DENVER, CO – The Blue Knights Drum & Bugle Corps is excited to announce the administrative and support team for the 2019 season! This group consists of the Admin team, Athletic Trainers, Media and Merchandise as they help aid the Blue Knights in their summer national tour.
Abel Cabrera will be returning the Blue Knights as the Tour Director for the 2019 season.
Abel Cabrera became involved in drum corps as a baritone player for the Crossmen Drum & Bugle Corps in 2014, which sparked his passion for the activity and gained his interested in the logistics behind drum corps.
His experience at Crossmen led him to become a tour operations intern with the Boston Crusaders Drum & Bugle Corps in 2015. Abel found his home with the Blue Knights Drum & Bugle Corps in 2016, where he served the corps as a Tour Admin intern and Tour Manager, and is excited to return for his 4th year in this new role as Tour Director. As the Tour Director, he will lead the admin team and oversee the entire summer national tour for the 2019 Blue Knights Drum & Bugle Corps.
Abel is a Spring 2015 graduate of the University of North Texas where he studied Music Education and Spanish. While at North Texas, Abel performed with various ensembles including Concert Band, Green Brigade Marching Band where he served as section leader, and countless chamber ensembles.
Abel continued his education at Texas A&M University-Commerce, where he earned a masters degree in Educational Administration and a principal certificate in 2018.
Abel is currently in his second year as the assistant band director at the Digital Arts and Technology Academy at John Adams Middle School in Grand Prairie, Texas. In their first year under his baton, the Adams Non-Varsity Band earned a “1st Division” rating at the state UIL Evaluation for the first time in the ensemble’s history with straight 1’s in sight reading, and maintained the standard the following year. Abel’s additional duties at Adams include being on the district insurance committee and being the electives department head.
Prior to his assignment at Adams Middle School, Abel served as the head director at Nolan Middle School in Killeen, Texas for two years.
Ethan Goddard will be returning to the Blue Knights as the Operations Director for the 2019 season.
Ethan has also assumed the role of Ensemble Manager for the Blue Knights Winds in their inaugural 2019 season. Learn more about the Blue Knights Winds here!
Austin Harshman will be joining the Blue Knights as an Admin Assistant for the 2019 season.
Austin is from Grand Junction, Colorado where he is currently attending Colorado Mesa University. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Music Business, with concentrations in Entrepreneurship and Supervision.
Music has taken Austin across the globe as he traveled and performed across Europe with other Colorado high school students with the Colorado Ambassadors of Music program. In 2016 and 2018, Austin and a group of his colleagues were selected to attend the Percussive Arts Society International Convention PASIC in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Austin marched bass drum for three years of high school at Central High School, then continued to play three years on snare drum and one on bass drum for the CMU “Maverick Stampede”. Currently, Austin is wrapping up college and set to graduate in December of 2019!
Jordan Barker will be joining the Blue Knights as an Admin Assistant for the 2019 season!
Jordan Barker is from North Richland Hills, Texas and currently resides in Houston, Texas where he is pursuing a bachelors degree in instrumental music education from the Moores School of Music, at the University of Houston.
While there, Jordan is involved with numerous ensembles including the Spirit of Houston Marching Band, and the Wind Ensemble. He is the staff arranger for the band department at UH, primarily dealing with athletic band arrangements. Jordan also works as a visual technician for the Woodlands High School Marching Band.
Jordan marched with the Blue Knights for 3 years as a member of the trumpet section from 2016 to 2018. After his age out season, he joined the Tour Admin team in 2019 and looks forward to giving back to the drum corps activity and the Blue Knights in this new role.
Noah Smith will be joining the Blue Knights as an Admin Assistant for the 2019 season!
Noah Smith is a native of Evansville, IN and is currently studying Music Education at Ball State University. He began his musical career in the 5th grade and began to develop his passion for music during his time in the marching and concert bands at Francis Joseph Reitz High School and participation in the EVSC Honor ensembles. Following his senior year of high school, Noah began his connection with drum corps as performing member in the 2017 Boston Crusaders.
