2002.

As an educator, Tom has been involved with many marching groups in numerous roles. He has worked with the Webster High School Marching Band and the Le Roy Marching Band as a music and marching technician in the fall of 2007. He is currently in his second year as the Assistant Director of the Pembroke Marching Band. He was the Show Coordinator for the Dansville Marching Mustangs in the fall of 2006. Tom has also worked with the Dansville White Sabers Drum and Bugle Corps from 2005 to 2007 as a music and marching technician and co-arranger of the brass book.

Tom is an active arranger and composer and has written for the Dansville White Sabers, Nazareth College Concert Band, Roberts Wesleyan Wind Ensemble, Eastridge Lancer Marching Band, and Greece Marching Band.

Tom currently lives in Webster, New York and is finishing his last semester for his Bachelor's degree in Music Education at Nazareth College. E-mail: truby6@gmail.com.