James Ancona
Assistant Professor,
Instrumental Methods; Marching Band; Percussion; Pep Band; Symphonic Band
Assistant Director, Marching Band
Director, Pep Band
Co-Director, Symphonic Band
Director, Pep Band
Co-Director, Symphonic Band
Bachelor of Music Education, University of Massachusetts
Master of Music, Indiana University
Master of Music, Indiana University
James
Ancona is an assistant professor of music at the University of
Delaware. He is the assistant director of the Fightin’ Blue Hen Marching
Band, director of the Basketball Pep Band and co-director of the
Symphonic Band. Mr. Ancona received his Bachelor of Music Education from
the University of Massachusetts Amherst and his Master of Music in
Performance from Indiana University, where he was awarded the
prestigious Performer's Certificate. His former teachers include Gerald
Carlyss, Thomas Hannum, William Roberts, Peter Tanner and Leigh Howard
Stevens.
Mr. Ancona has more than 20 years of experience as an arranger and instructor for world-class drum and bugle corps including The Cavaliers, Star of Indiana, Santa Clara Vanguard, the Glassmen, the Crossmen and Carolina Crown. Currently, Mr. Ancona is a consultant for The Cadets, a ten-time Drum Corps International (DCI) world champion. His honors in the activity include having been a member of the 1990 DCI World Champion Cadets of Bergen County, having been on the instructional staff of Star of Indiana’s 1993 and Santa Clara Vanguard's 2004 world champion percussion sections and having served as the percussion caption head for the 2006 DCI World Champion Cavaliers. His Vanguard Percussion Ensembles and Mixed Ensembles with brass have won at the DCI Individual and Ensemble Championships.
Several of Mr. Ancona’s percussion arrangements appear on CDs by Star of Indiana's Brass Theater and the Tony and Emmy award-winning Broadway show Blast. He also has several arrangements published by Tapspace Publications. Mr. Ancona is the co-author of the popular front ensemble text, Up Front: A Complete Resource for Today's Pit Ensemble and author of Up Front Etudes. He is an endorser and clinician for the Avedis Zildjian Company, Remo, Pearl drums and Adams Percussion, and a signature artist for Innovative Percussion, Inc. Mr. Ancona has presented educational and performance clinics around the world.
Mr. Ancona currently resides in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Ancona has more than 20 years of experience as an arranger and instructor for world-class drum and bugle corps including The Cavaliers, Star of Indiana, Santa Clara Vanguard, the Glassmen, the Crossmen and Carolina Crown. Currently, Mr. Ancona is a consultant for The Cadets, a ten-time Drum Corps International (DCI) world champion. His honors in the activity include having been a member of the 1990 DCI World Champion Cadets of Bergen County, having been on the instructional staff of Star of Indiana’s 1993 and Santa Clara Vanguard's 2004 world champion percussion sections and having served as the percussion caption head for the 2006 DCI World Champion Cavaliers. His Vanguard Percussion Ensembles and Mixed Ensembles with brass have won at the DCI Individual and Ensemble Championships.
Several of Mr. Ancona’s percussion arrangements appear on CDs by Star of Indiana's Brass Theater and the Tony and Emmy award-winning Broadway show Blast. He also has several arrangements published by Tapspace Publications. Mr. Ancona is the co-author of the popular front ensemble text, Up Front: A Complete Resource for Today's Pit Ensemble and author of Up Front Etudes. He is an endorser and clinician for the Avedis Zildjian Company, Remo, Pearl drums and Adams Percussion, and a signature artist for Innovative Percussion, Inc. Mr. Ancona has presented educational and performance clinics around the world.
Mr. Ancona currently resides in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
[www.innovativepercussion.net]
James Ancona
University of Delaware
James Ancona is currently the Percussion Caption Head for the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps and Front Ensemble Arranger for the Penn State Indoor Drum line.
He has several years experience as an arranger and instructor
for world class drum and bugle corps including the Crossmen, Star of
Indiana, the Glassmen, Santa Clara Vanguard, and Carolina Crown.
James' honors in the marching activity include having been a member of
the 1990 DCI World Champion Cadets of Bergen County and having been on
the instructional staff of Star of Indiana's (1993) and Santa Clara
Vanguard's (2004) World Champion percussion sections.
His Vanguard Percussion Ensembles and Mixed Ensembles (with
brass) have won at the Drum Corps International Individual and Ensemble
Championships.
Several of his percussion arrangements appear on Star of Indiana's "Brass Theater" and "BLAST" compact discs and are published by Tap Space Publications.
James is also co-author of Up Front: A Complete Resource for Today's Pit Ensemble.
He is an endorser and clinician for Remo, Inc., Pearl Drums and Adams Percussion, and the Avedis Zildjian Company.
James is an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Delaware.
He is the Assistant Director of the Blue Hen Marching Band, Director of the Basketball Pep Band and Co-Director of the Symphonic Band.
James received his Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his Master's Degree in Performance from Indiana University where he was awarded the prestigious Performer's Certificate.
[www.cavaliers.org]
Staff : Percussion : Jim Ancona
Jim Ancona has several years' experience as an arranger and instructor for world class drum and bugle corps including: The Boston Crusaders,
Star of Indiana, The Crossmen, The Glassmen, Santa Clara Vanguard and
Jim is also currently the Front Ensemble Arranger for
the Penn State Indoor Drumline.
His honors in the activity include
having been a member of the 1990 DCI World Champion Cadets of Bergen
County and having been on the instructional staff of Star of Indiana's
Jim is the co-author of Up Front: A Complete Resource for
Today's Pit Ensemble.
He is an endorser and clinician for the Avedis
Ancona is an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of
Delaware.
He is the Assistant Director of the Blue Hen Marching Band,
Director of the Basketball Pep Band and Co-Director of the Symphonic
Band.
Jim received his Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from the
University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his Master's Degree in
Performance from Indiana University where he was awarded the
prestigious Performer's Certificate.
His former teachers include Gerald
[www.delawareonline.com]
When "Blast II: Shockwave" comes to the Playhouse Theatre in
Wilmington, it will be like having a not-so-distant relative come to
town for Jim Ancona, University of Delaware's assistant marching band director. Ancona had a hand in readying the show's forerunner, "Blast," for its Tony-winning run.And although "Shockwave" may be, as its producer James Mason says, "totally different," you can't argue with Ancona for looking for a family resemblance.
Ancona, 33, was in on the ground floor when "Blast" rose to international fame.After earning a master's degree in performance at Indiana University, he was recruited in 1993 to teach percussion for the Star of Indiana, the drum- and-bugle corps that went on to become Brass Theater, and eventually "Blast." He continued to work with Star of Indiana after he was hired by the University of Delaware in 1995.And in 1999, as Brass Theater was in the process of becoming "Blast," Ancona got a call from Mason to help write new material and add polish to the show
Ancona brings his emphasis on entertainment and performance to his work with the 300-member UD band.His
efforts contributed to the Delaware band's invitation to perform in
exhibition at the Bands of America Grand National Championships in
Indianapolis this weekend.The championships, the largest high school
band tournament in the country, are held in the RCA Dome there, and
Delaware is one of just two university bands selected for the honor of
performing in exhibition. "I'm really excited about Indiana," Ancona says."This is great exposure for the University of Delaware's band and a great performance experience for our kids."
