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Visual Staff
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James Gow
James Gow is a Southern California native with years of experience as a visual instructor, designer, and choreographer
As a visual designer, James has worked with Southwind Drum and Bugle Corps (2017-2018) and The Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps (2018-2022) and serves as the drill designer and choreographer for multiple high school programs across the country. He also designs visual programs for scholastic and independent winter drumlines and is currently a choreographer and visual instructor for WGI gold medalist, Broken City Percussion.
James serves as the current visual caption head and choreographer for BOA semi-finalist Vista Murrieta HS. He has been a member of the visual staff for the Sacramento Mandarins (2011), The Cadets (2012), and The Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps (2013-2018).
James Gow
Co-Caption Head
Zak Stillwell
Zak Stillwell is a full-time visual designer, instructor, and clinician based out of the San Francisco Bay Area. His pageantry career spans two decades, with performance and instructional credits in the world’s top marching ensembles.
From 2008-2011, Stillwell was a performer and soloist with the Concord Blue Devils. Upon aging out, he continued within the organization as an instructor for the ‘A,’ ‘B,’ and ‘C’ corps. Zak’s work as a designer and caption head with the Blue Devils ‘B’ Corps helped elevate them from perennial Open Class contender to two Top 15 World Class finishes in 2014 and 2016. As an instructor and performer, Stillwell has helped earn seven DCI World Championships and best visual awards. Since 2019, Zak has served as the visual caption head for the Blue Knights. In 2022, he concurrently worked with Pacific Crest as their drill designer.
Outside of the drum corps activity, Zak works as an instructor and designer with many award-winning high school marching bands. Some of the groups he has had the pleasure of working with include James Logan HS, Homestead HS (Cupertino), and Amador Valley HS. His design work for WGI percussion ensembles is regularly featured in World Class finals. Notable percussion clients include Homestead HS (Cupertino), Etiwanda HS, and Leigh HS.
Zak is incredibly fortunate to have grown up learning from and working with many of the greatest minds in the marching arts. In addition to his pageantry experience, Stillwell studied music education and euphonium performance at the University of Arizona, under the instruction of Dr. Kelly Thomas.
Zak Stillwell
Co-Caption Head
Marcelino Nambo
Currently residing in the Portland area, 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
Assistant Caption Head
Brianna Gier
Brianna Gier is a Visual Designer, Choreographer, and instructor based out of Northern California. Brianna’s drum corps career begin in 2017, marching trumpet at the Blue Devils B Drum and Bugle Corps. In 2022 Brianna joined the Blue Devils B Drum and Bugle Corps visual staff.
Since 2017, Brianna has worked with Homestead High School, Foothill High School, and many other High School bands in Northern California as a Designer, Marching/Movement Instructor, and Choreographer. During the winter seasons, Brianna is currently a visual instructor at Thesis Percussion, Design and visual staff for Leigh High School, and a choreography and movement consultant for various high school percussion ensembles in Northern California.
Brianna Gier
Visual Instructor
Charlotte Alegado
Charlotte Alegado is a rising instructor and visual designer based out of East Bay, California.
She is currently an instructor for the Blue Devils ‘B’ Drum and Bugle corps, and for the James
Logan HS Marching Band and Color Guard. Before teaching, Charlotte was a performer of the
Blue Devils ‘B’ Drum and Bugle corps in 2018, served as a section leader in 2019, and earned
the ‘Visual MVP’ award.
Charlotte is also an instructor for world class percussion groups such as Thesis Percussion and
James Logan HS. This upcoming indoor season, she will be serving as the Visual Designer for
the inaugural season of Lynbrook HS, as well as instructing at Saratoga HS. She was also a
performer at Vessel Indoor Percussion in 2020.
Charlotte completed her B.S. in Hospitality and Tourism Management with a minor in Music from
San Francisco State University in 2021. Although holding this degree, she plans on starting her
journey in obtaining her M.A. in Music Education in the near future.
Charlotte Alegado
Visual Instructor
Connery Dudley
Connery Dudley joins the Mandarins visual staff from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where he works as a cook in his daily life. He started his music career as a trumpet player, receiving multiple scholarships before switching to euphonium and then tuba – which is his main instrument to this day.
As a performer, Connery marched with the Calgary Stampede Showband from 2017 to 2019, touring and competing across the United States and Western Europe. He then went on to join the Blue Knights from 2020 to 2022.
Currently, Connery is a visual instructor with the Calgary Stampede Showband and is looking forward to continue teaching this year with The Mandarins.
