Instructors

Erin Ernst

Erin Ernst is a native of Succasunna, New Jersey. Her initial interest in fife and drum arose from Civil War Reenacting. Erin began playing fife at age 9 with the Colonial Musketeers Junior Ancient Fife and Drum Corps of Hackettstown, NJ. Erin was a Northeastern Fife Solo Champion from 2008-2010, a Duet Champion in 2008 and 2010, and a Main Stand Champion from 2006-2010. She led the Corps to their victory in 2010 as the Fife Sergeant.

She has performed in the 2010 Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Sydney, Australia, the 2012 Basel Tattoo in Switzerland, and the 2018 Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Edinburgh, Scotland with the Middlesex County Volunteers Fife and Drum Corps. She attended Quinnipiac University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Neuroscience. Erin has been an active member of the Grand Republic Fife and Drum Corps since 2013.

In 2015, Erin won the audition for the The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps where she currently performs as a Fife Musician. Erin has had the opportunity to perform in several White House Arrival Ceremonies, the 2017 Presidential Inauguration Parade, the Basel Tattoo, the Norwegian Military Tattoo, the Invictus Games, and many other notable performances. Her other Corps duties include Public Affairs Officer, Auditions Coordinator and the leader of the United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps Fife Ensemble. Staff Sgt. Ernst is also a teacher at the Junior Ancient Fife and Drum Camp hosted each summer in Ivoryton, CT, and serves on the main board of instructors to help arrange the camp.

 

Matt Garland

Matt began fifing in 2008 as a Civil War reenactor with the 6th New Hampshire Reg't from Peterborough, NH. Soon after he joined the Milford, NH Fife and Drum Corps where he was first introduced to the world of fife and drum and encouraged to attend Junior Camp in 2009.

​In 2011 Matt joined the Bluff Point Quahog Diggers Band and in 2015 joined the Grand Republic Fife and Drum Corps, both of which he continues to play with today.

Matt attended camp from 2009-2014 where he improved his skills as a musician and made many great friends. In 2015, Matt came back to camp as an intern and in 2017, he became an instructor. 

Matt worked at the Cooperman Fife and Drum Company in Vermont from 2014 - 2017 where he worked on fifes, drums, drum sticks, and historic toys and games.

 

Silvia Gopalakrishnan

Silvia Gopalakrishnan started her musical journey in 2009 when she joined the Deep River Junior Fife and Drum Corps. Since then, Gopalakrishnan became a member of the Bluff Point Quahog Diggers Band and Americlique, and is a founding member of the Lighthouse Brigade, whose goal is to shine a light on contemporary fife and drum music. 

Gopalakrishnan's compositions have been commissioned for the Valley Regional High School Concert Band, the Deep River Junior fife line, and other ensembles. She is also featured in Emily Barone's Fife Etude and Solo Book. Currently, she is co-orchestrating a new musical, "Oh Fair Maiden," written by Emma J. Smith. Her creations are on display on her Youtube channel, "Silvia Gopalakrishnan".

Gopalakrishnan is pursuing an IB/M music education degree at the University of Connecticut. She is studying flute with Naomi Senzer, and has performed in various ensembles at UConn on flute, piccolo, alto saxophone, and trombone! 

 

Candy Guastamachio

Candy Guastamachio took an unusual route to the world of fife & drum. She's a flute player with a degree in music and she taught for 3 junior corps (from the late 70s to the early 90s) before ever joining a corps herself. In 1994, her family joined the Nathan Hale Ancient Fifes & Drums. In recent years, she's taught for the Marquis of Granby and has played with Ameri-Clique, the Bluff Point Quahogs, Connecticut Valley Field Music and Nathan Hale. 

Candy is a retired public school music teacher. She's taught Band, Orchestra, Choir & General Music in Massachusetts, Connecticut & Vermont. Upon retirement, she left behind the program in East Hartford, Connecticut, where she was very proud of her 165 member marching band. She's also a retired United States Army musician, having spent 21 years as a member of the 94th Army Band. Candy tells musicians that the most important part of any musical activity is to, "Have fun & do your best!"

