

The Mandarins of Sacramento Inc. presents Immortal Winds –
returning for the 2024 indoor season.
Consisting of brass and woodwind instrumentalists, Immortal Winds will entertain musically and visually in arenas across Northern California. Expert instruction by many staff of the Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps will provide an education-based learning experience for local musicians in the Sacramento and Northern California region.
For information on auditions, rehearsals, and performances, follow the Sacramento Mandarins on Facebook and Instagram, join our Immortal Winds Interest Group on Facebook, and check out www.mandarins.org.
If you are unable to attend an audition but would like to join, please contact chrislangtonmusic@gmail.com about video auditions.
Registration coming soon!
Design Staff

Dan Fong
Dan Fong
Mandarins CEO
Director & Arranger

Chris Langton
Chris Langton
Program Director
Music Director

Ryan lee
Ryan lee
Drill & Choreography

Bryan Harmsen
Bryan Harmsen
Sound Designer
Musical Coordination

Aaron Christianson
Aaron Christianson
Theatrical Designer
Instructional Staff

Chris Langton
Music Caption Head – Brass
Chris Langton is a music educator with a wide-ranging list of musical pursuits.
Chris is the Assistant Athletic Band Director for Sacramento State University, and an Elementary Music teacher with the San Juan Unified School District. With a dual-focused bachelor’s degree in Instrumental and Vocal Music Education, and a masters degree in Vocal Performance, Chris draws upon a wide breadth of rich musical experiences in his teaching.
An actively-performing operatic baritone, Chris’ work on the stage directly informs his brass pedagogy. Recent performances have included the role of Leporello in Don Giovanni, and Belcore in Donizetti’s Elixir of Love. Chris is a Mandarins alumnus, and performed on euphonium from 2006-2011 as a member, soloist, and horn sergeant. In 2011, Chris was the recipient of the Joe Fong award for outstanding membership. Following his age-out, Chris worked as a member of the brass staff at the Sacramento Mandarins from 2012-2017, and 2020-2022.
With a pedagogy focused on applying the precision and drama of opera to instrumental performance, Chris is excited to bring his broad, interconnected expertise to the 2022 Winds floor.
Chris Langton
Music Caption Head – Brass

Taylor Sabado
Music Caption Head – Woodwind
Originally from Sacramento, Taylor moved to El Dorado County in 2015 and began her public school teaching career at El Dorado High School as the band and choir director, transferring to Ponderosa High School in 2018. She currently works as an administrative support coordinator for the Sacramento State School of Music. Her performing experience includes a wide variety of ensembles ranging from musicals to drumlines to professional symphonies and more.
Taylor has worked with a variety of Sacramento area youth music programs including Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps and Cantemus Youth Chorus. In 2008, she obtained her certificate in Band Instrument Repair Technology from Renton Technical College. She graduated summa cum laude from Sacramento State in 2014 with a Bachelor of Music degree in basson performance and music education, receiving numerous accolades and scholarships during her time there. She completed her single subject teaching credential in music at Sac State in 2015. In 2018, Taylor was awarded the “Young Band Director of the Year,” award by the Northern California Band Association, and she is currently pursuing her Masters in Music Education at San Jose State University. Taylor is the past-president for the California Music Educators Association, Capitol Section.
Taylor Sabado
Music Caption Head – Woodwinds

Marcelino Nambo
Visual Caption Head
Marcelino Nambo is a Sacramento native with nearly a decade’s worth of instructional experience at the high school level, and 5+ years in DCI.
He began his DCI experience as a baritone player with the Sacramento Mandarins, where he marched for four seasons (2011-2014), the last three of which he was a low brass section leader. For his last two years as a performer (2015-2016), he marched euphonium and trombone for the Blue Devils, of which his first year was a championship winning year for the corps. Throughout his time with both organizations, he was able to learn from great visual instructors, all of whom had a large impact on his approach to teaching today.
He began his instructional experience with Sacramento area high schools in 2014, where he was a visual instructor for both fall and winter programs through the 2017-2018 seasons. In the fall of 2017, he also began teaching in the Bay Area, where he remained through the 2021 fall season with programs like James Logan High School and Homestead High School, which are considered among some of the best visual programs on the west coast. During the last four fall seasons, he was the Visual Caption Head for Homestead High School.
His DCI instruction started with the Blue Devils ‘B’, where he was a visual instructor from 2017 to 2019. The 2018 season was his introduction to World Class, where he briefly helped with the Oregon Crusaders. In 2019, he began his most recent run with the Blue Knights, where he was a visual instructor for the last four years.
He is excited to bring his years of expertise to the Mandarins, the corps where it all began for him!
Marcelino Nambo
Visual Caption Head

Alex Hawvichorst
Alex Hawvichorst is a freelance trumpet player currently active in Reno Nevada. Alex has played in many musical groups including lead trumpet in the Reno Jazz Orchestra, lead trumpet in UNR Lab Band 1, Reno Municipal band, Toccata symphony orchestra, and has led several of his own jazz groups. Alex has also taught visual and music at McQueen High School and Damonte High School where he also served as percussion caption head.
Alex has marched 5 seasons with The Sacramento Mandarins from 2009-2014 as a lead trumpet player and section leader and has won a DCI world championship individual and ensemble award in mixed brass from 2011.
Alex currently holds his bachelor’s degree in Jazz Performance from The University of Nevada, Reno and plans to continue his education for a master’s degree in Trumpet Performance at CSU Sacramento.
Alex Hawvichorst
Music Technician

