In 1971 I came to the Sunrisers at age 14 from a small corps
called the St. Aloysius Blue Eagles in Ridgewood Queens, where I was a snare
drummer.
My first year with Sunrisers I played double-tenor, being tutored
by greats such as Bill Gourlay & Pete Hayes and thereafter played snare.
I was priveleged to have been taught by Don "Stewie" Stewart, Jim Ohara, Brian
Callahan, Rich Cesani and Jim Mallen from 1971 to about 1981. In the late
70's I was given the opportunity to be an assistant perc instructor helping
out wherever I could and in 1982 I was given the head perc instructor
responsibilities with a musical program designed by the legendary Dennis
Delucia.
Thanks to a referral from Sun's corps director Mike Delorenzo, I was
able to land my very first formal role in the 70's as a head percussion
arranger/instructor for the Medford Grenadiers on Long Island.
In 1984,
after gaining some teaching/arranging experience with various small corps
and high school bands, I took over the percussion
arranging/instructing/coordinating duties for the Sunrisers, a responsibility
which I held (excluding a year off in 1988) until my retirement in 1991.
A few years after receiving my BA degree in Music/Education
at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College CUNY, I switched to
computer technology and began a career as a computer programmer in 1988.
I enjoy skiing and fishing. I volunteer some of my time to the Jersey Coast
Anglers Association assisting with their computer operations, and - yes -
I'm still a NY Jets fan.
Since being married in 1992, my wife Lora and I have
lived in Jackson, NJ.
The memories that I have from my years with the Sunrisers
will always be special ones - they represent much of my youth and young
adulthood. I literally grew up there (debatable?) and since retiring I
learned that it's not so easy to find people in the "real world" that can
measure up to many of my old "warrior" corps friends in character,
dedication, work ethic and - last but maybe not least - sense of humor.
And by the way, contrary to what my previous bio said, I did
not have a massive stroke as a result of the 1990 season. It was an inside
joke. The only ailments I ever got from the Sunrisers were some sporadic
migraine headaches and one case of urinary infection which was obtained from
the water bucket.
--- Dave Franceschina
