First to open the door to staff changes this fall is The Cadets, bringing in quite a few recognizable names after their 2019 season. This announcement includes a number of dramatic shifts in administration and instructional staff, not to mention a few of the most iconic Cadets staff of the past making their return to the Allentown corps.

On the administrative team, there were more shifts in positions rather than complete overhauls, as you see on the production side of things.

Denise Bonfiglio and Scott Litzenberg, in particular, have moved into new roles. Bonfiglio steps into the position of Corps Director while Scott Litzenberg takes over community relations for YEA! and alumni relations for The Cadets.

A major addition to the administrative team is Ron Lambert, who has joined The Cadets as Assistant Corps Director after spending the last chapter of his career with a very successful Boston Crusaders corps. Lambert is an accomplished high school band director and former instructor/arranger.

Jay Bocook, April Gilligan-Martinez, and Jeff Sacktig are some of the big names joining The Cadets on the design and production side of things. All three are returning former staff members of the corps that are also members of The Cadets Hall of Fame. 

Bocook and Sacktig are also members of the DCI Hall of Fame, predominantly due to their work with The Cadets.

Having learned from drill-writing greats like George Zingali and Marc Sylvester, Jeff Sacktig makes his return to The Cadets as a consultant and will continue his position with Carolina Crown. Sacktig holds a number of DCI championship titles and boasts a similar resume of success in WGI and BOA—but with about 20 years of work with The Cadets, the news comes across as a return "home" for the hall of famer.

Bocook's writing most recently helped The Cadets earn the Jim Ott Best Brass award during the 2015 DCI World Championships, but he reps a long resume including five DCI World Championship titles with the corps. He began his tenure with The Cadets in 1993 as an arranger and held that position for 24 years, except for a two-year break. He receded into a consultant position for 2017 and will now pick the torch back up as the arranger for 2020.

April Gilligan-Martinez is a well-respected educator and designer from Florida whose prior experience includes directing Braddock Independent and Stoneman Douglas for decades. She has previously worked with The Cadets for two decades as a designer and caption head and will be taking over in 2020 as Guard Coordinator.

After a few seasons of shifts in The Cadets' staff roster, it will be very interesting to see how the corps embraces its past to move forward into the future to create a rewarding experience for their performers, staff, alumni, and fans.