Connery Dudley
Visual Instructor
Evan Perez
A native of Southern California, Evan is an active visual instructor and musician. His performance experience spans across a variety of ensembles such as the RCC Marching Tigers, Dark Sky Percussion, and the Blue Devils. Since aging out with the Blue Devils, he he has had the privilege of working at multiple schools including Homestead High School, James Logan High School, and Chino Hills High School among the many.
Evan has always been drawn towards the beauty of mathematics and music. Naturally, drum corps was the perfect channel to express his passion for both. He attributes some of his success to his instructors and emphasizes the importance of paying it forward. He is dedicated to passing on his passion and knowledge to future generations.
He studied Applied Mathematics at UC San Diego and now works in the intelligence field.
Evan Perez
Visual Instructor
Josh Dawes
Josh Dawes
Visual Instructor
Kendall Holt
Kendall is originally from Flower Mound, TX, but currently resides in New Braunfels, TX where she works as a middle school band director.
She attended Oklahoma State University and received a Bachelor’s in Music Education, studying horn under Professor Lanetter Lopez Compton.
Since landing her first job, Kendall has been able to work with the New Braunfels HS Mighty Unicorn Band as a visual instructor for their 2022 production.
Kendall’s marching experience includes the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle corps from 2018 to 2021. After aging out, she worked on the Blue Knights visual staff in 2022.
Kendall is extremely excited to join the Mandarins staff and is looking forward to the 2023 season.
Kendall Holt
Visual Instructor
Kyle Cleven
Kyle is a young visual instructor based in Boise, Idaho. He started his marching career in the Foothill High School Marching Band from Henderson, Nevada. He then went on to march Pacific Crest and later aged out with the Blue Knights.
He began teaching at Liberty High School and Silverado High School in Las Vegas. After moving to Boise he now works with Timberline High School and Capital High School. He is also Visual Co-Caption head at the Armada Percussion Ensemble. He currently attends the College of Western Idaho where he is pursuing a degree in Exercise Science. He plans on using his degree to continue teaching marching band as well as yoga.
Kyle Cleven
Visual Instructor
Meg Wilkinson
Meaghan Wilkinson is a visual instructor based out of Colorado Springs, CO. Originally from Southern California, she began her drum corps career in 2014, marching Baritone with Pacific Crest Drum & Bugle Corps through 2015. She spent 2016-2017 performing with The Academy Drum & Bugle Corps and aged out with The Santa Clara Vanguard Drum & Bugle Corps in 2019.
Meaghan has 7+ years of experience as an instructor and has had the opportunity to work with highly competitive programs across the SoCal region, including Vista Murrieta HS and Etiwanda HS. Her drum corps teaching experience includes Gold Drum & Bugle Corps and The Blue Knights Drum & Bugle Corps
Meaghan graduated with her B.A. in English from the University of California, Riverside in 2019. She is currently studying to become a Physical Therapist Assistant and will graduate from her program in the Spring of 2024.
Meg Wilkinson
Visual Instructor
Nano Trueba
Nano currently resides in San Diego as a computer science student and visual instructor. He started his teaching career at Clovis North and Buchanan High School and now works with the Rancho Bernardo High School Marching Band.
Nano Trueba
Visual Instructor
Ryan Lee
Ryan has worked with more than thirty-five competitive programs at the middle school, high school,
collegiate and independent levels in California, Colorado and Hawaii. He regularly designs, consults and
provides clinics for marching bands, indoor percussion ensembles and winter guards throughout the
year.
Ryan feels fortunate to have been on the same staffs as, and continues to learn from, some of the
brightest educators/designers/judges in DCI, WGI & BOA. Lee has multiple ties with the Sacramento
Mandarins organization, as a visual instructor for the drum corps since 2021, visual designer for their
indoor winds group and program director for the Mandarins Music Academy – which serves over forty
Northern California elementary schools, and one thousand students, with instrumental music classes.
In the judging world, Ryan has served as a Chief Judge, Lead Visual Caption Judge & has been on several
circuit, regional & state championship event panels across the country. He is an adjudicator for Bands of
America, Western Band Association, USBands and many more circuits in the fall. During the indoor
season, he judges Design Analysis/General Effect (Guard), Visual/Effect Visual (Percussion) and Visual
Analysis (Winds).
As an in-demand marching arts instructor, his groups have earned consistent high visual performance
awards, state titles and have been BOA Regional Finalists & Class Champions. Other affiliations include
being a former guest on the Marching Roundtable Podcast, featured in Halftime Magazine and a
member of the Winter Leadership Committee for the Northern California Band Association. He also
helped co-teach the Marching Band Methods course at California State University, Sacramento, teaching
music education majors the fundamentals of visual design, and how to use Pyware. He enjoys attending
hip-hop/contemporary dance workshops, and currently lives in Sacramento, CA with his wife Kourtney &
Chihuahua, Stuart.