Beth Crandall
Beth Crandall, originally hailing from New Jersey, received her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Kean University in 2015. In 2017, she moved to Sacramento and integrated herself into the performing arts education community with excitement and enthusiasm.
Beth was the music director at Mills Middle School in Rancho Cordova from 2017 to 2021, tripling the sizes of the school’s band and orchestra classes during that time. In 2022, she stepped into the choir director role at Cordova High School. She currently maintains that position in addition to working as an orchestra director at Mitchell Middle School.
In 2021, Beth began working with Cordova High School’s marching band, the Big Red Music Machine. She is a visual technician and assists with musical direction. She has also worked as a visual tech with Folsom High School (2019) and the BOA Grand Nationals Finalist Bridgewater-Raritan High School band (2015-2016, Bridgewater, NJ).
Beth’s performance experience is widely varied and covers many different fields of music. She spent her childhood playing violin and singing in choirs. In college, she majored in Vocal Performance as well as Saxophone Performance, and was a 3-time member of the New Jersey Intercollegiate Honors Wind Ensemble on bass clarinet and alto saxophone. She marched with Rutgers University’s Marching Scarlet Knights in 2014 and was a member of the Fusion Core drum and bugle corps (DCA) in 2016.
Beth’s focus as an educator is bringing the joy of collective performance to every student, while creating a safe space for students to try, fail, experiment, and ultimately succeed. She looks forward to helping behind the scenes in this way with Immortal Winds in 2024.
Beth Crandall
Administrative Staff/
Music Technician

Jesusalberto Muniz
Jesusalberto Muniz is active marching band technician in the Sacramento area currently instructing for Lodi High School Marching Band and Sacramento State Marching Band.
He marched with the Sacramento Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps as a drum major from 2014-2018 competing in DCI World Finals for the first time in the corps’ history. He has since continued his involvement with the corps on the admin team.
Jesusalberto Muniz
Music Technician

Kaylee Kazee
Kaylee is a student at UC Berkeley from Sacramento, California pursuing a degree in Bioengineering with a concentration in cell and tissue engineering, as well as a music minor. She began her interest in music on Piano and switched to French Horn, which she currently focuses on. She began her marching career at John F Kennedy highschool, continuing in college as a member of the Cal Band. There, she was elected to be the 2022 Student Director, becoming both an educator and performer. She has been a part of the Mandarins Organization since 2019, marching in the drum corps until her age out in 2022.
Kaylee Kazee
Music Technician

Nico Peruzzi
Nico is an alumni of the Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps as well as The Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps. He holds a master’s degree in Music Education from University of the Pacific. Currently, he lives in Sacramento, California where he works as a high school band and orchestra director as well as a marching band music arranger.
Nico Peruzzi
Music Technician

April Gilliam
April Gilliam is a marching arts educator from Long Beach, California, who currently resides in the Bay Area. Their marching arts experience includes two years as a mellophone player with the Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps in 2022 and 2023. April is currently pursuing a B.S. in environmental science at the University of California, Berkeley. In their free time, they enjoy exploring the outdoors and playing the French horn.
April Gilliam
Visual Technician

Cole Rodriguez
Cole Rodriguez
Visual Technician

Ioana Ana
Ioana Ana
Visual Technician

EJ Charles
EJ Charles
Visual Technician
Administrative Staff

Beth Crandall
Beth Crandall, originally hailing from New Jersey, received her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Kean University in 2015. In 2017, she moved to Sacramento and integrated herself into the performing arts education community with excitement and enthusiasm.
Beth was the music director at Mills Middle School in Rancho Cordova from 2017 to 2021, tripling the sizes of the school’s band and orchestra classes during that time. In 2022, she stepped into the choir director role at Cordova High School. She currently maintains that position in addition to working as an orchestra director at Mitchell Middle School.
In 2021, Beth began working with Cordova High School’s marching band, the Big Red Music Machine. She is a visual technician and assists with musical direction. She has also worked as a visual tech with Folsom High School (2019) and the BOA Grand Nationals Finalist Bridgewater-Raritan High School band (2015-2016, Bridgewater, NJ).
Beth’s performance experience is widely varied and covers many different fields of music. She spent her childhood playing violin and singing in choirs. In college, she majored in Vocal Performance as well as Saxophone Performance, and was a 3-time member of the New Jersey Intercollegiate Honors Wind Ensemble on bass clarinet and alto saxophone. She marched with Rutgers University’s Marching Scarlet Knights in 2014 and was a member of the Fusion Core drum and bugle corps (DCA) in 2016.
Beth’s focus as an educator is bringing the joy of collective performance to every student, while creating a safe space for students to try, fail, experiment, and ultimately succeed. She looks forward to helping behind the scenes in this way with Immortal Winds in 2024.
Beth Crandall
Administrative Staff/
Music Technician

Chris Langton
Chris Langton
Program Director
Music Director

Joseph Khalifa
Joseph Khalifa
Marketing Director

Gavriel Sahagon-Wong
Gavriel Sahagon-Wong
Social Media Manager
Performance Schedule
TBD
-
March 3rd
Rosemont High School
-
March 11th
Woodcreek High School
-
March 18th
Antelope High School
-
March 25th
Elk Grove High School
-
March 26th
Sac State Friends and Family Show
-
April 2nd
Rodriguez High School