Rounding out our staff for the 2019 season, we are proud to bring you our battery and visual staff!
Alex Musliner - Battery Manager
Alex Musliner is excited to be returning as a second-year member of the George Mason
instructional team for the 2018 season, continuing the role of Battery Manager.
Alex began his marching career at Cadets2 and progressed as a section leader through Cadets Winter Percussion, aging out with Carolina Crown while learning from educators like Tom Aungst, Thom Hannum, and Rich Hammond. Alex transitioned into an education career in the marching arts with Imperial Dynasty and the Bushwackers Drum and Bugle Corps as snare technician. Most recently, Alex was the battery caption lead and snare technician for the Bushwackers Drum and Bugle Corp. Alex graduated from Lehigh University with a degree in Computer Engineering in 2015 and is currently working as a developer at a website provider.
Matt Penland - Ensemble Music and Quad Specialist
Matt Penland is a percussion performer, educator, and arranger based out of Washington, D.C. where he is a percussionist in the U.S. Air Force Band, as well an instructor at the George Mason University Indoor Drumline. He has taught and arranged music for marching percussion groups across the country and internationally.
Displaying a background in both classical and marching percussion, Matt’s performance
accolades include: 3rd prizewinner of the 2014 TROMP International Percussion Competition in the Netherlands, Top prizewinner of the 2013 Atlanta Modern Snare Drum Competition and semifinalist in the 2014 Southern California Marimba Competition. As a marching percussion soloist he was the 2011 DCI I&E Tenor Champion and the 2009 PASIC Collegiate Tenor Solo Champion. Matt has been a featured soloist and clinician at the Texas Music Educators Association convention, the North Texas Marching Percussion Camp and at the 2014 International Percussion Festival Seoul in South Korea. Matt was a marching member of the Santa Clara Vanguard, Phantom Regiment, Carolina Crown, and Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps. He has been an instructor at the Santa Clara Vanguard since 2012.
Matt holds a Master’s degree from Northwestern University and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of North Texas. Find out more about Matt at www.penlandpercussion.com.
Thom Hannum - Program Consultant
Thom Hannum is entering his seventh year as Director of Percussion for the Carolina Crown Drum Corps. He will share the duties of arranging for and directing the Crown percussion program with Percussion Caption Supervisor Travis Peterman and Front Ensemble Supervisor/Arranger Jim Ancona.
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. Thom teaches at the University of Massachusetts where he serves as the Associate Director of the Minuteman Marching Band, and the Director of the Marimba Band and Marimba Ensemble program. In 2009 Mr. Hannum was recognized by the university, receiving the prestigious Distinguished Teaching Award. He is a product consultant and clinician for the Avedis Zildjian Cymbal Company and Vic Firth Sticks & Mallets where he has developed several Signature Series drumsticks and keyboard mallets. Thom is an active member of the Percussive Arts Society where he serves on the Marching Percussion Committee.
Thom Hannum is also known for his work with the DCI World Champion The Cadets and Star of Indiana, and is a member of the design team for the Tony and Emmy Award Winning show Blast! In the summer of 2001, Mr. Hannum was selected for induction into the DCI Hall of Fame, and in 2008 he was inducted into the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame. Mr. Hannum is also a member of The Cadets and the Crossmen Hall of Fame.
Ian Jeffrey - Visual Manager
Ian Jeffrey currently lives in Richmond, Virginia where he received his degree in music education at Virginia Commonwealth University. After graduating from VCU and substitute teaching for a school year, Ian received a position as an Elementary Music Teacher at Gayton Elementary. For High School, Ian serves as the Visual Coordinator for Deep Run High School in Glen Allen, VA and has held this position since 2012.
Ian's marching experience began at the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps from 2012-2015. He was the tuba section leader for the 2013 and 2014 seasons and the horn sergeant for his age-out year in 2015. He also marched WGI here at George Mason during 2015 and 2016, where he held a section leader position.
During the summer, Ian is on the visual team at the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps and has been so since the 2016 season.
Ian is very excited to be back for his third year at George Mason University and to take on the Visual Manager position.
Anthony Shelton - Snare Technician
Anthony Shelton started his marching career during his Junior year of high school in 2011 with the Jersey Surf Drum and Bugle Corps playing marimba in the Front Ensemble. From there, he decided to grow his marching career even further while playing snare drum for United Percussion, Cadets Winter Percussion and The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps. He is a graduate of University of Delaware and holds an Ivy League Certification in Hotel Revenue Management from Cornell University. Currently, Anthony is the Sales Systems Administrator for the Hyatt Regency Baltimore Inner Harbor and assists The University of Delaware Marching Band during his free time.
