RF EDUCATION TEAM

Coordinators

Jordan Garza

Ensemble Director

Ryan Pride

Battery Coordinator

Garrett Mayfield

Front Ensemble Coordinator

Stone Wang

Visual Coordinator

Jordan Garza is going into his fourth year as the Ensemble Director for Rhythmic Force Percussion. He is also the newest addition to the band staff at McNeil High School! Under his direction, Rhythmic Force was a WGI PIO World Championship finalist in 2018 and 2019. Jordan’s varied and successful background with percussion ensemble, electronics, marching band, and indoor percussion provides a strong foundation for the current vision of his percussion programs. Mr. Garza is endorsed by the educational programs of Marimba One, Innovative Percussion, Evans Drum Heads and is an active clinician, percussion arranger and instructor across Texas.

Prior to the year 2020, he was the Associate Director of Bands and Percussion Director at Weiss High School. In 2017, Weiss was named the Bands of America class A Champion, during their first year of existence. In 2018, Weiss HS was one of the youngest schools to ever place in finals at a Band’s of America Super Regional and named the Grand Champion of the Vista Ridge Marching Festival. In 2019 the Weiss HS Percussion Ensemble won the Outstanding Front Ensemble Caption in the large division of the Brandies South Texas Classic. Prior to living in Austin, TX Jordan resided in Houston TX, where he was the Percussion Director at the nationally recognized, Stephen F. Austin HS and was the Ensemble Director at Monarch Independent for the 2017 season. During his time in FBISD, Mr. Garza led the Stephen F. Austin percussion ensemble to multiple championship performances with the Bulldog Band and Angels Dance Team, including the first place finish at UIL Area in 2016. Under his direction the SFA Percussion Ensemble performed a showcase at the 2016 Texas Music Educators Association Convention.

Mr. Garza holds a bachelor’s degree in Music Education (Instrumental Emphasis) from Texas State University. During his tenure at Texas State, he was the section leader of the Bobcat Drumline and the Principal Percussionist of the Texas State Wind Ensemble. If free time presents itself, Jordan subs with the Austin Symphony Orchestra, enjoys a good spin class and walks with his new doggie pal Theo. Mr. Garza brings his vision into reality through performance, teamwork and excellence in musicianship.

Ryan Pride is currently the Percussion Director and Assistant Band Director at McCallum High School and an active performer in the greater Austin, TX area. He has held positions at Georgia Institute of Technology, Lassiter High School, Katy High School, and Morton Ranch High School. Ryan began his corps teaching experience in 2007 for the Crossmen Drum & Bugle Corps and has since held a variety of roles for various groups, including Memphis Sound, Forte, and the Glassmen. He joined the staff at Phantom Regiment in 2015 and has served in multiple positions, including front ensemble instructor and Battery Coordinator. He has also worked with WGI groups Odyssey Percussion Theatre, Terminus Atlanta Percussion, Austin Independent, Gateway Independent, and Rise Percussion as both a battery and front ensemble instructor.

As a performer, Ryan has performed with various symphonies and ensembles in Texas, Georgia, and Colorado and has toured most of the United States and western Europe. In addition to teaching and performing, Ryan is an active composer and arranger and has written for many programs in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. Ryan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Texas State University and a Master’s in Percussion Performance with certificates in Music Theory and in College Teaching from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He is endorsed by Zildjian, Innovative Percussion, is an Honorary Member of Kappa Kappa Psi, and is a member of the Percussive Arts Society, Texas Music Educators Association, and Texas Bandmaster’s Association. You can learn more about Ryan’s work at Pridepercussion.com. He lives in Austin, TX with his wife, Dr. Katie Harper, their son, Emerson, and dogs Rachmaninoff and Charlie.

Garrett Mayfield is a percussion educator, arranger, and performer in the Central Texas area. He is currently pursuing his Music Education degree at Texas State University and has studied with Kari Klier.

As an educator Garrett has worked with many award-winning programs in the Austin area such as Cedar Ridge High School, Churchill High School, and Moe & Gene Johnson High School. In 2016 he traveled abroad to be the Ensemble Coordinator at European X for their inaugural appearance at the WGI World Champions.

Garrett’s performing experience includes the Crossmen Drum & Bugle Corps (2009/2010) and the Bluecoats Drum & Bugle Corps (2013/2014) where he was a member of the Front Ensemble. This will be Garrett’s third and most involved season with Rhythmic Force to date.

Stone Wang is a Texas native who grew up in Houston, Texas. He currently teaches at Walsh Middle School in Round Rock, Texas.

