Know Your Brigade Staff

     The next staff member in the spotlight is none other than our color guard caption head Todd Neuenschwander.  Todd is one of the funniest people I have ever met and also one of the most talented.  As amazing as he is with everything color guard - he is just as adept at everything musical.  You would think that someone who marched in a drum corps that was world champions both years he was in would have an enormous ego.  Not so with Todd.  If you ask him about his world championship years or what it's like to have two (TWO!!) DCI world championship rings - the most you will get out of him would be something like, "Yeah - we were pretty good those years".

     Todd has brought an extremely high work ethic and desire to always challenge his guard members.  The beauty of it is that all of the girls buy into his teaching style 100% and I wonder if Todd understands just how much his positive attitude also rubs off on the other staff members, students, and parents.  Now on to my Q & A with Todd:

Name:  Todd Neuenschwander

Position:  Color Guard Caption Head

Number of Years on Brigade staff: 6

Marching Band/Drum Corps experience: The Cavaliers Drum & Bugle Corps (2001 and 2002)
 
Current Job: Middle school choir teacher!
 
College degree: Ball State University, K-12 Music Education (instrumental)
 
Main instrument: Saxophone
 
Home Town: Marion, Indiana
 
Birthday: February 23, 1981
 
Favorite Food: I love Italian food.
 
Top Five Favorite Movies: The Godfather, Silence of the Lambs, American Beauty, The Dark Knight, Superman Returns (I need everyone to understand that this was the hardest question on the list)
 
Favorite TV shows: The Sopranos, Smallville, Rescue Me, Simpsons, Star Trek (pretty much all the different versions)
 
Book you are currently reading: Wicked
 
What song is currently playing on your iPod: "I Stand," by Idina Menzel
 
Favorite sports team: COLTS!!!
 
Favorite pig-out food: Nachos!
 
Dream Vacation: DISNEY WORLD!!!!!
 
Worst Habit: Procrastination...oh...and I spend WAY too much money on DVDs
 
Hidden talent you have: I am an innovator of belching technique...but I guess I don't hide it too often
 
Famous person you have met: Ben Folds, Wynton Marsalis, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
 
Famous person you would like to meet: John Mayer, Dave Matthews

Favorite Quote: "Stop wasting so much time remembering what everyone else says, and come up with something clever, insightful, and funny on your own." -Me

Favorite Actor: Al Pacino, James Gandolfini
 
Favorite Actress: Emma Thompson, Meryl Streep
 
Favorite ride at Disney World: Mission Space
 
Add your own personal thoughts about the Lighthouse Brigade:
Working with Brigade over the summer is pretty much the highlight of my year.  I never laugh so much as when I'm hanging out with our staff.  We are probably the most hilarious and brilliant people anyone could ever meet.

Know Your Brigade Staff

     Our next staff member in the spotlight is our new visual caption head, Matt Reichardt.  Matt joined the Brigade staff for our "Dead Men Tell No Tales" tour in 2007 and has been a terrific addition.  He is a very easy going guy who really knows his stuff.  He will probably be remembered best, however, for his involvement in a certain football game that was caught on the 2008 Brigade DVD.  All of us who have seen that footage know what I am talking about and will never forget it.....as for Matt....I think it is something he would like to forget!!

Now on to my Q & A with Matt:

Name: Matt Reichardt

Position:  Visual Caption Head

Number of years on Brigade staff:  3

Marching band/drum corps experience:  Southwind Drum and Bugle Corps ('02 soprano, '03 mellophone), UW-Whitewater Marching Band ('00-'03 mellophone, '04 snare)

Current Job:  AR Analyst

College Degree:  Bachelor of Music - Choral/General Music Education, UW-Whitewater

Main Instrument:  Voice/French Horn

Home Town:  Manitowoc, WI

Birthday:  April 20th, 1982

Favorite Food:  Pistachio Torte

Top five favorite movies:  Shawshank Redemption, The Jungle Book, The Truman Show, Momento, Office Space

Favorite TV Shows:  Seinfeld, The Office, Baseball Tonight

Book you are currently reading:  Songs in Their Heads

What song is currently playing on your iPod:  AIR - How Does This Make You Feel?

Favorite sports team:  Brewers

Favorite pig-out food:  Wings

Dream Vacation:  Germany

Worst Habit:  Eating delicious food all the time

Hidden talent:  Computer programming

Famous person you have met:  Corey Hart

Famous person you would like to meet:  Jerry Seinfeld

Favorite quote:  "These pretzels are making me thirsty!"

Favorite actor:  Tim Robbins, Ed Norton, Steve Carrell

Favorite actress:  Anne Hatheway, Natalie Portman

Favorite ride at Disney:  20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

Add your own personal thoughts about the Lighthouse Brigade:  Lighthouse Brigade is among the hardest working, most dedicated group of students I've ever worked with.  Lighthouse Brigade performs at a very high level, but also does not take itself too seriously.  I appreciate the strong tradition of working hard and having fun and doing the right thing.

Know Your Brigade Staff

    Our next staff member in the spotlight is our music caption head Dan Schmidt.  Dan is simply one of the nicest guys you will ever meet and he is also, like myself, a fan of the wonderfulness that is Starbucks!    Dan is an outstanding musician and teacher but I bet most people don't know that he is really quite adept at computers (especially if they are Mac's).

     Dan has also been the assistant director for the Junior Brigade for the last few years but this year he will only be devoting his time and talents to the Lighthouse Brigade - and we are all very happy to have him working with us again this season!  Now on to my Q & A with Dan:

Name:  Dan Schmidt

Position:  Music Caption Head

Number of years on Brigade staff:  4

Marching band/drum corps experience:  None

Current job:  Instrumental Music Director, Clintonville High School

College Degree:  Bachelor of Music Education - UW-Stevens Point

Main Instrument:  Saxophone

Home Town:  Juneau, WI

Birthday:  July 28th, 1983

Favorite Food:  Steak, Pasta

Top five favorite movies:  any of the Bourne films, The Prestige, Ocean's 11, Dead Poets Society, The Patriot (do you have that one on DVD?)

Favorite TV shows:  Arrested Development, The West Wing, Seinfield, Good Eats, The Daily Show

Book you are currently reading:  Teacher Man, The Audacity of Hope

What song is currently playing on your iPod:  Keith Jarrett: Yesterdays

Favorite sports team:  Does the Chicago Symphony count?

Favorite pig-out food:  Doritos

Dream Vacation:  another European trip

Worst Habit:  Procrastination

Hidden talent you have:  I can fix tractors, sort of

Famous person you have met:  Rex Rukavina

Famous person you would like to meet:  Barack Obama

Favorite quote:  "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.  So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." - Teddy Roosevelt

Favorite actor:  Matt Damon

Favorite actress:  This changes on a weekly basis.  This week it is Charlize Theron

Favorite ride at Disney World:  Never been

Add your own personal thoughts about the Lighthouse Brigade:  I'm excited to be back for another great season of Brigade!  I really enjoy being able to do this kind of work and the students and staff are great!