The WMB Council is made up of all the student leaders in the marching band and several members-at-large. They represent the band and help make decisions, plan events, keep in touch with alumni, and help with general administrative tasks. WMB Council members are selected each Spring by the staff of the WMB following an application (all) and audition (Drum Majors, Captains, and Section Leaders only).
If you'd like to contact any of them to get more information, visit our Contact a Member page!
Who are the members of the 2017 WMB Council? Read on to find out!
Name: Drew Halpin
Section: Trumpet
Position: Drum Major
Year in School: Junior
Year in WMB: 3
Major: Music Education
Hometown: Merrimack, NH
Favorite WMB Memory: "My favorite memory I had would probably be when I was with the Playas during the scavenger hunt my first year, it was really a good chance to get to work with group as a real team and figure out the hunt, as well as the short skit we had to put together in a short period of time! "
Name: Mattsen Bradbury-Koster
Section: Sousaphone/Bari Sax
Position: Drum Major
Year in School: Senior
Year in WMB: 4
Major: Music Education
Hometown: Pelham, NH
Favorite WMB Memory: "My favorite part about the WMB every year is the Band Extravaganza. I love going out into the community on my own time and playing for grandfather's retirement home or at the Dover Children's Museum. I love spreading the love of music to young people everywhere and when the Johnson Theater is packed with 2,000 young students throughout the day, it is one of my favorite days of the year, let alone in the marching band season. I don't think kids are exposed to as much classical music as they should be and some people in middle and high school think that marching band is lame and social suicide. But opening these kids' eyes to what wonders music can bring them is just such a joy that is hard to find anywhere else."
Name: Dena Hoffman
Section: Trumpet
Position: Drum Major
Year in School: Sophomore
Year in WMB: 2
Major: Biology
Hometown: Hudson, NH
Favorite WMB Memory: "Performing the halftime show for the first time in front of a full stadium was one of the best moments I've had in college hands down. It was absolutely thrilling to be marching in full uniform and doing what makes me happiest at the collegiate level. I remember marching into the stadium and being in complete awe at the size of the crowd because I've never performed a halftime show for that many people in all of my years of marching combined. It was a bit overwhelming and almost surreal but still made me feel incredibly proud to be marching with the Wildcat Marching Band. Working hard and working together with the other members of the band to perform the show left me in such a fantastic mood for the rest of that weekend and also was one of those defining moments for how the rest of the season with the WMB would play out for me."
Name: Traci Debatis
Section: Flute/Piccolo ("Fliccolo")
Position: Section Leader
Year in School: Junior
Year in WMB:2
Major: Social Work
Hometown: Grafton, MA
Favorite WMB Memory: "My favorite memory from being in the WMB was the end of my very first football game. We were playing in the stands as a firework display began behind us, and everyone spectating was alight with awe and excitement. The combination of the boom of each firework reverberating through my chest, the music ringing in my ears, and the incredible bond I felt to every other member of the WMB created an unbelievable energy that I will never forget. I had never had more fun playing music or felt such a strong sense of community than I did in that moment. It was truly the moment I knew that joining the WMB was the best decision of my college career. "
Name: Katelyn Crooker
Section: Clarinet
Position: Section Leader
Year in School: Junior
Year in WMB: 3
Major: Environmental Conservation & Sustainability
Hometown: Cheshire, CT
Favorite WMB Memory: "The first game this past season when they opened the stadium. The energy that was put out by the entire stadium being filled and the amazing events of the student section throwing the white powder into the air and creating a cloud of craziness to the awesome fireworks show that we played to. And the epic photo of the fireworks behind the band that followed!"
