The Jersey Surf is very pleased to welcome additional, exceptional talent and experience to its 2012 program design team. Widely-known percussion educators Amy & Matt Savage and visual design/creative specialist Mike Mercadante have joined the Jersey Surf team to contribute to the development of its highly-anticipated production, "Bridgemania: A Tribute to the Legacy and Spirit of The Bridgemen."
     "With the addition of Amy Savage as our front ensemble arranger and Matt Savage managing our overall percussion education program and arranging for our field percussionists, The Jersey Surf is looking forward to expanding an area of our organization which has already been one of our strengths," said Bob Jacobs, Executive Director. "We've been very fortunate over the years to have a long line of outstanding percussion educators involved with the organization, and the arrival of these talented individuals will enable us to provide our members with even more unique experiences and educational opportunities which align perfectly with our Bridgemania production."
     Long-time friend to the Jersey Surf Mike "Merk" Mercadante also joins the corps as a member of the creative design staff, and will also have the opportunity to work directly with the highly motivated Jersey Surf student leaders and corps members.
     "Anyone who knows Merk understands that he is not only a creative force, but a tremendous spiritual force as well. I am excited that the members of the design staff and the members of the drum corps will both have the opportunity to work with him, learn from him, and perhaps expand their thinking beyond the conventional format of drum corps as we know it today," Jacobs said.
     “Matt Savage has earned his reputation as one of the finest percussion writers, teachers and judges in the United States,” said Dennis DeLucia, Design Team Chairman for the Jersey Surf.  “Matt is also a fantastic Drum Circle facilitator; but what excites me most about his involvement with Jersey Surf’s “Bridgemania” production is the fact that he WAS in the great Bridgemen drumlines of the late seventies-early eighties. He gets it because he has lived it!”
     DeLucia is equally enthusiastic about the opportunities for the Surf's front ensemble percussionists. "Amy Savage is an exceptional percussionist in her own right. She teaches the drumline at Duke University, teaches at many drum camps throughout the US, writes for Row-Loff Productions and has contributed to Yamaha’s Sounds of Summer book. She played in the pit of the Garfield Cadets and shares husband Matt’s abilities in and penchant for “groove” and ethnic music. The thought of Matt and Amy Savage co-writing the percussion charts for Surf’s “Bridgamania” show is very exciting”.
     DeLucia added, "Mike “Merk” Mercadante is an original in every sense of the word. He’s a visual person who learned his craft and free-thought process from the legendary Bobby Hoffman himself while a member of the Hawthorne Muchachos and later as a staff member with the Bridgemen. His input will certainly help Surf’s 2012 production stretch all boundaries."
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MATT SAVAGE,  a graduate of the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, NY and The University of Southern California, has taught at every level of public education from elementary to collegiate. Along with his public teaching experience, Matt has over thirty years of performance, private instruction and arranging experience in the marching percussion field. This experience includes playing snare drum with the legendary Bayonne Bridgemen and serving as percussion director and arranger for drum and bugle corps such as the Anaheim Velvet Knights and the Canton Bluecoats. Matt has original compositions published with Row-Loff and Matrix Publications. His virtuosic snare drum performances can be heard on the Row-Loff Publications CD of The Rudimental Cookbook and Just Desserts.
     At the collegiate level, Matt has served as percussion instructor for the USC Trojan Marching Band and is currently the director of marching percussion at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he has also previously served as Assistant Director of University Bands. Matt and his wife Amy are also percussion arrangers for the Miami University Marching Band in Oxford, OH.
     Matt is heavily involved with the WGI indoor percussion activity as an adjudicator and has served on the organization’s Percussion Steering Committee. His most recent publication is “Savage Rudimental Workshop,” a state of the art rudiment development book with accompanying CDs published by Alfred Music.
     In addition to his vast experience as a marching percussion specialist, Matt is an in-demand Remo hand drum artist and drum circle facilitator, leading drum circles for a variety of local, regional and national events.
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AMY SAVAGE, a professional percussion specialist living in Chapel Hill NC, is active in the development of the contemporary concert and marching percussion ensemble. Currently, Amy serves as the director of marching percussion at Duke University in Durham, NC. Additionally, she consultants and instructs several high school marching band programs in the Raleigh-Durham surrounding areas and arranges for the Miami University Marching Band in Oxford, OH. Amy, with her husband Matt, founded and codirects the Rhythm Alive Percussion Group for junior high and high school students in Pittsboro, NC. In the summer, Amy teaches at several Yamaha Sounds of Summer Marching Percussion Camps in Mississippi, North Carolina, and Oregon. Amy also clinics and adjudicates around the country including with Atlantic Indoor Association (AIA), Carolina Winter Ensemble Association (CWEA), and Rocky Mountain Percussion Association (RMPA).
     As a member of the World Champion Garfield Cadets, Amy was awarded the DCI Individual’s Championship in ensemble percussion. During this time, she received her bachelor’s degree in music education from Miami University in Oxford, OH. Her extensive teaching and arranging experience with several Drum and Bugle Corps includes the Garfield Cadets, Bluecoats, Glassmen, Poynton Commodores (England), and Starriders (Germany). Amy was featured in the May 2009 issue of Halftime Magazine in an article by Dennis Delucia entitled “Women of Marching Percussion.” Amy's work has been published by  Row-Loff Productions.
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MIKE MERCADANTE joins the 2012 Jersey Surf design team as no stranger to the “Bridgemen Way,” having served on the visual design staff in Bayonne during the 1970s and 80s, with duties split between drill and color guard design and instruction. Merk began his drum corps career in the Hawthorne Muchachos, where he served as a marching member and color guard captain for more than a decade before aging-out as drum major in 1976. His instructional experience includes tours with the Muchachos, the Anaheim Kingsmen, Blue Stars and Velvet Knights in addition to his tenure at the Bridgemen as a protégé of the legendary corps director Bobby Hoffman. He has also served the Jersey Surf in previous seasons as a clinician, guest speaker and design team advisor.
     During his career, Merk has also worked with more than two dozen indoor color guards and high school marching bands throughout the United States. He has served as an adjudicator in the marching band and indoor color guard arenas in New Jersey and Southern California. Living at the New Jersey shore with his wife Sandi and son Dominick, Merk is a restaurateur and home improvement entrepreneur.