Meet the Faculty
Tom Aungst is currently the Director of Percussion at Dartmouth Public Schools. He is also the Percussion Arranger and Caption Head for The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps. Aungst is a member of the DCI Hall of Fame, WGI Hall of Fame and the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame.
Jim Bailey is the Education Relations Director for D'Addario and Co. and serves on the Percussive Arts Society Marching Percussion Committee. Bailey has instructed for The Cavaliers, The Blue Knights, The Blue Stars, I2 and The Phantom Regiment winter percussion ensemble.
Lee Beddis has served as Percussion Supervisor, Arranger and Tech for The Madison Scouts, Carolina Crown, Phantom Regiment, The Glassmen, The Crossmen, Star of Indiana and the Cadets. Beddis currently holds the position of Battery Coordinator with The Cadets and is a percussion consultant with The Academy.
Mike Bishop is the front ensemble arranger of the West Chester University Incomparable Golden Ram Marching Band. As an experienced and active freelance musician, educator, designer and composer, he is in-demand worldwide. He has served on the front ensemble faculty of such notable ensembles as Carolina Crown, Rhythm X, United Percussion Cedar Park HS (TX), Crossmen, The Company (UK), European X (NL), Blue Stars, Redline, George Mason University and The X Academy, among others around the world.
Wayne Bovenschen has served as Associate Professor of Percussion at Oklahoma State University for the past 32 years, where he directs the concert and marching percussion ensembles, teaches studio lessons and percussion techniques class, and is a sponsor of the Alpha Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi. Prior to 2015, he also served for 28 years as the Assistant Director of the Cowboy Marching Band and directed the OSU Spirit Bands.
John Brennan serves as the Associate Director of Bands at Plano East Senior High School, is an adjunct professor of music at Texas A&M University - Commerce and is a longtime Battery Technician for The Cavaliers.
Glen Buecker is the Percussion Director and Assistant Director with the University of Oklahoma Bands. A former performer and instructor with the Blue Devils, he has over 34 years of marching percussion experience. Buecker is active in WGI and maintains a lively clinic and adjudication schedule.
Lamar Burkhalter is Music Director for the NFL Houston Texans' "Bull Pen Pep Band". Burkhalter is the Founder/Executive Director of Percussion One Foundation. N8RHYTHM, his percussion education company, teaches and guides percussion curriculums around Texas.
Paul Buyer is Director of Percussion, Director of Music and Professor of Music at Clemson University. Featured in SUCCESS Magazine's Achiever's Series, Dr. Buyer is a sought-after keynote speaker, clinician, and author of Working Toward Excellence, Marching Bands and Drumlines and co-author of The Art of Vibraphone Playing. He serves as Co-Editorial Director for Percussive Notes, the official PAS journal.
James Campbell is the Provost's Distinguished Service Professor and Director of Percussion Studies at the University of Kentucky. He is recognized worldwide as a performer, pedagogue and author. Campbell is a Past President of PAS and is a Hall of Fame member for both DCI and Music for All.
Tad Carpenter currently works with drum lines for the University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band and the PCC Tournament of Roses Honor Band. He is also Director of Percussion at Pasadena City College and was previously an instructor for The Sacramento Freelancers, The Glassmen and The Velvet Knights.
Dominick Cuccia is an instrumental music teacher for the Paul Effman Music Service. He is the author of successful methods books and is the leader of The Great American Fife & Drum Band. He is a veteran of both the band at West Point and Walt Disney World's Fife & Drum Corps.
Dennis DeLucia is the only person to have been inducted into all four of the major Halls of Fame — DCI, PAS, WGI and the World Drum Corps Association. He is well known for his work with The Bridgemen, Muchachos, Star of Indiana, The Crossmen, The Sunrisers and The Caballeros, as well as many high school and collegiate marching bands.
Dr. Andrew Eldridge is Coordinator of Percussion at the University of Texas at Arlington. He previously taught percussion at Texas Wesleyan University and was an Assistant Band/Percussion Director in Dallas/Fort Worth high schools full-time for six years.
Brian Fronzaglia has been on staff with The Glassmen, Gateway Indoor, United Percussion and was a member of The Bluecoats. Formerly on faculty at Penn State and MSSU, he most recently worked with the Pittsburg State University "Pride of the Plains" Marching Band. He was also the founder and director the Kansas City Royal's "Royal Thunder Drum Line."