Name: Alex Brown
Section: Saxophone ("Saxophi")
Position: Section Leader
Year in School: Senior
Year in WMB: 4
Major: Computer Science
Hometown: Madison, NH
Favorite WMB Memory: "My favorite memory from being in the WMB is not one specific moment, but rather the feeling of pride that comes between the last beat of a successful field show and the first drum hit telling us to file off the field. In my memory I'm in the ending position for the show (on one knee near the sideline after Happy, at attention in an arc back right field after Trouble, or extending my left foot without doing a lunge in an arc near Katie Abbott at the end of Waking Up in Vegas), out of breath and without any feeling in any of my extremities except burning pride. My chin is up and my eyes are staring but I don't really see or hear anything; for that brief time all my senses are eclipsed by the feeling. It doesn't last very long, maybe two or three seconds if I had to guess, but the seconds feel like hours, and will live with me forever."
Name: Sam Lulka
Section: Trumpet ("Playas")
Position: Section Leader
Year in School: Junior
Year in WMB: 3
Major: Business Administration
Hometown: Bow, NH
Favorite WMB Memory: "One time Casey Goodwin got emotional and said 'you guys are one of the most accepting groups of people.' I felt extremely proud in that moment, because I was surrounded by people who carry one of the most important values in my life: acceptance."
Name: Lilia Vinskus
Section: Mellophone
Position: Section Leader
Year in School: Junior
Year in WMB: 3
Major: Biochemistry, Molecular & Cellular Biology
Hometown: Litchfield, NH
Favorite WMB Memory: "It wasn't too fun standing in the cold rain at football games at first. However, the spirit and never ending enthusiasm of the band made it bearable and, though we WERE the student section, those are the games I am most proud of because we stuck with it and played our hearts out even though we couldn't feel our fingers."
Name: Camden Tatsapaugh
Section: Trombone
Position: Section Leader
Year in School: Senior
Year in WMB: 4
Major: Computer Science
Hometown: Newington, CT
Favorite WMB Memory: "My favorite memory from being in the WMB is performing for President Barack Obama at the Whitt this past November. Not only was it great to get the opportunity to hear the President speak, but we played well as a band in front of a very large audience, and people seemed to enjoy us playing. Even though it was a long day, it was well worth it."
Name: Ben Fehr
Section: Baritone
Position: Section Leader
Year in School: Sophomore
Year in WMB: 2
Major: Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems
Hometown: Mundelein, IL/Leesburg, VA
Favorite WMB Memory: "My favorite memory is playing at the Obama pep rally. It was such a unique and unforgettable experience. We had a great time as a section and, like, we got to see Obama!"
Name: Dan Cain
Section: Sousaphone
Position: Section Leader
Year in School: Sophomore
Year in WMB: 2
Major: Music Education
Hometown: Londonderry, NH
Favorite WMB Memory: "My favorite memory is absolutely our last game of year. You do your best to improve your playing and marching on the field from game to game, and it all cultivates to that one moment right beside all of your fellow band members, friends, who are all working just as hard as you are. There's no feeling in the world quite like it."
Name: Michael O'Connor
Section: Drumline
Position: Section Leader
Year in School: Junior
Year in WMB: 3
Major: Music Education
Hometown: Underhill, VT
Favorite WMB Memory: "The moment after finishing a show. If the performance went as well as anticipated the adrenaline and fulfillment that comes from working with so many people to create one piece of art is incredible. Getting everyone to play together and at a high level is an incredibly rewarding experience."
Name: Cam St. Cyr
Section: Drumline
Position: Assistant Section Leader
Year in School: Sophomore
Year in WMB: 2
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Hometown: Salem, NH
Favorite WMB Memory: "One of my favorite experiences from being in the WMB is being a part of one of the only drumlines that took part in the band camp section Olympics in a long time and bonding with my section."
Name: Eric Desmarais
Section: Colorguard
Position: Member-at-Large
Year in School: Junior
Year in WMB: 3
Major: Music Education
Hometown: Manchester, NH
Favorite WMB Memory: "My favorite memory was joining the band in the stands and playing and banging along to the music with everyone."
