Sean McGinley

Sean McGinley (‘17) is currently the Drum Major of the Colonial Forge Marching Band. He has been in the band for three years and has also been involved in other band organizations such as wind ensemble, symphonic band, jazz band, the pit for school musicals, all district, and all county band. Besides being Drum Major he plays the alto saxophone and the clarinet.

Though becoming Drum Major was a great success for him, the process was a trial. According to McGinley, “[The hardest part of becoming Drum Major was] the stress of waiting. The actual audition wasn’t bad but the actual waiting to see the results, that was hard.”

Being Drum Major has its many perks, but it comes with some challenges. “It is a lot of stress and work,” McGinley said. “People are always going to have an opinion and making sure these opinions don’t get to you is hard.”

He manages this by the way he responds to a specific problem. “If there is something that is petty you just dismiss it. You don’t think about it,” McGinley said. “But if it’s a big problem then you think about it, talk to Mr. Gillette [the current band director] and other people and see if you can fix it.”

There have been rewarding aspects of having this job for him. “I have become a lot more responsible with getting things done.” McGinley said. “My time management has really improved because I barely have time to do anything now.”

McGinley’s plans for the future is to become a band director and go into music in college.