Ian Grom is a percussionist, composer and educator based out of Southern California. He currently teaches, designs and composes for the Chino Hills High School percussion ensemble and Pulse Percussion. Since 2005, he has earned an unprecedented 32 WGI medals which includes seven world class championships. He is the co-owner of Box Six, the sole source for purchasing his compositions and arrangements for indoor percussion and marching band.
Dr. Ellis Hampton is currently the Percussion Coordinator and Associate Director of Bands at Guyer High School. He previously served as the Percussion Caption Head and Arranger for the Boston Crusaders and as a percussion staff member for the Phantom Regiment and the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps.
Dr. Julie Hill, Chair, Department of Music at the University of Tennessee at Martin, has received worldwide recognition as a performer, educator and scholar. As a solo artist and member of the award winning Caixa Trio and X4 chamber ensembles, Hill has presented workshops, concerts and lectures throughout the world and focuses on the topics of Brazilian Music and social transformation for black women and at-risk children in Northeastern Brazil. Hill is principal percussionist with the Paducah Symphony Orchestra.
Dr. Gifford Howarth is Associate Professor of Percussion at Bloomsburg University and a national adjudicator for DCI, WGI and Bands of America. He has served on the staff of such groups as The Cadets, The Rochester Patriots and The Syracuse Brigadiers.
Michael Huestis is currently teaching at Prosper High School in Prosper, Texas. Huestis is the assistant coordinator of the Music for All Sandy Feldstein National Percussion Festival.
Jason Ihnat is the Boston Crusaders front ensemble coordinator and previously spent 13 years as a member of The Cadets percussion staff. He also serves on the music theory and band faculty of Eastern Michigan University and manages the Detroit Lions "Honolulu Boom" Drumline.
Mike Jackson is currently a Designer/Composer for The Blue Knights and Broken City Percussion. In addition to working with some of the most nationally recognized percussion programs in the United States, he is a board member and the co-founder of the Southern California Percussion Alliance and is a member of the WGI Hall of Fame.
Alan Keown is Marching Percussion Specialist for Thurston High School and the founder of the Alan Keown Marching Percussion Camp. He is a respected percussionist and teacher in the Pacific Northwest, who has worked with nationally recognized performers and orchestras.
Bret Kuhn is currently adjunct faculty at Northern Illinois University and Prospect High School. He previously served as Battery Arranger for the Phantom Regiment from 2014-2016 and Caption Head/Arranger for the Cavaliers from 1984-2005, during which time they won six world championships and 5 high percussion awards
John Mapes is a full-time percussion designer and educator based out of Southern California. He serves as the Percussion Director/Designer at Chino Hills High School and has been teaching and designing with Pulse Percussion since 2008. Mapes is also co-owner of Box Six, which is one of the biggest publishers of marching band and indoor percussion shows in the country. Since 2005, he has earned an unprecedented 32 WGI medals which includes seven world class championships.
Dave Marvin is in the Halls of Fame for the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps, WGI and Rocky Mountain Percussion Association. He is the Director/Arranger for the Denver Broncos Stampede Drumline and Brass and the Percussion Coordinator/Arranger for Genesis Drum and Bugle Corps, Longmont, and Lakewood High Schools. He served as President of the Rocky Mountain Percussion Association for over a decade and was Director/Arranger for Northglenn Percussion Theatre for 36 years. Dave is an active designer, clinician and judge nationwide.
Kathy Marvin was the Front Ensemble Caption Head for Northglenn Percussion Theatre for 25 years where they earned WGI gold, silver and bronze medals. She is currently the Percussion Director for Lakewood and Wheat Ridge High Schools in Denver, a percussion clinician and maintains an active private percussion studio. Mrs. Marvin was inducted into the Rocky Mountain Percussion Hall of Fame in 2010.
Michael McIntosh is a graduate of Butler University with a B.A. in Composition. He is the percussion arranger for The Cavaliers and Carmel High School, and he composes commercial and symphonic music.
Colin McNutt is currently the Percussion Director for The Boston Crusaders. He has instructed, arranged and/or written for The Cadets, the Star of Indiana, Blast!, The Crossmen, The Glassmen, Magic of Orlando and The Madison Scouts. McNutt served on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Jeff Moore is Professor of Music and Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida. He has also served as Percussion Director for The Madison Scouts from 1993 to 2001.
