Leadership
Board of Directors
USARD is guided by a volunteer board of dedicated drummers, educators, and community builders who donate their time and expertise to advancing the mission.
Philip Andrews
Board Member & Communications Chair
Philip Andrews is a performer, arranger, and educator from Fairfax, Virginia. He graduated from Wright State University with a B.A. in Music Performance and received a Graduate Certificate in Marketing from Liberty University, where he is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Social Media Management. Philip’s introduction to fife and drum was at the age of two, at the Old Saybrook Torchlight Parade. His first formal lessons were provided by Dr. Jim Clark, and he became a member of The Warehouse Point Junior Fife and Drum Corps. He was also a member of Colonel John Chester Fife and Drum Corps, where he became a two-time Connecticut state champion as an individual snare drummer. He is an active member of the Connecticut Patriots Fife and Drum Corps and the Connecticut Blues Fife and Drum Corps. Currently, he is a Snare Drum Musician in The United States Army Old Guard Fife And Drum Corps. Philip is an active educator in the marching arts, providing lessons since 2017 and teaching multiple high school marching bands, percussion ensembles, and drum and bugle corps across the country. He served on the instructional staff for the 2024 Company of Fifers and Drummers Junior Camp. He was elected to the Executive Committee in 2025 and currently serves as the chair for the Communications Committee. Philip is a Beetle Percussion Artist, and proudly endorses Loyal Drums.
Hannah Skinner
Board Member
Hannah Skinner started her pipe band career with the Grandfather Mountain Highlanders in 2009. She has been competing at a professional level in both bass and tenor since 2013. Hannah has written scores and provided instruction for bands throughout the southern United States. She graduated from Methodist University in 2018 with music degrees in Percussion Performance and Music Education. While in school, she joined the Grade 2 City of Dunedin Pipe Band, winning the 2018 World Pipe Band Championship. The following year, she competed with the City of Dunedin Grade 1 band winning the North American championships. She teaches annually at the North American Academy of Piping and Drumming in North Carolina and the Tartan N’ Taps convention. She is the Lead Drummer for the Virginia International Tattoo. Hannah lives in Williamsburg, VA and applies her Masters in Leadership in Education to her foundational instruction of the Scottish Arts with Drumming in the Grey.
Geoffrey Brown
Board Member
Geoffrey Brown began his life-long rudimental journey in the late 1970s through the Connecticut Fifers & Drummers Association (CF&DA) as part of the West Hartford Drum Corp. In 1984 he became a proud member of the DCI Bayonne Bridgemen snareline under legendary instructor/arranger Dennis Delucia. A drumkit player at heart, with an avid interest in world percussion, Geoffrey spent the next few decades playing and performing professionally, in addition to working in high-end drum/percussion retail that included stints as a product specialist for both Korg and Zildjian. He returned to his rudimental roots in the mid-2000s as a member of Jim Clark’s Connecticut Valley Field Music, culminating in a performance with that group at the 2024 USARD convention. Later that year Geoffrey was invited to be a member of the USARD advisory board where he hopes to share his years of experience and passion for all forms of drumming.
Brendan Mason
Executive Director & Board Member
Brendan Mason is an active teacher, performer, and clinician in the New England area. He currently teaches general and instrumental music at East Shoreline Catholic Academy in Branford, CT and serves as the Assistant Marching Band Director for Jonathon Law High School in Milford, CT. He provides private lessons to many students of all ages in the New England Area. Brendan has served as caption head or technician to several area drumlines and percussion sections including the Cheshire High School Marching Band, Col. John Chester Drum Corps, Connecticut Patriots Drum Corps, The Stony Creek Drum Corps and the 7th Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps. He has provided clinics and workshops all over the world, including a 2014 presentation for the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Indianapolis, a week of clinics in Singapore for the Singapore Armed Forces Band, and for The Royal Marine School of Music in Portsmouth, UK. Brendan is a regular teacher, performer and guest throughout China as a member of The China Percussive Arts Society. Brendan started playing rudimental snare drum at the age of 6 as a member of the Col. John Chester Drum Corps. At age 9, he became the youngest drummer to hold The Dan English Trophy as the Connecticut State Junior Snare Drum Champion, a distinction he has won more times than any other individual. He has performed with the Grand Republic Fife and Drum Corps, the Middlesex County Volunteers and The Top Secret Drum Corps of Basel, Switzerland. Brendan is a proud member of The Company of Fifers and Drummers, USARD and NARD. He is also an endorsee of Mapex Percussion, The Cooperman Drum Company, Vic Firth, ProLogix Percussion, and Loyal Drums.
