OUR STAFF

Admin Team

Mark Hammons

DIRECTOR

Mark Hammons has been an active member of the marching arts for over three decades. He has served as an instructor, arranger, and director for multiple groups around California, including World Champion Clovis East to name a few. Mark has been adjudicating field and indoor percussion through the Western United States since 2005 and serves as the judges coordinator for a handful of circuits throughout California. In addition to his pageantry endeavors, Mark has an extensive career in Educational Technology. He served as a Technology Coordinator for Fresno County (as well as Google Innovator and Apple Distinguished Educator) and left the county to be Co-Founder of Breakout EDU, an educational gaming solution for schools.

Mark is proudly endorsed by Pearl Drums, Vic Firth Drumsticks, Zildjian Cymbals, and Evans Drumheads.

Josh Ompad

*DIRECTOR - BUSINESS OPERATIONS AND LOGISTICS*
**Josh Ompad** is an alumnus of the Bulldog Marching Band and a proud graduate of Fresno State (Go ‘Dogs!). Josh has worked with a number of schools throughout the Central Valley since his senior year at Buchanan HS in 2007. His focus has been on working with rural, re-building, and underserved programs throughout our area. In addition to serving as the percussion caption head for those programs and coaching private students, he worked as a multi-unit portfolio manager for two Fortune 500 companies. In 2022, he moved into the non-profit world as a business development project manager.
Josh is proudly married to Ariell Ompad, another Fresno State graduate and director of percussion at Justin Garza High School. They have two beautiful daughters that are the pride and joy of their lives. Serving our community through their contributions to the music community is a common goal of theirs.
When asked ‘why join the Red Wave Indoor staff?’, Josh says, “Red Wave Indoor is a vital piece to elevating the sport in our area. The opportunity to be the most accessible and competitive world class WGI group in our area isn’t just a goal, it’s the mission.
The passion of our staff and the capability of our performers drives me to support RWI into the bright future ahead. I’m excited to play my part.

Michael Wootten

*DIRECTOR - MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS*
**Michael Wootten** is a Central Valley-based cinematographer, photographer, and marketing and communications specialist. He possesses a deep portfolio containing nearly a decade of work in the marching arts with clients such as the Sacramento Mandarins, Santa Clara Vanguard, Fresno State Bulldog Marching Band, and many high schools in California. Outside the marching arts, Michael has extensive professional experience in real estate, healthcare, and higher education. He attributes his time as the communications manager at Camarena Health as vital experience to how to operate and support a non-profit organization to benefit the community as a whole.
Michael currently resides in Fresno with his family and works full time as a video producer in University Marketing and Communications at Fresno State. Additionally, he is an accomplished percussionist, drum set player, and arranger. He attended Fresno State on scholarship to perform in the Bulldog Marching Band and Bulldog Beat, and graduated in 2016 with a degree in Multimedia Production. Michael is also the President of the Fresno State Band Alumni Club.

Design Team

Oliver Bullock

*PROGRAM/VISUAL COORDINATOR*
**Oliver Bullock** has an extensive career in the marching arts. He has served on numerous instructional teams as a drill designer, program coordinator, and director of groups throughout the state of California including Beyer High School in the early 2000’s, Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets & Winter Percussion, and was the founding Director of Frente, an independent color guard at Fresno State. This is Oliver’s first year as program coordinator for Red Wave Indoor.

Benjamin Pyles

*BATTERY ARRANGER*
**Benjamin Pyles** is the Director of Athletic Percussion at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Previously, Ben majored in music education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Lamar University, with a primary focus in Percussion.
Ben has over two decades of world-class experience as a performer, designer, and instructor, with the Glassmen, Bluecoats, Crossmen, Spirit of Atlanta, Colts, and Sacramento Mandarins Drum & Bugle Corps. Ben currently serves as the battery instructor at Ronald Reagan High School, and Music Designer for Monarch Independent.
Ben is also endorsed by Sabian Cymbals and Innovative Percussion Inc.

Albert Avery

*FRONT ENSEMBLE ARRANGER / SOUND DESIGNER*
**Albert Avery** is a designer, writer and educator from the Central Valley. He has received his B.S. in Business Administration - Computer Information Systems from California State University, Fresno. Outside of the marching arts, Albert focuses on community management and social media engagement. He is also currently working at Universal Audio full-time as a Technical Customer Support Specialist.
In the marching arts, he is a front ensemble caption head, arranger and electronic designer for Clovis High School. In addition, he is the front ensemble arranger for the Fresno State Bulldog Marching Band, along with being the front ensemble arranger and sound designer Red Wave Indoor, Fresno State's independent world percussion ensemble in the Central Valley.
He continues to write for various ensembles in the Central Valley, along with being a consultant specializing in amplification, electronics, and sound design for the marching arts.
Albert proudly endorses Vic Firth Sticks/Mallets, and Zildjian Cymbals.
Albert lives in Clovis, CA.