Mr. Wang attended The University of Texas at Austin where he studied Horn under Pat Hughes and received his Bachelor degree in Music Studies.

Stone has several years of experience performing and teaching in the marching arts. After aging out with the Santa Clara Vanguard, he has spent the last two seasons working as a brass technician at Phantom Regiment and as a movement consultant at Guardians Drum and Bugle Corps.

Stone has been working closely with Rhythmic Force since the 2019 WGI competitive season as a choreographer and visual technician, and looks forward to continue growing the organization as the visual coordinator. He’s excited to share his passion for music and movement with the performers of Rhythmic Force.

Battery Staff

Ryan Pride

Battery Coordinator

Daniel Sharp

Tenor Instructor

Brandon Blankenstein

Bass Instructor

Jacob Gall

Battery Consultant

Kyle Huddleston

Tenor Instructor

Scott Lowe

Assistant Battery Coordinator

TJ Goss

Tenor Instructor

Richard Hensley

Tenor Instructor

Frank Jacobo

Cymbals Instructor

The 2021 season marks Jacob Gall’s thirteenth year as a Cadet instructor. He is excited and humbled to return for another season with The Cadets. In most recent history, Jacob was an integral part of the percussion staff that shaped and refined the performance of the DCI World-Champion percussion section in the summer of 2013. In the summer of 2012, Jacob was selected as Staff Member of the Year. Prior to teaching The Cadets, he was a member of the snare line for three years under the direction of Tom Aungst and Colin McNutt. In 2007, Jacob earned a distinguished service award, and in 2008 as the battery section leader, was awarded Cadet of the Year. Before marching with The Cadets, Jacob marched snare for the Crossmen in the summer of 2005, and marched tenors for the Jersey Surf in the summer of 2002.

Jacob hails from Richmond, Virginia where he was raised in a musical family of six. Growing up, Jacob had the privilege of learning from his father, a band director of thirty-one years, and his mother, an active performer as a singer and guitarist. From an early age, Jacob’s passion was inherently centered around playing, teaching, writing, and performing music. With the experience he gained as a musician under the tutelage of his father, Jacob’s passion led him to choose a life of music.

Setting his sights on becoming a band director, Jacob attended the Pennsylvania State University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Music Education with an instrumental emphasis in percussion. During Jacob’s studies at PSU (2005-2010), he was an active performer both on and off campus. Notable classical performance venues include Juniata College (Huntington, PA), Heinz Hall (Pittsburgh, PA), the Kimmel Center (Philadelphia, PA) and the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.). In addition to his classical studies at Penn State, Jacob also marched five consecutive seasons in the Penn State Blue Band, where he served as the drum captain his final three years. Also while studying at Penn State, Jacob was awarded the Eleanor Beane Scholarship for outstanding performance on marimba, and the Performer’s Recognition Certificate.

Following his undergraduate studies, Jacob continued his education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (2010-2012) and graduated with a Master’s Degree in percussion performance. During his two years at UMASS, he served as a graduate teaching assistant to professor Thom Hannum. In addition to teaching marching percussion techniques, Jacob performed regularly in the top UMASS Marimba Band. It was during Jacob’s first year performing in the Marimba Band that the ensemble received the prestigious Downbeat Magazine Jazz Showcase Award. While Jacob’s teaching position was in the area of marching percussion and his degree emphasis was in classical percussion, his performance and teaching schedule was highly diverse on a day-to-day basis. As an extension of Jacob’s classical performance experience, he was selected by his studio professor, Ayano Kataoka, to perform chamber music in the McCormick Marimba Festival at the University of South Florida (January of 2012), and the Bard College Chamber Music Performance in Annadale-on-Hudson, NY (February of 2012)

Currently, Jacob resides in Austin, Texas where he serves as the Director of Percussion for Glenn High School in the Leander Independent School District. Before moving to Austin, Jacob lived in Dallas, Texas where he served as the Director of Percussion for Wakeland High School in the Frisco Independent School District. Prior to Jacob’s appointment in Frisco, he was employed by Bloomsburg University where he served as percussion studio professor, marching band director, and lecturer of world music. Before teaching at Bloomsburg University, Jacob was a middle school band director in Stafford County, Virginia.

Mr. Daniel Sharp is currently in his 9th year teaching, and is in his 3rd year as the Percussion Director at Akins High School in South Austin. Prior to Akins Mr. Sharp taught at Jourdanton HS (2016-2018) and Kerr MS/Burleson Centennial HS (2012 – 2016).

