About Us | New York Marching Band

About New York Marching Band

Launching in 2026, the New York State Marching Band (NYMB) exists to unite outstanding student musicians from across our state in a safe, inclusive, high‑quality, and FUN marching band experience that celebrates excellence, teamwork, and pride in representing our state.

Our team is committed to providing a platform for musicians to showcase their skills and exercise their passion for music. Creating opportunities for marching band student performers across New York State is our primary mission.

Core Values

Excellence & Education: Striving for high musical and marching standards

Inclusivity: Welcoming and valuing students of all backgrounds, identities, abilities, and experiences

Safety: Prioritizing physical, emotional, and mental well‑being

Fun: Ensuring the experience is enjoyable, memorable, and rewarding

Casey Vanderstouw

NYMB Director

Casey Vanderstouw is the director of the New York State Marching Band, leading the ensemble’s inaugural 2026 season. He is a nationally recognized music educator, district-level arts administrator, and marching arts leader with over two decades of experience in music education, ensemble leadership, and large-scale program development at the middle school, high school, collegiate, district, and statewide levels.

As a marching band director, Casey has led student ensembles to perform at some of the most prestigious events in the world, including:

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Tournament of Roses Parade (Pasadena, CA)
Bands of America Regional Championships
US Bands National Championships
Collegiate Bowl Games
Performances at unique venues including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Cleveland), NASA Cape Canaveral (Florida), USS Intrepid (NYC), Jack White’s Nashville studio
Performances for the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills
Performances and partnerships with over 15 New York State colleges

In addition to directing ensembles at the highest level, Casey remains an active performing artist. In addition to concert percussion performances with various ensembles, he has been selected to perform on snare drum with Saluting America’s Band Directors (SABD), an elite national ensemble honoring music educators, including:

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade — 2023
Tournament of Roses Parade — January 1, 2026

Color Guard

Shannon Spalding

Longtime guard performer, Shannon's previous marching experience includes Trumansburg World, Patriots, and Syracuse Brigadiers. She's instructed, designed, and consulted various groups including Brigadiers Winterguard and Homer Winterguard.

Shannon was inducted to the Mid-York Color Guard Hall of Fame in 2023.

Currently, Shannon is the Technical Supervisor for Brigadiers Winter Guard and the Director of Baldswinsville Varsity Winterguard and teaches other Baldwinsville programs including the Marching Band and JV Guard.

James Branche

James has a long history in the marching arts. He has marched drum corps in Canada with the Kingston Grenadiers in 2004 and 2005, in New York with the Empire Statesmen from 2007-2013 as well as the color guard co-caption head for the NY Skyliners in 2016 and 2017. He has taught Marching Band since 2004 with New Hartford HS in NY as well as the Baldwinsville Marching Bees, where he proudly was able to march in the 2020 Rose Parade in Pasadena California. He has designed for and directed for winterguard programs in NY and Georgia and is a Winter Guard International Contest Administrator and travels across the country managing regional events. During the day, James is the Human Resources Manager based in Georgia.

Skyla Cieslik

Skyla began her color guard career at Central Square High School, where she performed for seven years across both winter and fall seasons, graduating in 2019. During her time there, the program medaled first or second place six out of seven years, highlighted by a 2019 World Championships appearance where they placed 7th in A Class out of nearly 300 guards and were voted Fan Favorite during finals.

After graduating, she moved into instruction, teaching at Phoenix High School from 2020–2022 before joining the Baldwinsville program in 2022, where she currently serves as the director of the JV color guard. Skyla has weapon training, but flag is her primary focus as both a performer and educator.

Winds

Tyler Jessie

Tyler Jessie has six years of experience teaching high school marching band. He specializes in visual performance and movement instruction, helping students develop strong fundamentals, clarity of technique, and confident performance skills.

A low brass musician, Tyler marched with Spartans Drum and Bugle Corps, where he built a strong foundation in discipline, visual excellence, and ensemble performance. Tyler is passionate about creating a positive, supportive, and high-energy rehearsal environment.

Erin McConnell

Kris Czerwiak

Erin McConnell is a marching band educator and trumpet performer with nearly two decades of experience developing high-achieving band programs. She currently serves as Assistant Marching Band Director at West Genesee Central School District, where she provides brass instruction, visual coordination support, and student leadership development for a nationally recognized program. Her marching philosophy centers on strong fundamentals, musical excellence, and character development through performance.

Erin previously served as a marching band drill technician at Ramapo Central School District (now Suffern CSD), contributing to visual design implementation and ensemble training. As a performer, she marched in the Band Directors Band at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (2023) and has been accepted to perform in the Rose Parade (2025). A GRAMMY-Nominated Music Educator, Erin is passionate about cultivating discipline, leadership, and pride through the marching arts.

Kris Czerwiak is from, and resides in, the Syracuse area of New York state. She holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in music education with an emphasis in oboe from Ithaca College. Kris is enjoying her 25th year of teaching music and has served as a band director

for the past 17 years in the Baldwinsville Central School District. Over the years she has either marched or taught marching band for 17 seasons and cites marching in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as an amazing highlight of her career with marching bands.

Jennifer Greene

Jennifer Greene has been an instrumental music educator, specializing in bands, for more than thirty years. Currently, she is the Wind Symphony Director at Binghamton University, an adjunct professor at Onondaga Community College, and a course facilitator for Kent State University’s Master of Music Education online program. For the majority of her career she held a position at Fayetteville-Manlius High School, a suburb of Syracuse, New York, where she taught Concert Band, Studio Music, Music Theory 2, AP Music Theory, brass and percussion lessons, and chamber ensembles. She was also a director for the Pep Band and the Parade Band for Memorial Day. As a music educator, Dr. Greene is an active member of the New York State School Music Association for which she is an adjudicator for majors and All-State brass, a member of the Manual Selection Committee, and the Zone 3 Representative. Dr. Greene’s marching band roots began as a high school student in Loudoun County, Virginia, and continued through to her time with the Marching Royal Dukes while an undergraduate at James Madison University.

Drumline

Ashley Trudell

Ashley Trudell is a seasoned music educator, arts administrator, active percussionist and clinician with over two decades of experience in the marching arts. Her marching performance career is highlighted by her time with The Magic of Orlando (DCI), The Senators (DCE), and Rhythm X (WGI). After aging out, she continued her involvement with drum corps as a member of the Boston Crusaders administrative team.

As a percussion instructor, arranger, and designer, Ashley has shaped numerous marching percussion sections/ensembles across the East Coast, including in CNS, Liverpool, Baldwinsville, Webster, and OCC in New York, as well as Pigeon Forge, Clinton, and Sevierville in Tennessee. She was also a founding staff member and arranger for the WGI ensemble Mountain Rush.

As a program director, Ashley’s is the was the founding director of the Indian River Field Band. Her work at IR centered on opening doors; she established a field band program that has grown into a thriving multi-district ensemble.

She currently teaches band in Jefferson County, serves as the NYSSMA Zone 5 Representative, and is member of the EMS community. Ashley’s teaching philosophy is simple: create an experience, a safe space, and ensure music education is inclusive and accessible to any kid who wants to be involved.