Noah currently is a member of the Ball State Symphony Band, Tuba Euphonium Ensemble, is the Treasurer of the Delta Lambda chapter of Phi Mu Alpha and is the President of Ball State’s CNAFME chapter.
Noah Smith is currently a low brass and visual technician for William Henry Harrison High School in Evansville, IN and has previously been technicians for Reitz Memorial High School and Francis Joseph Reitz High School. Noah hopes to eventually be a high school director and is very excited to be apart of the 2019 Blue Knights admin team!
Brock Gayout will be joining the Blue Knights as an Admin Assistant for the 2019 season!
Brock Gayaut was born and raised in Austin, Texas. Starting his marching career at James Bowie High School, he marched mellophone for four years and winter guard for one. He continued to march independent open class winter guard with Identity, and world class with Invictus where he marches currently. In 20i7, Brock marched Blue Knights Drum & Bugle Corps for his age out year.Brock is currently beginning his third year as Color Guard Director at Austin High School. The experience of being a new teacher brings challenges to learn from every day, and he’s committed to being the best he can for the color guard.
Brock is currently attending ACC where he’s working on a degree in Dance. His first year on Admin provides Brock an opportunity to give back to an organization that he loves, and he’s very excited to get back to the BK for another incredible season!
Diane Huseman is a recent graduate from the University of North Texas and will begin her first year teaching this fall as an Assistant Band Director at Southwest Legacy High School in San Antonio, Texas. She marched trumpet with the Blue Knights in 2015, and then served as drum major here until her age-out in 2017. While a member, she helped grow Box 7 ministries within the corps.
Diane student taught in Frisco ISD at Independence High School and Nelson Middle School. During college, she was an instructor for the Byron Nelson High School Marching Band and Guyer High School Marching Band, and taught fifth graders beginning band instruments on the weekends. While her primary instrument is trumpet, she enjoys learning new instruments like flute, snare drum, and clarinet. Diane served as Music Director and Vice President of Ritual for the University of North Texas’ chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota, an international music fraternity.
This will be Diane’s second summer on the admin team, and she hopes to be there for members like she remembers the admin team being there for her when she was a member.
Tristan Willard will be joining the Blue Knights as an Admin Assistant for the 2019 season!
Tristan Willard is a senior music education student at the University of North Texas, and he will be student teaching in Keller ISD in the fall. Tristan has been heavily involved with the Green Brigade while at UNT serving as Drum Major, Field Tech, Librarian, and Student Assistant. He has been involved in Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, North Texas Music Educators Association as well as multiple performing groups such as the UNT Brass Band, Concert Band, University Band, Tuba-Euphonium Ensembles and the Basketball Band.
He has worked with multiple high school marching bands throughout Dallas-Fort Worth including Denton Ryan High School, Frisco High School and Flower Mound High School. Tristan is currently the tuba private lesson teacher at McKamy Middle School and Shadow Ridge Middle School In Flower Mound, TX.
This will be Tristan’s first summer on tour and he is excited to be able to experience all that DCI has to offer with a great organization.
Sara-Angelica Gomez will be returning to the Blue Knights as an Admin Assistant for the 2019 season!
Sara-Angelica joined the Blue Knights during the 2017 season as a Merchandise Intern and will be returning this season on the Admin Team.
Originally from Fort Worth, Texas, Sara recently graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor’s of Science in Kinesiology and plans to pursue graduate school in the near future. Although she never marched drum corps, Sara has been involved with marching arts since 2009 as a member of high school marching band, and a volunteer over the years. During her undergrad, Sara was a member of the choir and her local music organization along with organizations in her major.
She currently works as a teacher and resides in South Georgia. This is her first summer on the admin team and is extremely excited for another great summer with the Blue Knights!
Hunter Gross will be joining the Blue Knights as a Tour Admin Intern for the 2019 season!
