ROCKFORD, Ill. (September 20, 2009) – Phantom Regiment is pleased to announce the hiring of Myron Rosander as its visual designer, a major move for the corps as it bolsters its visual program for the 2010 season.

Rosander was the visual designer for two of Santa

Clara Vanguard’s Drum Corps International world championships (1989 and 1999). He also is one of only a handful of visual designers to have two of his shows make DCI finals in the same year (2002 with Vanguard and Seattle Cascades). Four times, his visual program has had the top visual general effect score at DCI finals.

“I’m thrilled to have someone of Myron’s stature joining us,” said Dan Farrell, Phantom Regiment’s longtime program coordinator. “His body of work certainly speaks for itself.”

Most recently, Rosander was a performance consultant for the Santa Clara (Calif.) Vanguard and he has had a long and distinguished career with the six-time world champion Vanguard. Rosander was the primary visual designer for Vanguard from 1987 to 2005, and he is an alumnus of the corps, marching as a French hornist from 1976 to 1980.

When Rosander, who is fully recovered from a life-threatening illness 3 years ago, was asked to write for Phantom Regiment, he says it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.

“I feel so completely re-energized by all of this and can promise that the Regiment will get the very best I’ve got,” said Rosander, who is a professional artist and lives in South Lake Tahoe, Calif.

Rosander said he is thrilled to be joining the Phantom Regiment design team of Dan Farrell (program coordinator for most of the past 15 years), J.D. Shaw (brass, ninth year), Paul Rennick (percussion, eighth year) and Rick Subel (guard, second year). He’ll work with caption head Dwight Emmert and consultant Tony Hall on the visual program.

“Artistry and excitement” is what he says fans can expect from his visual design.

“I hope to interact with the array of creative talent on the staff to help ensure a strong direction for many years to come,” Rosander said. “Anything and everything is within our grasp right now, which means the positive possibilities are endless. With that said, I have absolutely no doubt that an extremely powerful product is in our very near future.”

The hiring of Rosander also reunites mentor and student as Phantom Regiment executive director Rick Valenzuela got his first drum corps teaching job from Rosander nearly 20 years ago and the two worked together for many years.

“I think he’s a great fit for our design team as the intensity of his visual design will match the intensity of our musical program,” Valenzuela said. “The members will benefit not only from his visual design but also from his outlook and experience within the drum corps activity.”

Rosander has a long history with Phantom Regiment – a long history of close competition with the Regiment, that is. He was a marching member when SCV edged PR for the DCI title in 1978 and he was the visual designer when SCV again edged PR for the title in 1989.

“It’s actually a relief to be on the same team now,” he said. “My memories of the Regiment are vast, but it’s the pride and power of the corps that’s always stood out most to me. It’s almost indescribable the intensity the corps conveys.

“If I walked up to a rehearsal with the corps members in street clothes with no knowledge of who they were, I’d know it was the Regiment in a heartbeat.”

In addition to his work with Santa Clara Vanguard, Rosander has been a visual designer for the Madison Scouts, Seattle Cascades and Bushwackers (all-age corps in DCA). He’ll be designing for Mandarins in 2010. At the high school level, he was the visual designer for L.D. Bell (Texas) in 2005 and 2006 when the band finished third and second, respectively, at the Bands of America national championships. He has also worked with Bellbrook (Ohio), Dobyns-Bennett (Tenn.), Kamehameha (Hawaii), Oak Grove (Calif.) and Maui (Hawaii).

Rosander replaces Nick Scotella after two seasons, including a world championship in 2008.