 

Bill Hart

This is Bill Hart's tenth time teaching at the camp. Bill began fifing in 1969, when his father joined the Colonial Navy of Mass. His first corps was Barton's Raider's of Tiverton, RI. He has been a member of the Independent Light Dragoons, Colonial Navy, the CT Blues, The CT Rebel's, and  the Sailing Masters and is a founding member and director of Ameri-Clique. He has taught several corps junior and senior corps, and is currently the instructor for Deep River, Westbrook and the Bluff Point Quahog Diggers Band. His arrangements have been played by numerous fife and drum corps, including the CT Blues, CT Patriots, CT  Rebels and Black River Fife and Drum. He has published two collections of fife arrangements and an exercise book for fifers. He recorded the Company Book II, the Watrous Book and the Sons of LIberty Book for the Company of Fifers and Drummers. He has won individual, duet and quartet medals in CT and Northeastern competition. With Tishka Musco, he created the ensemble the Muster Bunch and recorded the CD "Planxty Pauline". He created the ensemble the Madison Street Project  and produced the CD "The Last Hour". He has produced three CD's of electronic music.

 

Karen McGuire

This will be Karen McGuire's ninth year teaching at JRFDC – and she is thrilled to be back!  Karen grew up in a New York fife and drum family and was given her first fife at the age of six.  As a member of the competitive junior corps, Good Shepherd, started by her parents, she grew up playing the Kirk Music selected in 2017 for JRFDC – along with many of the tunes heard in jam sessions at fife and drum musters. 

Karen brought her fife with her to Colorado – where she lives – and has stayed active in fife and drum as the founder and principal musician of the Mile High Fife and Drum Corps.  Karen also plays flute in two community bands and teaches elementary school band. She relates to the challenges of new music, fingerings and rhythms, and is excited to help her fife students master the camp music - as they always do.   

Karen’s Theme: Music brings us all together. 

 

Jessica Salazar

Jessica Salazar began playing the fife in 1991 at the age of 5 as a member of the Junior Colonials under the instruction of Heidi Degree, and later, Jason Malli. At age 10, she joined her parents as a part-time member of the Connecticut Blues, and became a full-time member in 2000, where she was instructed by Tishka Musco. Jessica competed with both the Juniors and the CT Blues winning multiple awards for individual, duet and quartet contests. 

In 2008, Jessica graduated from Hamilton College with a Bachelor’s Degree in psychology. In early 2009, she auditioned for, and won a spot with, the United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, where she met her husband, Josh. While in the Corps, she served as one of the Production Staff Fife Arrangers and was in charge of the Fife Ensemble. After serving for over 6 years, Jessica (and Josh) decided to leave the Army and take life’s path in a different direction. She and her family moved back to CT to be more involved with the CT Blues where in addition to playing the fife, she is a fife instructor. Since last summer, Jessica has earned a degree in nursing and is a working nurse!

This is Jessica’s 6th time volunteering as an instructor at Camp and is looking forward to working with another group of talented and energetic musicians!

 

Joshua Robbins

Joshua started playing the fife in 2004, at the age of eight, with the Voyageur Ancient Fife and Drum Corps of Lafayette, Indiana. While a member of the Voyageurs, he became the Fife Sergeant and shortly after, the Drum Major for the corps.

​In 2013, he joined the Theatiki Fife and Drum Corps of Bourbonnais, Illinois and performs with them while in the Midwest. He was a camper for three years from 2012-2014 in the ensemble at camp and became a Fife Intern at camp starting in 2015. While adventuring in New England in 2014, he started playing with the Bluff Point Quahog Diggers Band.         

Josh has been teaching young fifers since the age of 15 in his junior corps and continues to work with members of his current corps and beyond to further the tradition of fifing and drumming. The Theatiki repertoire currently has one tune that he wrote and he continues to arrange and write music for the corps. Josh also has been playing the flute for ten years and was a section leader and soloist in groups during high school. He is currently working towards a Bachelor’s Degree, and wants to go to Optometry School afterward.

Kim Zullo

Kim Zullo has been playing fife since she joined the Colonial Musketeers Junior Fife and Drum Corps of New Jersey in the seventh grade. While she was in the Colonial Musketeers, she became an exhibition fifer in the eighth grade, and eventually went on to become the fife sergeant of the corps in 2015. She has taught the younger members for years, and enjoys working with a variety of different fifers. Just this past year, Kim also joined the Bluff Point Quahog Diggers Band.

Kim was a camp member for three years, from 2014 to 2016, and she was in the ensemble for all three years. Her final year as a camper, she was the lead fifer. Her instructors included Bill Hart, Chris Szpara, and Chris Lussier, among others.

Along with the fife, Kim enjoys playing flute and piccolo, which she has been doing since the fourth grade. In high school, she played in high school bands and region bands, as well as pit orchestra. She is currently a freshman studying Biology at Rowan University with a double minor in Spanish and Music. She hopes to eventually attend Veterinary School.