Hunter Gross is a current and innovative percussionist, performer, and composer. He began his percussion career at Owasso Highschool in Owasso, Oklahoma. During his years participating, Owasso was a BOA finalist multiple times, and the 2012 BOA St. Louis Regional Champion.
He currently is in his third year at the University of Oklahoma pursuing a Bachelor of Music with a Percussion emphasis. At the University of Oklahoma, Hunter has been a member and drum captain of the prestigious Pride of Oklahoma, while being very active in the acclaimed OU Percussion studio.
In 2016, he performed with Genesis Drum and Bugle corps on snare drum. He continues to be a marching technician for many local Oklahoma high schools. He also was the 2017 winner of the Ladies Music Club Nichols Percussion Competition has been involved in many festivals around the world such as the Toolbox International Creative Academy in Hong Kong, and will be attending the Mostly Modern Festival in Saratoga Springs, New York, in the summer of 2019. He continues to compete in multiple percussion competitions around the world and is open to new and innovative ideas in the percussive community.
Sarah Pichardo will be returning to the Blue Knights as an Admin Assistant for the 2019 season!
Sarah is a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso and is currently living in Dallas, TX staying involved with the color guard activity such as performing with world-class color guard Black Gold. She has been involved with the color guard activity for 14 years performing and teaching various groups.
Sarah marched with the Blue Knights from 2011-2015 and served as captain from 2014-2015. In 2015, she was the recipient of the “Blue Knight of the Year” award.
“No matter how tired I may be from all the grocery runs and setting up the food truck, it is always a joy to see all the members shine on the field and know that I’m a small part of that. I love being able to give back to the Blue Knights because they helped shape me into the person I am today.”
She is extremely excited to be back for her 4th summer on the Admin team and cannot wait to see what the Blue Knights have to offer this year.
Vanesa VanZile will be joining the Blue Knights as an Admin Assistant for the 2019 season!
Vanesa is from Lakeland, Florida, where she first started her marching career. Originally an oboist, Vanesa marched clarinet and flute in high school. In 2011, Vanesa began attending the University of South Florida, where she marched 5 years with the Herd of Thunder marching band on flute, baritone, and mellophone. Vanesa was also a sister of Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity, serving as her chapter’s Corresponding Secretary during her senior year.
In 2014, Vanesa stepped into the drum corps world playing euphonium for the Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps. She went on to age out the next year with the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps, also on euphonium. After taking a few seasons off, Vanesa returned to DCI as one of the tour directors for 7th Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps for their 2018 season. She now looks forward to working with the Blue Knights for the end of their 2019 tour.
Glenn Ford will be joining the Blue Knights as an Admin Assistant for the 2019 season!
Glenn Ford is from Edmond, Oklahoma and graduated from Choctaw High School in 2015. He is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Central Oklahoma.
Grant Choi is from Irvine, CA and has been involved in the marching activity for the past 8 years and has been playing tuba for the past 10 years. In 2015, Grant marched with Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps on contra.
Grant is currently a senior attending school at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management. At the University of Hawaii, he is a member of the Rainbow Warrior Marching Band where he plays tuba.
This will be Grant’s first year as an Admin Intern with the Blue Knights. He is very excited to join the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corp’s admin team!
Kelly Seevers will be joining the Blue Knights as the Athletic Trainer for the 2019 season!
Originally from Elkhorn, Nebraska, she received her Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training from the University of Nebraska Omaha. While in school, Kelly worked with a variety of sports at the high school and Division I college level including women’s soccer, baseball, football, women’s basketball, and men’s/women’s tennis. She plans to pursue her master’s degree in Sport Psychology later this year.
Kelly has played the trumpet since 6th grade. In high school, she participated in marching band, concert band, jazz band, and pep band. In college, she balanced athletic training duties while playing in the pep band. In 2015, Kelly toured in Europe as a part of the Nebraska Ambassadors of Music.
Courtney Gramley will be returning to the Blue Knights as the Athletic Trainer Coordinator for the 2019 season!
