Jim Ancona has several years' experience as an arranger and instructor for world class drum and bugle corps including The Boston Crusaders, Star of Indiana, The Crossmen, The Glassmen, Santa Clara Vanguard and Carolina Crown. Jim is currently the Percussion Caption Head for The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps, 2006 DCI World Champions. His honors in the activity include having been a member of the 1990 DCI World Champion Cadets of Bergen County and having been on the instructional staff of Star of Indiana's (1993) and Santa Clara Vanguard's (2004) World Champion percussion sections. His Vanguard Percussion Ensembles and Mixed Ensembles (with brass) have won at the Drum Corps International Individual and Ensemble Championships. Several of his percussion arrangements appear on Star of Indiana's "Brass Theater" and "BLAST" (the Tony and Emmy Award winning Broadway show) compact discs and are published by Tap Space Publications. Jim is the co-author of Up Front: A Complete Resource for Today's Pit Ensemble. He is an endorser and clinician for the Avedis Zildjian Company, Remo, Inc., Pearl Drums and Adams Musical Instruments, and a Signature Artist for Innovative Percussion, Incorporated.

Ancona is an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Delaware. He is the Assistant Director of the Blue Hen Marching Band, Director of the Basketball Pep Band and Co-Director of the Symphonic Band. Jim received his Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his Master's Degree in Performance from Indiana University where he was awarded the prestigious Performer's Certificate. His former teachers include Gerald Carlyss, Thomas Hannum, William Roberts, Peter Tanner, and Leigh Howard Stevens.