WGI Focus on: Tom Aungst

Read the full interview with Tom here

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What is your marching history?

My marching percussion experience started in 1972 where I played rudimental bass and later snare in a local drum and baton corps. I continued playing snare in my high school marching and in 1979 I decided to march with a senior corps, the Reading Buccaneers. This was very interesting, because at the time I was 16 years old and I was marching in the snare line with players two, three, or even 4 times my age. I decided to march one more year with the Buccaneers, in 1980, and then in 1981 I tried out for the Garfield Cadets.

Before I go on, I must mention my private drum teacher, his name is John Rozum. I started taking drum lessons with him in the 5th grade and he is really the one that got me involved in the baton corps, the Buccaneers, and brought me to the Garfield Cadets, where at the time he was the tenor tech. He has always been a great teacher and mentor for me. So in 1981 I started with the Garfield Cadets, now just called The Cadets, and aged out in 1984, still one of my favorite drum corps shows ever. In 1985 I became the snare tech for the drumline and in 1989 the caption head and arranger. Twenty-five years later I am still teaching and writing for the Cadets.

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