Courtney is returning for her 4th season as the Blue Knights’ Sports Medicine Coordinator/Head Athletic Trainer, where she facilitates the sports medicine care such as injury prevention and rehab as well as facilitates the strength and conditioning growth the members experience throughout the summer.
She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Athletic Training from Eastern Illinois University, working alongside several Division I athletic teams including football, men’s soccer, men’s/women’s tennis and women’s basketball. Throughout her career, Courtney has worked with the NAIGC Gymnastic Teams, Competitive Dance, Dallas Roller Derby, Rugby, and Acrobatics. Courtney received her Master of Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University with the focus on Athletic Administration. Courtney is currently pursuing graduate school to become a Physician Assistant.
Courtney currently resides in Fort Worth, Texas. Courtney has been involved in music since she was in 5th grade, where she played Alto Saxophone. While in high school, she took part in marching band, jazz band, and performed in the Gibson City Melvin Sibley drum line. She has also marched in the Walt Disney World’s Parade as a drum line member.
Dashei “Shea” Briley will be joining the Blue Knights as an Athletic Trainer Intern for the 2019 season!
Shea is working toward a masters degree in Athletic Training at Northern Arizona University this fall. Originally from Modesto, Shea has lived throughout the state of California where she graduated from UC Santa Barbara studying Biopsychology in 2016.
In high school, Shea found her love for the performing arts while marching both snare drum for winter percussion and trombone for street parades. In her athletic training studies, the desire to blend both worlds has led her to pursue an internship with the Blue Knights. Shea’s internship with the Blue Knights will focus on fine-tuning her skills medically and professionally as an Athletic Trainer.
Tony Villalobos-May will be returning to the Blue Knights as the Director of Communications for the 2019 season.
Tony is from Loveland, Colorado and is currently living in Fort Collins, Colorado where he recently graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Media Communications. Tony will be leading the media team on their 2019 tour.
Tony started in music when he marched for the Loveland High School Crimson Regiment marching band and continued to be involved with music through his membership as a sousaphone player for the CSU Marching Band and the CSU Pep Bands, as well as his time with Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national men’s music fraternity.
Tony started touring with the Blue Knights Drums & Bugle Corps in 2016 summer season, and has stayed with Ascend Performing Arts through the last few years. Tony even traveled to Bahrain with the Blue Knights as a contra player in the Blue Knights-Bahrain performance ensemble and again with the Blue Knights Percussion Ensemble on their trip to WGI Finals in 2018 as a photographer. He is incredibly excited to continue working with Ascend Performing Arts and the Blue Knights for the upcoming season.
Kayle Koberowski will be returning to the Blue Knights as a Media Producer for the 2019 season!
Kayle currently resides in Denton, Texas and is a graduate of the University of North Texas with a Bachelors in Interdisciplinary Art and Design and a minor in Photojournalism/Advertising.
Kayle has worked with the College of Music for various freelance projects, including concerts & events. She has also been a photographer for the Green Brigade marching band for the past two years.
Kayle has been very active in the music community for the past nine years. Her drum corps career began in 2015 where she marched on Euphonium with Genesis Drum and Bugle Corps. She began her transition to media in 2016 as a media intern for the Blue Knights, then returned as a media producer for 2017 and has been with the Blue Knights since. Kayle has also served as an active member and officer in the Denton Alumnae chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota, a music fraternity for women.
Kayle is extremely excited to be touring & creating various content for the Blue Knights this summer!
Masora Fukuda will be returning to the Blue Knights as a Media Producer for the 2019 season!
Coming from Japan three years ago, and after finishing two years of marching band and winter percussion program at Homestead High School in California, Masora picked up a camera for the first time in her life. Ever since, she found her passion in film production and marching arts photography.
She has toured with the Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets in Summer 2017 as a media intern and last year with Blue Knights Drum & Bugle Corps. She decided to come back this summer to Blue Knights after finishing her WGI season with RCC Indoor Percussion as a member in their movement ensemble.