Name: Christine Aiello
Section: Saxophone ("Saxophi") - but really Bass Clarinet
Position: Member-at-Large
Year in School: Senior
Year in WMB: 4
Major: Geography
Hometown: Merrimack, NH
Favorite WMB Memory: "I have made many memories from the WMB for the past three years but the one memory that has stuck out the most is our 2016 Salem Band Show performance. The band put in so many hours of practicing both as a group and individually to prepare for this show. When we performed, the energy at Salem High School was so enthusiastic that it was impossible for us not to give it everything we had. After our final note and the beginning of an amazing applause from the audience, I couldn't have been more proud. I knew from the energy of the crowd we had just played our best show yet. The hard work had paid off. In that moment, I knew that being part of the WMB was one of the best choices I had ever made."
Name: Arianna Gough
Section: Saxophone ("Saxophi")
Position: Member-at-Large
Year in School: Senior
Year in WMB: 3
Major: Biomedical Science: Medical & Veterinary Sciences
Hometown: Lincoln, RI
Favorite WMB Memory: "My favorite memory was my first day of band camp freshman year. Everyone already knew my name and wished me a happy birthday (I turned 18 the day I moved in for the first day of band camp) and this was my first birthday away from home. All of the members really made me feel welcomed and eased my nerves, and totally made my day a special one."
Name: Brandon Lalonde
Section: Trumpet ("Playas")
Position: Member-at-Large
Year in School: Junior
Year in WMB: 2
Major: Computer Science
Hometown: Whitefield, NH
Favorite WMB Memory: "I have two favorite memories from WMB: one social and one show-related.
"I remember coming to the UNH campus and feeling extremely nervous. I had joined WMB yet only performed in parades in high school, so I thought I might be a little over my head. I got through a couple days of band camp, mostly by myself, until Sean Chamberlin and Rachel Coughlin invited me to go mini-golfing with them one afternoon during band camp week. It was an awesome feeling to have these two great people offer to include me in something. I consider myself really good friends with them now and to me, this exemplifies the excellent friends and lifelong connections the WMB can form.
"My other favorite memory took place during the Salem Band Show. As I mentioned above, I never did field shows in high school; 2016's show was my very first. I'll never forget the amazing feeling of euphoria after we finished our show that night as the crowd cheered wildly for us. After all of that hard work I and the whole band had put into the show it was an indescribable feeling to know that we had really left an impression on so many people that night and that we had left something on the field bigger than each of us individually. This is a memory I'll carry with me for life."
Name: Drew Mora
Section: Flute/Piccolo ("Fliccolo")
Position: Member-at-Large
Year in School: Junior
Year in WMB: 3
Major: Wildlife & Conservation Biology
Hometown: Cheshire, CT
Favorite WMB Memory: "My favorite memory from being in the WMB would have to be forming the close friendships I've had throughout the past two years of being involved in the band. Without marching band, I wouldn't have known about Kappa Kappa Psi, which I'm now fully involved in and now I couldn't imagine being in college without the fraternity. I also wouldn't have a tight knit friend group whom I have been so grateful to call my Brothers and some of my best friends."
Name: Alicia Ouellette
Section: Flute/Piccolo ("Fliccolo")
Position: Member-at-Large
Year in School: Senior
Year in WMB:4
Major: English Literature
Hometown: Lewiston, ME
Favorite WMB Memory: "My favorite memory is probably section dinner from my junior year. We ordered pizza, and spent the time in the Englehardt community room. There was such a fun, and dynamic discussion, and everyone was enjoying just being around each other. The dynamic that I saw in that room made me that much more excited for the rest of the season."
Name: James Ulsh
Section: Sousaphone
Position: Member-at-Large
Year in School: Senior
Year in WMB: 4
Major: History
Hometown: Bellingham, MA
Favorite WMB Memory: "My favorite memory from being in the WMB is going to Disney with the group and spending a week hanging out with the other members and performing in a parade one of the days down there. We practiced in the gym working on parade formation and learning to memorize the Daft Punk Medley."