Mr. Sharp’s percussionists have enjoyed success in many facets of the percussion world. His students from Kerr Middle School won WGI Scholastic Open Class with Burleson Centennial High School in 2017, and finished in 6th place in WGI Scholastic World Class in 2018 & 2019. The Jourdanton High School Percussion Section went undefeated in the Fall of 2016 and 2017, and performed in the Lila Cockrell Theater as part of the 2018 TMEA Honor Band. Akins HS won both Thunder in the Hills (Dripping Springs) and South Texas Classic (Brandeis) Drumline Contests in 2019.

Mr. Sharp graduated from Texas State University in San Marcos with a bachelors degree in Music Education in 2011. He marched AI Indoor Drumline in 2006 & 2007, and the Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps in 2007 and 2009. Mr. Sharp has taught tenors at Revolution Drum and Bugle Corps (2012), 5Points Percussion (2017), and Rhythmic Force (2018, 2019 & 2020).

Originally from Scotland, Mr. Sharp moved to Central Texas in 2001. His family has since moved back to Scotland, but the high level of music education and community support in Texas has kept Mr. Sharp here for good. He is thrilled to be back at Rhythmic Force this season!

RJ Hensley is a senior at Texas State University studying music education. During his time there he has performed in various percussion ensembles, Wind Symphony, and Symphony Orchestra. He also joined the Texas Army National Guard band in 2016 and graduated from the Army School of Music in the summer of 2019.

RJ started his WGI/DCI career with Genesis Drum and Bugle Corps in the summer of 2013 and concluded it with marching Vigilantes Indoor Percussion in 2018.

Over the past 3 years he has taught private lessons and worked with the Leander High School Marching Band as a battery technician. This will be his first season on staff with an independent ensemble.

He is excited to be given the opportunity to work alongside some of the best educators in the greater Austin area.

Brandon is the Assistant Band Director and Percussion Director at Harker Heights HS in Killeen ISD. His marching experience includes Music City Mystique, Spirit of Atlanta Drum Corps, Music City Drum Corps, and Clarksville Audio Theater.

He has taught at Music City Drum Corps and Southwind Drum Corps and is excited to begin his third season with Rhythmic Force.

He received his BM in Music Education from the University of Tennessee at Martin. While there he studied percussion under Dr. Julie Hill, as well as visiting professors: Dr. Dan Heagney, Dr. Dan Piccolo, and Dr. Josh Smith.

Brandon is a proud endorser of Innovative Percussion sticks and mallets.

Frank is an alumnus of Texas State University where he received his Bachelors in Music Education in 2018. Frank is currently in his third year as the Assistant Band Director/ Percussion Coordinator of Copperas Cove High School in Copperas Cove, TX.

Frank began playing cymbals as a member of Teatro Indoor Percussion in 2014, ageing out of DCI with Seattle Cascades Drum and Bugle Corp in 2015, and WGI with Monarch Independent Percussion in 2016.

As an educator, Frank has been and is currently on the battery staff with DCI Open Class Finalist, The Guardians Drum and Bugle Corp, working with the cymbal line since 2016. He was on staff during the 2017 WGI season working with the cymbal line for the WGI Open Class Finalist, 5points, from San Antonio, TX and has been on percussion staff with Rhythmic Force since 2018.

Frank is currently endorsed by Salyers Percussion.

Front Ensemble Staff

Garrett Mayfield

Front Ensemble Coordinator

Robert Lopez

Front Ensemble Consultant

Paul Downing

Front Ensemble Instructor

Visual Staff

Stone Wang

Visual Coordinator

Blake Patton

Visual Instructor

Ryan Oster

Visual Instructor

Ryan Thornton

Visual Instructor / Choreography

Corrie Bird

Visual Instructor

Ryan Oster is a graduate from the University of North Texas with a degree in Music Education and current Assistant Director of Bands in Jarrell ISD. While at UNT, he was in numerous concert ensembles, athletic bands, the afro-cuban ensemble, the 7 and 9 o’clock lab bands, and the 8 o’clock steel drum ensemble. He also served as coordinator and section leader in the Green Brigade marching band and conductor of the basketball and volleyball bands.

Ryan’s DCI affiliations include performing in the Madison Scouts (2015-2017) and being a visual staff member with the Madison Scouts (2017-2019) and the Crossmen (2019-Present). In WGI, Ryan has worked as a music/visual educator with Vigilantes Indoor Percussion (2017-2019) and Azle High School Indoor Winds and Percussion (2017-2019).

