Without missing a beat, Senior Drum Sergeant Michael Thomas established the Old City Drum Corps in 2018, a tradition initiated by his teacher and mentor, U.S. Army veteran Master Drum Major George Carroll, who led the East Florida Fife & Drum at the start of St. Augustine’s first Night Watch Parade in 1975.
“We’re dedicating this entire endeavor to George Carroll,” Thomas said.
The Drum Corps musicians, many of them award-winning, are not re-enactors. They use handmade rope-tension drums to play music from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries while marching in period uniforms. Ensembles may be as small as a two-man drumming exhibition or as large as a 12-piece fife and drum corps with color guard and drum major.
“It is thunderous, heart-throbbing sound,” Thomas said. “There’s nothing like it. And the fife was used because it’s such a high-pitched, distinctive sound it could be heard over the battle.”
Thomas said he’s integrating a new horn section into this season, and there are openings for fife and drum musicians.
The Old City Drum Corp is one of two recipients of the inaugural Romanza Award in the amount of $1,500.
“The Old City Drum Corps takes authentic depiction very seriously, both musically and visually,” said Albert Syeles, president of Romanza St. Augustine. “The Corps also works with various re-enactment groups in St. Augustine to further mutual educational and historic preservation goals.”
Romanza established its award to support the development of new and excellent cultural offerings and to sponsor smaller but noteworthy cultural projects beyond its own festival season. The nonprofit produces the 17-day long Romanza Festivale of Music & the Arts in May, and the St. Augustine Celtic Music & Heritage Festival in March.
Each year, Romanza will grant three to five awards of between $500 and $2,000 each for competitively selected arts and culture activities scheduled June through February. The fourth annual Pirate Fest, which took place Jan. 25 and 26 in St. Augustine, also received an inaugural Romanza Award.
For more information, visit RomanzaStAugustine.com .