Ensemble Staff Coordinators

Austin Ballard

*ENSEMBLE COORDINATOR*
**Austin Ballard** (he/him) has been part of the Red Wave Indoor Staff since 2022. He has been involved with various percussion programs throughout the Central Valley for the past ten years since graduating from Tulare Western High School in 2014. Most recently he worked with Buchanan High School as a snare tech, and currently works as the percussion caption head at Hanford West High School. Austin has performed with The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps (2014-2017) making DCI finals for the 2016 season, as well as POW Percussion (2018-2019) where he served as the section leader for the 2019 season.
Austin graduated from California State University, Fresno with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Mathematics. Outside of music, Austin currently teaches 7th and 8th grade mathematics in Tulare, CA.

Justin Clement

*BATTERY CO-COORDINATOR*
**Justin Clement** (he/him) grew up in the Central Valley and graduated from James C. Enochs High School in 2017. Since then, he has spent his time as a percussion instructor at various high schools in Northern and Southern California.
Justin’s performance experience includes Blue Knights, Carolina Crown, and Broken City Percussion. This will be Justin’s third year on staff with Red Wave.

Andrew Ziehm

*BATTERY CO-COORDINATOR*
**Andrew Ziehm** is a percussion educator based in California’s Central Valley. He has spent over 10 years writing, teaching, and designing for various music programs. Though Andrew is a percussion specialist, he also composes/arranges full shows for marching bands, working top-down to create cohesive wind, battery, and front ensemble content. Andrew’s performance history includes many west coast programs such as Blue Devils and Blue Devils B (2012 - 2015), Pulse Percussion (2016), and Vanguard Winter Percussion. He feels grateful for the experiences, accolades, and memories created in these amazing ensembles. When not working in the music world, Andrew is a high school English teacher. He graduated with a Single Subject English degree from CSU Stanislaus. He enjoys mentoring students both in the classroom, and on the field!

**José** Ledesma

*FRONT ENSEMBLE COORDINATOR*
**José Ledesma** is a second-year on staff member with Red Wave Indoor. He is an active performer and educator based out of the Central Valley in the heart of California. José earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Fresno State, where he specialized in percussion.
José is currently the Director of Percussion for Desmond Middle School and Torres High School in Madera, CA where he designs and instructs curriculum for both middle school and high school marching ensembles, concert percussion, chamber percussion, and solo work. Under his direction, José has introduced an Indoor Percussion program to Desmond Middle School as well as a Percussion Ensemble to Torres High School. Prior to this position, José was the Director of Instrumental Music for Firebaugh High School where he also introduced an Indoor Percussion program, Percussion Ensemble, and Mariachi. Prior to his credentialed positions, José has also worked with various front ensembles in the Central Valley as a coordinator, arranger, sound designer, and instructor for 8 years.
José’s performance experience spans the full spectrum of percussion performance including the Fresno State performance ensembles: the Bulldog Marching Band, the Symphony Orchestra, the Wind Orchestra, and the Percussion Ensemble. In addition to his collegiate ensembles, he has also performed with the Sacramento Mandarins, POW Percussion, and the Wind Symphony of Clovis.
Jose is a Vic Firth and Zildjian Educational Artist, Vice President for the South Valley Winter Arts Association, Secretary for the Board of Directors at Pulse Percussion, and will serve as the Front Ensemble Staff Coordinator for Red Wave Indoor.
José currently resides in Fresno, CA with his partner and dog.

Instructional Staff

Battery

Marc Almario

*SNARE TECHNICIAN*
**Marc Almario** is a percussionist/private instructor originally from the Central Valley. He graduated from Clovis High School in 2015 and was part of their top ensembles in both concert and marching seasons, and then joined the Fresno State Bulldog Marching Band. He has taught multiple programs in the Fresno Unified and Visalia Unified School Districts since 2015. He also provides private online lessons to students around the country. When Marc played snare drum in 2015, the Clovis High School Winter Percussion (World Line) went to Dayton, Ohio to compete in its very first WGI World Championships.
After graduating, he marched with the Fresno State Bulldog Marching Band in 2016 and 2017. During the indoor season of 2016, Marc marched snare drum for Valley Independent Percussion and competed in Dayton, Ohio Open Class Championships. After VIP 2016, he marched a World Class DCI tour with Pacific Crest Drum & Bugle corps with Pete Lucero as Caption Head, Darren S. VanDerpoel, Brandon Gedalje, Matt Ponce, and Joey Staab as battery manager and snare techs. In 2017 Marc was offered a spot in the Cadets Drum & Bugle Corps as a member of the snareline, and completed a full DCI tour. Drum staff that year included Tom Aungst, Lee Beddis, Jake Gall, Paul Nalesnik, Pat Mchale & Alan Aungst. Marc became a veteran member of The Cadets 2018 and aged out of DCI in 2018.

