Connecticut Hurricanes Announce 2011 Program Design Team
The Connecticut Hurricanes are pleased to announce their 2011 Design Team. With the Corps coming off another successful regular season in our long history, the Hurricanes are pleased to announce the return of Jim Dugan as Program Coordinator, Jamey Thompson as the Drill Designer and John Lemire as the designer and caption head for the award-winning Hurricanes color guard.
New to the team in 2011 will be Dennis Argul as the Brass Arranger and Gary Gill as the Percussion Arranger and Caption Head. Dennis Argul is no stranger to the Corps as he was involved with the Hurricanes as a Brass and Music Consultant in 2010. This year, his role is being expanded to include design responsibilities.
Gary Gill is no stranger to the DCA as he was formerly the percussion arranger and caption head, among other roles including show/staff coordinator, with Hawthorne Caballeros from 2003 through 2009 including their World Championship year in 2003. Gary was a percussion consultant for the Hurricanes in 2009 as well.
Returning for the third year as the brass caption head will be Justin Mitnik. Under Justin’s leadership, the brass section has shown continual improvement and we look to continued growth in 2011.
The Percussion Caption Supervisor for 2011 will be Scott Johnson. Scott was a new addition to the Hurricanes family in 2010 joining as a percussion technical teacher as well as a visual teacher for the percussion. Scott then marched a spot the last month of the year when a member could not finish the season. Scott has a long background in percussion education including working with Gary at the Hawthorne Caballeros.
Steve Rinda has accepted the Visual Caption Head position for 2011. Steve was on the visual staff in 2010 as a technical teacher as well as a design consultant. Steve was formerly the Drill Designer and Visual Caption Head at the Bushwackers before joining the Hurricanes in 2010.
“The critical factor in the continued growth of the Hurricanes as a DCA contender is the talent and commitment of these designers in providing a vehicle that could lead the Corps toward the top,” stated Kevin Hassan, Hurricanes President and Executive Director. “With the majority of the design team having experience working together in the past has led to great design team chemistry and will be a big motivating factor for the entire organization to get started. I cannot wait to see what this team provides for a 2011 production.”
On behalf of the Board of Directors and the Hurricanes management team and membership, we would like to thank Michael Klesch for his two years of providing quality brass arrangements for the corps, Kevin Murphy and Chris Johnson for their arranging and instructional skills that has lead to the continued development of the percussion program as well as Philip Triani and Jim Zulick for their skills in maintaining the standard of excellence that the color guard program has achieved as well as their service and commitment to the Hurricanes in many diversified roles including being a marching member, guard designer, guard teacher and visual caption head. We want wish Michael, Kevin, Chris, Philip and Jim the best of wishes as they embark on a new phase of their lives and careers!
Stay tuned for more exciting staff announcements for the 2011 edition of the Connecticut Hurricanes. For membership information, as well as additional information on the aforementioned designers and educations as well other news on the Hurricanes, please visit the Corps website – www.cthurricanes.org.