Jo Nazro
Board Member
Jo grew up in Southeastern Connecticut and discovered a passion for fife and drum at the age of seven with the Nutmeg Volunteer Jr. Ancient Fife and Drum Corps. Under the guidance of George Chapman and Cap Corduan, Jo developed a love for rudimental drumming, which continued during their time with the East Lyme High School Drumline from 1997 to 2001. In 2000, Jo attended the inaugural Jr. Fife and Drum Camp as a camper, marking a memorable milestone in their musical journey. In 2001, Jo joined the Bluff Point Quahog Diggers Band, where they remain an active performer and contributor. While pursuing a degree in Technical Theatre in Massachusetts, Jo connected with the local fife and drum community and gained valuable insights from Richard Ruquist. After earning a bachelor’s degree, Jo returned to Connecticut and briefly performed with the Connecticut Patriots. Currently, Jo serves as Technical Director for the Theatre Department at Fitchburg State University. In this role, they collaborate with students to design, construct, and execute the technical elements of theatre productions, combining artistic vision with practical expertise.
Ty Parker
Board Member & Founder, iDrum.com
Ty Parker is a lifelong drummer, educator, adjudicator, and performer with deep roots in American rudimental drumming and modern drum set performance. He marched with the 27th Lancers Drum & Bugle Corps as a snare drummer from 1976–1982, serving as center snare from 1980–1982, and later returned to perform with the 27th Lancers Alumni Corps in 1994. He placed 8th in the 1980 DCI Individuals competition and 10th in the 1982 DCI Individuals competition. From 1982–1986, Ty served as a percussion judge, while also teaching and instructing numerous high school drumlines and serving as a percussion instructor for the Malden Diplomats Drum & Bugle Corps from 1983–1986, including leadership during the 1985 DCI Class A Percussion Championship season. Since 2011, Ty has been the drummer for Panic is Perfect, a San Francisco Bay Area–based band, and remains an active performing musician. He is also the founder of iDrum.com, an online drumming education platform focused on structured, notation-based learning and instructor-led content. iDrum supports USARD educational initiatives, including the USARD Rudimental Foundations program, and provides a modern framework for expanding access to high-quality rudimental instruction. As a USARD board member, Ty focuses on strengthening rudimental education pathways, supporting instructor development, modernizing educational delivery, and connecting traditional rudimental drumming with contemporary musical performance.
Dirck Van Lieu
Board Member
Dirck Van Lieu was introduced to rudimental drumming in the early 1960s while preparing to march with the 15th NJ Volunteers along with his father. His progress was limited and his attention turned to rock & roll, without taking advantage of the benefits that rudiments would bring to his playing. Sixty years later his wife noticed him admiring a rope drum on the internet and said “You should get one.” He did. Now to make up for lost time.
Adrian Bond
Board Member
Adrian Bond is an international performer, educator, and graphic designer from Plano, TX. She toured nationally and internationally with the Tony and Emmy award-winning Broadway show Blast! as a percussionist/timpani specialist from 2011–2024, performed in the 2012 A.R. Rahman live concert in Chennai, and toured Japan in 2008 with the musical theater production Odyssey: Brass Angels. Adrian began her percussion career as a student of John Brennan at Plano East Sr High School and went on to receive a BFA in Graphic Design and a BM in Percussion Performance from the University of North Texas. While at UNT, she studied under Christopher Deane, Mark Ford, Ed Smith, Omar Carmenates, Stockton Helbing, and was under the direction of Eugene Corporon in the North Texas Wind Symphony. Adrian also studied under Dr. Brian Zator in 2010 while attending East Texas A&M University. She has performed at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention with East Texas A&M University Percussion Ensemble in 2010 and with University of North Texas Percussion Ensemble in 2016, and at the 2015 Midwest Clinic with the North Texas Wind Symphony. Additionally, Adrian is a Drum Corps International quad line alum having marched with Spirit of Atlanta from 2003–2004 and with the Boston Crusaders from 2005–2007 (section leader/drum captain in 2007). Adrian is an Innovative Percussion artist and currently lives in the Dallas, TX area with her husband Zak and their rescue pup, Kuma.
Tom Terreri
Board Member
In Memoriam · October 16, 2026
Tom started playing snare in Fife & Drum at age 8 and continued playing through the late 1970s. From 1967 through 1970 Tom also played in Drum and Bugle with St. Lucy’s Cadets and Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights. From 1965 through 1985, he played the drum kit with several Rock and Jazz groups. Tom began Piano and Cello Studies in 1970 and played with various community orchestras through to the early 2000s including The Pittsburgh Youth Symphony for the ’75–’76 season. He attended The Manhattan School of Music from ’71 through ’76 majoring in music composition. In 2017, Tom returned to rudimental drumming in both F&D and D&B and the St. Lucy Snare Drum Ensemble. Since then, Tom has been performing with The New Jersey Field Music F&D, The Colonial Musketeers Senior F&D Corps, The Rough Riders F&D and three legacy alumni drum & bugle corps: Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights, St. Lucy’s Cadets and The Archer-Epler Musketeers. Tom is the drum instructor and arranger for St. Lucy’s and BSGK and currently performs on cello with the Tim Keyes Consort Orchestra and Chorus. Tom continues to write for all flavors of music, composing and arranging from small ensembles to large orchestral works.