7th Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps is excited to announce its team of educators who will be leading the organization through our 2023 season! “We are so excited to have this amazing group of educators in place. They represent the absolute best of what we have to offer to 7R. Our students and performers will continue to grow immensely from the experiences and knowledge that these individuals bring to 7th Regiment,” said Executive Director Jim O’Neil.
Visual Caption Manager/Staff Coordinator: Austin Eskeli
Color Guard Caption Manager: Alessandra Greco
Brass Caption Manager: Jesse White
Assistant Brass Caption Manager: Neil Britton
Battery Caption Manager: Alex Douthat
Front Ensemble Caption Manager: Henry Lin
Austin Eskeli (Visual Caption Manager/Staff Coordinator)
Austin has been a member of the 7R visual team since 2019. A former member of several New England based marching arts organizations, including Seventh Regiment, Austin takes great pride in how dedicated his fellow staff is to creating a positive learning environment for the members of the corps. He takes even greater pride in the determination and spirit of the students he is fortunate enough to teach at Seventh Regiment. While not teaching at 7R, Austin teaches Elementary Music in Massachusetts.
Alessandra Greco (Color Guard Caption Manager)
Alessandra will be returning to 7th Regiment for her fifth season on staff and third season as Color Guard Caption Manager. Alessandra is also a part of the design team this season, working on Visual & Color Guard Design. She has been involved in the marching arts industry for over a decade with teaching experience at high school, middle school, junior, and independent programs across the East Coast.
She has marched for World Class, Open Class, and A Class Color Guards and Drum Corps including The Cadets, Blessed Sacrament World, Spartans DBC, and Salem Blue Winter Guard.
Originally from Massachusetts, Alessandra has been living in New Jersey since 2020 and works professionally in the Energy Industry.
Jesse White (Brass Caption Manager)
Jesse started and ended his Drum Corps experience with 7th Regiment. He marched contra from 2007 to 2010 – taking the 2009 season off for work complications. Jesse received his B.A. in Music from the University of Connecticut as well as his M.S. in Music Education from the University of Bridgeport. He is currently one of the Band Directors at the Francis Walsh Intermediate School in Branford, CT where he currently teaches 5-8 Band, Music Technology, and Jazz Band. In addition to teaching during the day, Jesse is a freelance trumpet player throughout Connecticut.
Finding a true spark of joy in marching band in high school, but especially with his time at 7th Regiment, he has continued to teach with various high school marching programs throughout the state of Connecticut since 2012 – most recently finishing his fourth season as the Brass Caption Head of the Southington High School Blue Knights Marching Band.
Jesse is looking forward to returning to 7th this year on staff for the first time as Brass Caption Manager and giving back to the community that gave him so much inspiration years ago. He can be reached at brass@7thregiment.org.
Neil Britton (Assistant Brass Caption Manager)
Neil began his drum corps career here at 7th Regiment playing trumpet in 2016. He continued to march from 2016-2018 eventually transitioning to marching with Cadets from 2019-2021. Neil is currently pursuing a Music B.A. degree from Rhode Island College. During his academic career, Neil has taught with numerous high school programs across New England such as New Bedford High School, Serving as their Visual Director for 3 years. Neil is looking forward to his second season on staff, this year as Assistant Brass Caption Manager. He can be reached at neil.britton@7thregiment.org
Alex Douthat (Battery Caption Manager)
Alex Douthat is a music educator and performer based out of Northern NJ. Alex has been on the Battery staff at 7th Regiment since 2021, and is excited to be stepping into the Battery Manager role for the 2023 season.
Alex is a proud alumni of United Percussion (2017), 7th Regiment (2016), the Rutgers Drumline (2015-16), and Fusion Core (2014-15). As a member of these groups, he received instruction from Paul Nalesnik, Alex Beltran, Jeff Bickford, and Omi Batan, among others. He also studied under Joe Tompkins in the Rutgers percussion studio from 2015-2019, and performed in a variety of ensembles including their Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, and Afro Cuban Ensemble. Alex has been a performer with Blue Devils Entertainment on the NY Giants drumline since 2019, and currently serves as their quad section manager. He is also a member of the Tappan Zee Bridgemen and Wholly Brass parade bands in the NJ/NY area.
Alex graduated from Rutgers University in 2019 with a degree in music education, and currently works as an elementary band and orchestra director in Franklin, NJ. Aside from teaching at 7th Regiment, Alex is also the percussion director at Wayne Valley high school, and is a member of the Battery staff at Old Bridge high school.
Henry Lin (Front Ensemble Caption Manager)
Henry Lin is an active educator currently based in the Atlanta Metropolitan area. He is currently pursuing his Masters in Music Education from the University of Georgia conducting research on music education methodology under the tutelage of Dr. Brian Wesolowski. Henry also plays in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s orchestra and symphonic bands and works with various public schools and extracurricular music programs in Clarke, Barrow, Jackson, and Oconee county.
Henry currently serves as the Front Ensemble caption manager for 7th Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps. He is also a Front Ensemble technician for Q2 indoor percussion and Jersey Surf Drum and Bugle Corps. His previous teaching experiences include being a Front Ensemble technician for 7th Regiment in 2022, the assistant percussion coordinator for Upper St. Clair High School in Pennsylvania, the Front Ensemble Director and Arranger for Franklin Regional High School in Pennsylvania, and a Percussion technician for Villa Rica High School in Georgia.
Prior to moving to Georgia, Henry received his Bachelor of Music in Music Business and double majored in Economic Theory from New York University. While in New York, he studied under Tim Keiper, Joshua Rosenblum, and Dr. Youngmi Ha. During his time in college, Henry had the opportunity to perform with Jersey Surf Drum and Bugle Corps and was named section leader his second year. He also had the opportunity to perform with United Percussion 2 in 2022.