Aaron Alcine - Bass Technician
Aaron Alcine is a music educator from the northern New Jersey area and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Rutgers University. Aaron began his marching arts career in 2013 with the Bushwackers Drum and Bugle corps. After spending three years with Bush, he moved on to march Carolina Crown in the 2016 and 2017 seasons. Aaron is also very much involved in the indoor scene, as his experience consists of the Field of View, Cadets Winter Percussion, and United Percussion independent indoor percussion ensembles.
As an educator and supporter of the marching arts, Aaron has taught numerous high schools and ensembles throughout the years. His teaching experience includes Watchung Hills Regional High School, Dunellen High School, Elizabeth High School, and also JP Stevens High School. In 2017 Aaron was contracted to work as the bass technician for Carolina Crown and currently holds that position. His other current jobs include battery technician for Elizabeth High School along with serving as the Percussion Caption Head for J.P. Stevens High School.
This will be Aaron’s first year with George Mason and he is very eager to begin working alongside such an incredible staff and membership!
Megan Huynh - Cymbal Technician
Megan is a Fairfax, Virginia native. After she entered Fairfax High School she joined the
marching band first playing saxophone and shortly after moving on to be drum major. Thereafter, she found interest in her high school's indoor program where she marched two years of cymbals and two years of bass drum.
In 2014, Megan joined GMUID's cymbal line and served as section leader for two years. The summer of 2014, Megan marched cymbals with Raiders Drum and Bugle Corps and in 2015 she marched at Spirit of Atlanta. In 2017, Megan aged out at Infinity Percussion in Orlando, Florida.
Megan recently graduated in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University. Now, she works as a consultant for the Federal government.
Danielle Cunning - Cymbal Technician
Danielle Cunning began her WGI marching career with George Mason Indoor in 2009, where she spent four seasons on their cymbal line. In 2013 she moved to St. Louis, MO where she joined Gateway Indoor, ageing out with the organization in 2014 after two seasons. Her drum corps experience includes two seasons with Spirit of Atlanta from 2011-2012, where she received a gold medal for Individual and Ensemble in the cymbal ensemble category.
Danielle taught Gateway Indoor’s cymbal line from 2015 to 2017, and the George Mason cymbal line for the second half of the 2018 season. She has taught one season of drum corps with Spirit of Atlanta in 2015.
While she’s not teaching Danielle works full time as a Massage Therapist and Holistic Wellness Practitioner.
Stephen Patterson - Visual Technician
Stephen Patterson, a native of Fredericksburg, Virginia, has been performing and teaching in the marching arts since 2008. He is an alumnus of both The Cadets and The Cadets2 organizations where he marched trumpet. He was a member of the inaugural year of Cadets2 in 2012, and continued to perform with the organization in 2013. After taking a year off to study and teach, Stephen completed his age-out with The Cadets in 2015. Stephen returned to The Cadets2 in 2017 where he is currently a Brass/Battery Visual Instructor.
Scholastically, Stephen proudly serves as the Visual and Percussion Caption Head at Spotsylvania High School where he has been since 2013. During the fall he can also be found lending a hand to his alma mater Massaponax HS and James Madison HS in Vienna.
During indoor season, he serves as the Visual Caption Head for DieselCo Indoor, a collective of Spotsylvania County schools that combine resources to create a great experience for their percussion students.
During the day, he substitutes for band, orchestra, and chorus teachers in Spotsylvania County.
Zach Sellers - Visual Technician
Zach Sellers has been heavily involved with the marching arts beginning his Drum Corps experience in 2013 in the Baritone section at Cadets2, then The Cadets in 2014 aging out in 2015. He was also a cast member with Rhythm X Winds in 2017.
In addition to Zach’s performance career he has worked with the visual staff at 7th Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps and is currently a Visual Technician at Music City Drum and Bugle Corps. Zach is also a visual technician with Thomas Jefferson High School’s Indoor Drumline and the current Visual Caption Head at James Madison High School where he has been working since 2014. This will be Zach’s first season working with the George Mason University Indoor Drumline.
Zach is currently working on his degree in instrumental music education at George Mason University.
For a chance to work with this fantastic team, be sure to register for our auditions camps here!