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Miliauskas is Towson band leader

John Miliauskas III, son of John and Dorothy Miliauskas of Dallas, is the director of the Towson University Tiger Marching Band which will perform in the 83rd Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The parade will be televised at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 26, on NBC.

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John Miliauskas III, a graduate of Lake-Lehman High School, is director of the Towson University Tiger Marching Band.

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Miliauskas is the Associate Director of Bands and Director of the Tiger Marching Band at Towson University located in Towson, Md. He now resides in Glen Rock, PA with his wife, Sarah, and their 18-month-old daughter, Ava.

His father, John Miliauskas Jr. of Dallas, was a legendary band director for the award-winning Lake-Lehman Black Knights Marching Band for 36 years prior to his retirement.

After graduating from Lake-Lehman, John Miliauskas III attended Penn State University where he played mellophone in the Penn State Blue Band. During this same time period, he also performed with the Garfield Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps from Garfield, New Jersey.

He left Penn State to continue his marching experiences at West Chester University, serving as drum major for three years while earning his Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education. He also served as drum major for the Reading Buccaneers Drum and Bugle Corps.

Since graduating from West Chester University, Miliauskas moved on to gain numerous accomplishments as a drill designer and public school band director. In 2004, he earned a Masters of Music in Music Education with a performance option in conducting from West Chester University and then immediately began his current position with Towson University.

Since his first year in taking the position at Towson, the marching band program has grown from approximately 75 participants to more than triple that size. All 230 members, including color guard performers and drum majors, will march in the Macy’s Parade.

The 2009 version of the parade will mark the third time Miliauskas has led a band in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. He previously led the West Chester University Marching Band as drum major in the 1986 Macy’s parade, as well as the Red Land High School Marching Band as program coordinator in the 1998 parade.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has a long history dating back to 1924 when the first parade was held in New York City. The parade, with its vibrant costumes, bands, floats and live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo, was such a success that Macy’s declared it would become an annual event.