Dr. Iain Moyer is the Director of Athletic Bands/Percussion for Widener University and the Front Ensemble Arranger for The Boston Crusaders. He previously spent ten years as an arranger/instructor for The Cadets, the 10-time DCI World Champion.
Dr. Rob Parks is the Director of Percussion Studies at Lebanon Trail High School in Frisco, Texas. Dr. Parks' ensembles and students have performed at PASIC and Midwest and he has served on the percussion faculty at the Music for All Summer Symposium.
Chris Rivera is the band director at Norwalk High School where his indoor percussion ensembles have consistently been WGI finalists and medalists. He has judged numerous marching bands and indoor percussion ensembles, as well as state and regional music festivals for CMEA, USSBA and MAC.
Andy Salmon is the Percussion Director at the Woodlands High School. During his tenure at TWHS, the marching band has been a consistent Grand Nationals finalist and the percussion ensemble was selected as PAS "Call for Tapes" champion. He is an active arranger, clinician and performer.
Michael Sammons, D.M.A. serves as the Percussion Area Head at the University of Utah. Sammons is recognized as a versatile performer in solo and chamber, symphonic, marching percussion arts and non-western musical styles. He also directs the newly founded "Street Beats Drumline" for the NBA's Utah Jazz. His work can be heard on ESPN, TNT, TBS and local media outlets as well as diverse recording projects including the Utah Symphony Orchestra.
Amy Savage currently is the Front Ensemble Arranger for The Encorps Drum and Bugle Corps, and Percussion Instructor/Arranger for Cary and Northwood Senior High Schools in North Carolina. She has served as the Director of Marching Percussion at Duke University, and was a Percussion Instructor/Arranger with The Garfield Cadets, The Bluecoats, The Glassmen, The Poynton Commodores and The Starriders Drum and Bugle Corps.
Matt Savage teaches at Cary High School and is Percussion Staff Arranger/Caption Head for the Encorps Drum and Bugle Corps. He has been a WGI Percussion judge and played snare drum with the legendary Bayonne Bridgemen along with serving as Percussion Caption Head and Arranger for The Velvet Knights, Dutchboy and The Bluecoats.
Eric Shriver was formerly the Battery Caption Head and Arranger for Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps and previously a Battery Instructor for Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps. Currently, he is a Battery Instructor for The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps. Eric has also served on staff as Ensemble Coordinator and Snare Tech for Pulse Percussion Ensemble.
Ray Ulibarri is in his 24th year as a percussion specialist in public schools. He is currently the Percussion Director at Ronald Reagan High School in San Antonio, Texas. He has worked with The Bluecoats, The Blue Knights and The Crossmen.
Clif Walker is a designer and staff member with The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps and director of the Marching Mizzou Drumline at the University of Missouri. He most recently served as the Director of Percussion, Arranger, Designer at Blue Springs High School and has previously worked with Gateway Indoor, Timber Creek Independent, Timber Creek High School, Southwind and The Madison Scouts.
Dr. Jon Weber is Instructor of Percussion at Michigan State University where he teaches the applied percussion, salsa band and the MSU Drumline. He is an active performer and clinician throughout the United States.
Dr. Brian West is Professor of Music at Texas Christian University and coordinates all aspects of the school's percussion program while simultaneously maintaining an active performance, clinic and adjudication schedule.
Adam Wiencken is the Percussion Specialist and Battery Arranger for Broken Arrow High School. Currently, Adam serves as a Percussion Consultant for the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps, and was previously on the instructional staff at The Cadets, Santa Clara Vanguard, Troopers and Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps.
Dr. Tracy Wiggins is Coordinator of the Percussion Program and Assistant Marching Band Director at The University of North Alabama. He has a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the The Hartt School
Kennan Wylie is the Director of Percussion Studies at Marcus High School in Flower Mound, Texas. He is also an author and publisher of quality percussion literature for the beginning percussionist though K. Wylie Publications.
Jim Yakas is the Director of Percussion Studies at Vandercook College of Music. He is a past Director of Percussion for The Madison Scouts and taught percussion at the University of Texas at Arlington.