New Purdue drum majors from Connecticut, California

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Richard Marzullo, a freshman from Stamford, CT, and Kenny Eneboe, a sophomore from San Jose, CA, bring youthful energy to the position of drum major with the Purdue Marching Band and add extra meaning to its “All-American” name.

“For the first time Purdue’s marching band leadership will have a true coast-to coast flair. It’s much more typical for drum majors to come from the Midwest,” says Kathy Matter, Purdue Band Public Relations Director.

Marzullo and Eneboe bested 14 other candidates for the coveted positions in auditions held at the end of April. Both men served as drum majors for their high school bands, Marzullo for the Westhill High School in Stamford, Eneboe for Leigh High School in San Jose.

 

Having practiced their strut for the competition, the men look forward to the Sept. 6 Northern Colorado game when they’ll strut down the center of the Ross-Ade field for the first time. “I’m really excited for that,” Eneboe says. He and Marzullo also relish participating in Drum Major Breakdown, a traditional battle between the drumline and drum majors that occurs at the band’s postgame concert on Engineering Mall.

Before any of that can happen, there’s a lot of hard work to be done in rehearsal.  Helping the band realize its goals turns Eneboe on. “I just enjoy working with people and helping them do what they do. I like to help people be happy. Maybe that sounds corny, or a little Miss America, but I do.”

Marzullo likes the challenge of creating the big picture. “As a regular band member your job is to mesh in. As a drum major you’re part of the big picture and involved in a lot more things that just being a little dot on the grid,” he says.

Purdue tradition calls for the drum majors, not the directors, to take charge of the band in the Ross-Ade stands, choosing and directing songs and cheers to build momentum in the stadium.

Marzullo and Eneboe intend to honor the decades of drum major tradition that precedes them but also hope to put their own stamp on the year. “We’ll choose the best way to do things, but just the way things were done in the past,” Eneboe says. “It’s pretty much what we make it. That’s pretty sweet,” Marzullo adds.

The two men barely knew each other before tryouts but both had already been tabbed for section leadership, Marzullo in the tenor saxes and Eneboe with the cymbals. Both were impressed by the other in tryouts.

“When we were doing the strut I said (of Rich) ‘That guy is freakishly good. He is going to be a drum major some day, maybe today’,” Eneboe recalls. Marzullo remembers watching Eneboe and thinking “Kenny just looks like a drum major.”

The two found their personalities instantly meshed. Both are 6’ 3” tall, both are outgoing and people-oriented and both consider themselves fast learners. That they have the talent for their new position was verified by Purdue’s marching band staff in the selection process.

All that stands between them and their new job are summer internships. Marzullo, a biology major has a research internship with Estee Lauder on Long Island, New York. Eneboe, an industrial engineering major, will work with General Motors in Janesville, WI.

Marzullo has been active in Operations and Supply offices with the band and plays saxophone in the Lab Jazz Band and Boiler Brass. Eneboe, when not playing cymbals with marching Band, is a French horn and trumpet player, performing with Varsity Band.

Here are the other student leaders for 2008-09 selected through interviews and auditions this spring.

 

Student Office Heads
Clothing – Claire Harris, Wabash, IN
Operations – Jeff Schmidt, Munster, IN
Supply – Alan Meert, Mishawaka, IN
Library – Jason Buckles,
Records/Recruitment – Vicky Matuszak, Knoxville, TN

 

Golden Girl
Merribeth Cox, Roselle, IL

 

Girl in Black
Erin Powell, Canton, OH

 

Silver Twins
Sara and Chellie Zou, Elkhart, IN

 

Piccolo
Jeremy Voigt, Highland Park, IL -Section Leader
Emily Ponder, South Bend, IN

 

Clarinet
Claire Harris, Wabash, IN -Section Leader
Jarrod Day, Lafayette, IN
Vicky Matuszak, Knoxville, TN
 
Alto Sax
Josh Koon, Parma, MI -Section Leader
Eric Backus, Royal Oak, MI

 

Tenor Sax
Michael Cyb, Carmel, IN -Section Leader

 

Trumpets
Peter Laird, Bowling Green, OH -Section Leader
Marilyn Szeszycki, Burbank, IL -Asst. Section Leader
Eric Faulkner, Batesville, IN
Jordan Walker, Avon, IN
Kyle Moelker, LaPorte, IN
Chris Bussard, Jamestown, IN
Anna Holt, Davison, MI

 

Horn
Justin Beall, Rome City, IN -Section Leader
Laura Campbell, Waterford, WI

 

Trombone
Wes Jackson, Garland, TX -Section Leader
Matt Grambouw, Bayside, WI
Kevin Brett, Tinley Park, IL

 

Baritone
Jesse Lefkowitz, Lincolnwood, IL -Section Leader

 

Tuba
Ben Milbrath, Munster, IN - Section Leader
Jake Ohlemiller, St. Louis, MO

 

Percussion
Chris Parthun, Lafayette, IN - Section Leader
Patrick Burne, -Snare segment assistant
Brian Leathers, Granger, IN -Tenors
Matt Riney, Washington, IN -Bass Drums
Ryan Jones, Star City, IN -Cymbals

 

BBD
Greg Flora, Granger, IN

 

Big Ten Flags
Matt Harding, West Lafayette, IN

 

Boilerettes Twirling Team
Annemarie Heise, Orion, MI
Jennifer Lindburg, Valparaiso, IN
 
Golduster Dance Team
Tedi Tzinares, Burr Ridge, IL
Sara Niklas, Ottawa, IL
Bree Swartz, Caayuga, IN
Kaitlyn Lynch, Scottsdale, AZ
Lauren Varallo, Crystal Lake, IL
 

Golden Silks Color Guard
Becki Bercich, Minneapolis, MN

Missa Wegner, Minooka, IL

 

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