As a freelance filmmaker in Hollywood, she wants to capture every tiny bits of what this is about and tell people outside of this community to start appreciating the marching arts.
Aubrey LeWarne will be joining the Blue Knights as a Media Producer for the 2019 season!
Aubrey LeWarne is a freelance photographer and media producer from Hillsboro, Oregon.
They have worked for numerous clients as an event, wedding, portrait photographer and media specialist. This will be Aubrey‘s first year on staff with the Blue Knights Drum & Bugle Corps, and their second year doing media for DCI.
Davis Bonner will be returning to the Blue Knights as a Media Producer for the 2019 season!
Davis is an award-winning filmmaker and photojournalist from Colorado now working and living in Los Angeles. Within the film industry, Davis works as a Director of Photography, Assistant Camera, Drone Operator, and Gaffer on projects that have taken him all over the world. Whether it’s a commercial or feature film, he loves visual storytelling and is excited to bring that aspect to the Blue Knights.
Outside of film production, Davis works as a photojournalist and photographer in addition to attending Colorado State University remotely as a photojournalism major. After graduating, he plans on attending graduate school at the American Film Institute in LA to further his education in the industry. In addition to long walks on the beach, Davis also loves skiing, listening to vinyl, and taking things apart just for fun. He’s excited to work with the Blue Knights for his second year and looks forward to joining the corps on tour.
Caroldean Neves will be returning to the Blue Knights as the Merchandise Manager for the 2019 season!
Caroldean Neves is from Alpine, Utah. She has been married for 31 years to Victor Neves, a middle school band director and owner/designer of Bandtek Drill Design.
She is the mother of 6 children, all who play baritone and tuba. She is the ultimate band/guard/choir mom if you ask her to do something she will make it happen, even if it is for another group. She has been nicknamed, “Caroldean our Queen” by the Wasatch Independent Winter Guard. During the Fall Band and Winter Guard seasons, she can be found at competitions many times with her sewing machine or at least a needle and thread.
Caroldean got her start with drum corps by sewing for Phantom Regiment in 1988. She fit uniforms and drove for the Battalion for their first 3 years. She has been on the Corps Encore Show Committee since the mid-1990s. This is her second year helping with Blue Knights after driving a support van last year. In her spare time, she studies Secondary Science Education at Western Governors University with the hope to teach science in two years.
Sarah Anderson will be returning to the Blue Knights as a Merchandise Assistant for the 2019 season!
Sarah Anderson has been involved with the Blue Knights and Ascend Performing Arts since 2014 as an age out of the color guard. She was a Media Intern in 2015 and continued on the Admin team every summer since then. She is a strong advocate of the arts and loves traveling and the Blue Knights way of doing drum corps.In 2019, Sarah will be joining the Blue Knights merchandise team. She has been recently working in wholesale merchandising and sales, and cannot wait to join this world of summer band we all choose to adventure in. Each summer journey has been amazing, she says, and being able to contribute to such a successful organization is significant.
Karena Crawford will be joining the Blue Knights as a Merchandise Assistant for the 2019 season!
Karena Crawford is from Forney, Texas and is currently a sophomore at Texas A&M University Commerce, pursuing her Bachelors Degree in Music Education Degree.
This is Karena’s first year going on tour, and she is very excited to join the marketing team in hopes to make this season the best one yet!
Brett Comer will be returning to the Blue Knights as a Merchandise Coordinator for the 2019 season!
Brett is an avid Drum Corps fan who grew up in Barrington, RI but now continuously tours with multiple big top circuses and arena shows. He has helped manage front-of-house, merchandising, and concessions operations for several production companies including Cavalia, Feld Entertainment, and Cirque du Soleil. He is currently a Merchandise Supervisor on the touring big top show “VOLTA”.Brett will help support the BK Marketplace and Merchandise Team as they prepare to return to Denver for the “Drums Along the Rockies” show and begin the Texas leg of the DCI Tour.
To learn more about the Blue Knights 2019 tour, visit HERE!