Bryan Criswell

*SNARE TECHNICIAN*
**Bryan Criswell** is an educator/designer based in the Central Valley. His time as a performer was spent solely in West Coast ensembles, including Red Wave Indoor, RCC Indoor, and The Blue Devils. In education and design, Bryan recently spent time with several percussion programs in his hometown of Visalia(2018-2022) and some Bay Area ensembles, including a brief stint with Thesis Indoor(2023)
He currently operates as Percussion Caption Head at Clovis West High School, where he also serves as battery arranger and in visual/concept design, and spends his summers on staff with the Blue Stars Drum & Bugle Corps. This will be Bryan’s second year on staff with Red Wave Indoor.

Tyler Ortiz

*TENOR TECHNICIAN*
**Tyler Ortiz** has been with Red Wave Indoor for three seasons. He is from the Central Valley and is an alumnus of Fresno State. He has taught at various schools in the Central Valley and is currently teaching at Clovis High School. Tyler’s performance experience includes Red Wave Indoor (2017), Vessel Indoor (2018-2020), and Mandarins (2019).
Outside of music Tyler is currently working as an American Sign Language Interpreter at Fresno State.

Ryan West

*TENOR TECHNICIAN*
**Ryan West** is joining the Red Wave Indoor staff for the first time this season, and is a former tenor drums player with Red Wave Indoor from 2019-2022. He also performed with Vanguard Cadets in 2017 and 2018. Ryan graduated from Fresno State with a B.S. in Psychology in 2022 and is currently attending Endicott College for a M.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis with a concentration in Mental Health. He currently works as an in-home Registered Behavior Technician.

Antonio Jimenez

*TENOR TECHNICIAN*
**Antonio Jimenez** is joining the Red Wave Indoor staff for the first time this season, and is a former tenor drums player with Red Wave Indoor from 2020-2024. Antonio is a graduate of Washington Union High School. He is currently teaching at Hanford West High School and has previously taught at Edison High School and Washington Union High School.

Zack Potter

*BASS TECHNICIAN*
**Zack Potter** (he/him) joins us for his sixth season on staff at Red Wave Indoor. Alongside his work with Red Wave Indoor, Zack also serves as a percussion instructor for the Fresno State Bulldog Marching Band and teaches as a bass technician at Clovis High School. He is a Vic Firth Educator.
Zack’s performance history includes Pulse Percussion, Orange County Independent, Valley Independent Percussion, and Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps.
Outside of marching percussion, Zack is an IT Project Manager at Fresno State.

Kevin Kingkham

*BASS TECHNICIAN*
**Kevin Kingham** (he/him) will be returning for his 3rd year on staff with Red Wave Indoor. Kevin graduated from Clovis East High School in 2017. Kevin began teaching at Clovis North High School as a Bass Drum Technician from 2017-2019. He has worked clinics with Buchanan High School from 2019-2021. Kevin is currently teaching at Clovis High as a Bass Drum Technician. Kevin marched Red Wave Indoor from 2018-2022.
Kevin graduated from California State University, Northridge and has a B.A. in Liberal Studies with specialization in history/social science. In the near future, Kevin intends to further his education by studying TESOL in a graduate program.

Jude Magann

*BASS TECHNICIAN*
**Jude Magann** (he/him) is joining the Red Wave Indoor staff for the first time this season, and is a former bass drum player with Red Wave Indoor from 2020-2022. His performance history also includes Blue Devils B (2018-2019), Blue Devils (2022-2023), and RCC (2023-2024). Jude studies Marine Biology at Las Positas College.

Hannah Boyer

*CYMBAL TECHNICIAN*
**Hannah Boyer** (she/her) has been a part of the Red Wave Indoor Staff since 2018. She has taught and designed throughout the Central Valley, but has spent the majority of her career at Beyer and Enochs High Schools. Aside from Red Wave Indoor, she spends her summer with Blue Devils B.
Hannah has performed with Blue Devils B (2009) and Vanguard Winter Percussion (2010-2012). She also marched trumpet for two years in the Fresno State Bulldog Marching Band and participated in the Santa Clara Vanguard Alumni Corps in 2017.
Hannah currently works as a Paraeducator in an autism program and is pursuing her bachelor's degree in special education.

Ivan Reyes

*CYMBAL TECHNICIAN*
**Ivan Reyes** is a fifth year staff member with Red Wave Indoor.
Ivan has performed with the Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets (2014-2015) and Vanguard Winter Percussion (2013-2015), under the instruction of Travis Vernon and David Medina as part of the cymbal line. After aging out, he was involved with various percussion ensembles in the Central Valley such as Sanger High School, Clovis East High School, and Clovis North High School.
Ivan lives in Fresno, CA.

