About

Tom Petrahai (they/them) is a visual designer and marching arts educator. Based in New Haven, Connecticut, they are currently the visual caption head at Newtown High School Marching Band, as well as a visual technician with the Spartans Drum and Bugle Corps. They design drill for marching ensembles across the United States, and also designed drill for the Instituto Gómez Palacio Bulldog Marching Band in Durango, México. They have designed for marching bands, indoor percussion ensembles, and collaborated on the visual design of DCA's Connecticut Hurricanes in 2022 and 2023. 

 

Tom has taught a myriad of marching ensembles in the Connecticut area, including the Connecticut Hurricanes Drum and Bugle Corps (2020-2023) and Norwalk High School Marching Band (2018-2022). At the Hurricanes they were a visual and brass technician, helping the corps earn the DCA Open Class Championships in 2022 and 2023 and the brass and visual caption awards in 2022. At Norwalk High School, serving also as a visual and brass technician they helped the ensemble win the USBands VI Open National Championships each in 2018 and 2019.

 

They studied Music Education at the Hartt School of Music (2019), studying euphonium with James Edward Jackson III. As a performer, they marched baritone at the 7th Regiment (2013, 2014, 2016, 2018), the Boston Crusaders (2017), and The Cadets (2019). In 2022 and 2023 Tom also performed with the Connecticut Hurricanes in the late part of the season, making them simultaneously an instructor of two captions, a designer, and a performer in each of those two seasons.