Alumnus Conducts His Way to the Top

Warrant Officer Brian J. Dix, M.A. Conducting '96, was recently appointed music director and executive officer of "The Commandant's Own," the United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps. Established in 1934 at the historic Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C., the Marine Drum and Bugle Corps was formed to expand the United States Marine Band, which performs martial and popular music for hundreds of thousands of spectators each year. A native of Newark, N.J., Dix entered the Marine Corps in August 1983 and graduated from Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, Calif., the following December. After graduating with honors from the Navy School of Music in Little Creek, Va., in May 1984, Dix arrived at the Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C., where he began his career with The Commandment's Own as a contra-bass bugler. Dix took a brief hiatus from the military in 1986 to resume a teaching career in Monmouth County, N.J., while still maintaining military service with the Army National Guard as a musician with the 63rd Army Band. Upon returning to the U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps in 1989, Dix served in a variety of positions, including lower voice horn line instructor and music systems chief and editor of Off the Line, the newsletter for The Commandment's Own. Most recently, Dix was involved in the production of Chimes of Liberty, the premier compact disc of the Marine Drum and Bugle Corps.