INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Thom Hannum, who spent 40 years as an educator, director, composer and arranger at UMass Amherst, achieved one of the highest possible honors in percussion on Thursday night when he was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame during the organization’s annual conference.
Hannum is best known at UMass for the multiple decades he spent as the associate director of the Minuteman Marching Band, where he imparted his skills to thousands of students as one of the premier marching percussion instructors in the world.
After serving as a graduate assistant and receiving his Master’s Degree from UMass in 1984, Hannum stayed on to take a newly created assistant director position under George Parks, focusing on the percussion section of the marching band. He was eventually promoted to Associate Director, and held that role until his retirement in July 2020.
In 2013, he was with the marching band when they marched in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for the first time, a performance they will repeat in just a few weeks, and helped bring the Minutemen to the 129th Rose Bowl Parade in 2018.
Building ribbon-cutting, 2011
In addition to his work with the marching band, Hannum taught in the percussion studio, helped direct the hoop (basketball) band, and coordinated the Marimba Band/Marimba Ensemble program. He received the UMass Distinguished Teaching Award in 2008-09, and in 2019, the university endowed the Thom Hannum Percussion Scholarship. That same year, Hannum was presented with the Kappa Kappa Psi Distinguished Service to Music Medal, joining a prestigious group that included fellow UMass faculty George Parks and Walter Chesnut.
“One of my favorite things was teaching the marimba ensemble,” Hannum says. “I found it fascinating! Peter Tanner let me organize some students into a second ensemble while I was still a grad student. That’s where I got my feet wet understanding how to write for keyboard percussion. I will always be grateful for the opportunity he gave me.
“After Peter retired,” Thom continues, “Eduardo Leandro came on board, and soon there were two marimba ensembles and two marimba bands. We played more jazz and fusion-style pieces, adding a drumset, guitars, vocals, and a few horns, to stay current with what the students were interested in.”
Outside of UMass, Hannum has worked with three different drum and bugle corps and won six Drum Corps International (DCI) World Class Championship titles. He has been inducted into the DCI Hall of Fame (2001) and World Drum Corps Hall of Fame (2008), but with his focus on percussion, feels that this PAS honor is particularly special. “I was elated, flattered, and humbled,” he remembers. “This one feels a little more like a cumulative type of recognition. It touches upon my good fortune in the marching arts as well as being a long-time teacher, so it brings things full circle.
“My students are responsible for this recognition, as are the people I have worked with over the years,” Hannum adds. “Like I’ve always said, it’s about working with and being around great people, and I’ve been extremely fortunate in that regard for my whole life.”
Hannum was part of the design team that created “Blast!”, a 2001 Broadway production that won both a Tony and an Emmy Award. He has arranged percussion music for over two dozen high schools and universities, has authored several books, presented at twelve Percussive Arts Society International Conventions (PASIC) and has served as PAS Massachusetts chapter president for over a decade.
The PAS Hall of Fame recognizes sustained contributions to the advancement of percussion, including achievements in performance, education, research, scholarship, administration, or composition. Nominees must have demonstrated the highest ideals and professional integrity to their profession. They must have brought about significant events, substantive improvements in the world of percussion, or contributed to the betterment of the profession through exemplary services or acts. Hannum joins a select group that includes world-class drummers like Max Roach, Ringo Starr and Neil Peart, as well as percussion legends like Vic Firth, Tito Puente, Art Blakey and Buddy Rich.
For a complete biography of Thom Hannum, please visit his Hall of Fame profile on the PAS website.