Cameron Baber

*CYMBAL TECHNICIAN*
**Cameron Baber** is a student, performer, and music educator from the Central Valley. Cameron earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music Education at California State University, Fresno and is currently pursuing his teaching credential through National University. Cameron is heavily involved in both the worlds of winds and percussion and has performed with groups such as Red Wave Indoor, the Fresno State Bulldog Marching Band, Wind Symphony of Clovis, and the Fresno State Wind Orchestra. Cameron currently instructs as the visual caption head at the Clovis High School Golden Cougar Marching Band and as cymbal tech of the Fresno State Bulldog Marching Band. He has also instructed at a variety of other competitive Central Valley music programs such as Clovis North Educational Center and Buchanan High School.
This will be Cameron's third year as an instructor with Red Wave Indoor and he hopes to help the program continue its growth and success throughout this next season.

Instructional Staff

Front Ensemble

Kyah Hill

*FRONT ENSEMBLE TECHNICIAN*
**Kyah Hill** is an active percussion educator in the Central Valley, returning for their second season on staff with Red Wave Indoor. Primarily a mallet percussionist, Kyah’s performance experience includes 3 summers touring with The Sacramento Mandarins, and 6 winter seasons performing with the likes of Valley Independent Percussion, Red Wave Indoor Percussion, POW, and RCC. Kyah is currently Percussion Caption head for Parlier High School, and a Front ensemble technician for the Fresno State Bulldog Marching Band.

Frances Donabedian

*FRONT ENSEMBLE TECHNICIAN*
**Frances Donabedian** is a music educator in the Central Valley. She currently teaches at Kingsburg High School and Lemoore High School, her alma mater. She studied Music at Fresno State with an emphasis in Percussion. During her time there, she performed with the Wind Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble and New Music Ensemble. Outside of college ensembles, she had the opportunity to perform with groups such as the Wind Symphony of Clovis, Sequoia Symphony Orchestra and Sequoia Winds. Frances also marched with Valley Independent Percussion in 2016. This is her first year on staff with Red Wave Indoor.

Alec Rodriguez

*FRONT ENSEMBLE CONSULTANT*
**Alec Rodriguez** is a dedicated music educator currently serving as the Associate Director of Instrumental Music at Clovis High School, where he teaches percussion classes, directs the Symphonic Band and String Orchestra, and supports the Wind Ensemble and Marching Band.
Alec's previous teaching roles include working with the Blue Devils B front ensemble in 2023 and 2024, Red Wave Indoor in 2019, Bakersfield College Indoor in 2021 and 2022, and Golden Empire Drum and Bugle Corps in 2022. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music Education ('19) and his Master of Arts in Conducting ('24) from Fresno State, where he excelled as a percussionist, winning multiple percussion solo, duet, and ensemble competitions and performing with prestigious ensembles such as the Fresno State Wind Orchestra, the Wind Symphony of Clovis, and the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra.
Alec aspires to pursue a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Wind Band Conducting and teach at the collegiate level.

Roberto Sanchez

*DRUM SET CONSULTANT*
**Roberto Sanchez** has been involved in teaching, writing, and designing for various percussion programs within the Central Valley since he graduated from Lemoore High School in 2015. His most recent teaching endeavors have been that of percussion caption head at Sierra Pacific High School and battery instructor at Lemoore High School, his alma mater.
Outside of music, Roberto is working through Fresno State's Creative Writing program to earn his B.A. in English and plans to pursue his Master's Degree soon after.

Instructional Staff

VISUAL

Brianna Gier

VISUAL TECHNICIAN

Brianna Gier is a dedicated visual designer, choreographer, and educator from Northern California. Her passion for the performing arts started in 2005 when she took ballet classes at a local ballet school. During her high school years, she explored various dance styles through Dance Production and actively participated in multiple band ensembles. After graduating from Enochs High School in 2017, she transitioned to drum corps, marching trumpet with the Blue Devils B Drum and Bugle Corps.

Since then, Brianna has shared her skills as a designer, marching/movement instructor, and choreographer with numerous programs across Northern California, including Homestead High School, Foothill High School, and Thesis Percussion. In 2022, she became a member of the Visual Staff for the Blue Devils B Drum and Bugle Corps, and in 2023, she joined the Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps Visual Staff. By 2024, she was promoted to the Visual Caption Manager for Blue Devils B.

Alongside her marching arts endeavors, Brianna is also working towards a Bachelor’s degree in English for Secondary Education and obtaining a Professional and Technical Writing certification. Brianna is thrilled to join the Red Wave Indoor team.

OUR STAFF

Admin Team

Design Team

Ensemble Staff Coordinators

Instructional Staff

Battery

Instructional Staff

Front Ensemble

Instructional Staff

VISUAL

More staff announcements coming soon!