In his spare time he loves to spend time with family and friends, go outdoors, and travel. Ryan is excited to join the Rhythmic Force team as a visual staff member!

Originally born in San Jose, California, Ryan Thornton graduated from The Woodlands High School in 2015, a consistent Bands of America and Texas UIL State finalist earning multiple championships at BOA Conroe, BOA San Antonio, and BOA Grand Nationals.

Thornton pursued a performance career in Drum Corps International. He spent his first season in 2015 with Crossmen Drum and Bugle corps as a baritone and mellophone player. He was later contracted by the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps Color Guard in 2018 and earned a Silver Medal at DCI Finals.

Thornton began teaching as an Assistant Instructor at Cypress Springs HS and Cypress Park HS in 2017-2018. He then moved to Austin, TX in 2018 and started his directing career at John B. Connally HS as the Color Guard Director, guiding them to win a State Championship title in the Texas Color Guard Circuit. The following year, he assumed the Program Coordinator role for Connally for their 2019 marching season. He also assists with the Vista Ridge HS Band and Color Guard, who were named State Champions at the 2018 6A Texas State UIL Marching Band Championship.

Zach Santos graduated from Round Rock High School in 2014. He attended the University of Texas at Austin where he received his bachelor’s degree in music studies in 2018. While attending UT he earned his trumpet performance certificate from the Sarah and Ernest Butler school of Music, and his business foundations certificate from the McCombs School of Business.

Zach is currently one of the associate band directors at Vista Ridge High School in Cedar Park, Texas. His responsibilities include choreographing for the marching band, assisting in rehearsal, and conducting the symphonic and concert bands. Zachs professional experience includes consulting for Rhythmic Force Indoor Percussion and The Guardians Drum and Bugle Corps as well as working as a visual and brass technician for several world class drum corps. Zach has given marching clinics, choreographed, and program coordinated for several high school programs throughout Texas.

His performance experience includes marching with the Guardians (2013), Crossmen (2014), Blue Knights (15-16), and most recently with the world championship Blue Devils (2017). He performed the UT Wind Ensemble under Jerry Junkin, as well as the UT Symphony Orchestra, Wind Symphony, and Symphony Band.

In his free time, he enjoys trying new restaurants, spending time with family and friends, and traveling.

Aljhun Sindiong is from Lafayette, Louisiana. He currently resides in Leander, Texas.

Following high school band, his journey in the marching arts activity took him as a member of Phantom Regiment in 2013. The next summer, he became a performer with Spirit of Atlanta. He went on to perform with the Blue Knights in 2016, and returned for his age-out season in 2017. At BK, he received the Brass Rookie of the Year award, and was also featured in the small ensembles for both productions, “The Great Event” and “i”.

After his career as a performer came to an end, he proceeded to teach at Seattle Cascades in 2018 and Spirit of Atlanta in 2019, both on their visual staffs. Aljhun previously taught at his alma mater, Lafayette High School, a 2-time BOA Grand Nationals Finalist, as a marching technician from 2015-2018. Recently, he worked as a marching technician with the Round Rock High School Band this past fall, where the band earned a Finalist placement at BOA San Antonio and BOA Grand Nationals.

Aljhun enjoys helping others and making a positive impact on them. He is currently on the path of health and wellness, pursuing a career in Massage Therapy and Bodywork.

Corrie Bird received her Bachelors in Music with a focus on instrumental education from Stephen F. Austin State University. While in school, Ms. Bird built her private lesson studio and was very active with teaching masterclasses and strengthening marching leadership teams.

Ms. Bird has comprehensive experience in marching arts instruction within multiple East and Central Texas schools and is currently the assistant band director at Wagner Middle School.

Blake is originally from Owensboro, Kentucky. Since 2008, Blake has been heavily involved in the marching arts. In 2013, he performed with Music City Drum and Bugle Corps from Nashville, Tennessee. He went on to perform with Spirit of Atlanta in 2014 and 2015 and served as section leader in his last year.

Aside from his performing career, Blake has been an active designer and educator for both indoor and outdoor ensembles across the country, earning various State Championships, State Finalists and BOA Regional and Super Regional Class Championships & Finalists. He has worked with groups such as Cab Calloway School of the Arts, Murray High School, Mayfield High School, Reeths-Puffer High School, Greendale High School, Ohio County High School, Pelham High School, Rhythmic Force Percussion, Westwood High School, Round Rock High School and many more. He served on the visual staff at Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps in 2016, Music City Drum and Bugle Corps in both 2017 & 2018 seasons and most recently, with Spirit of Atlanta in 2019.

Blake attended Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky where he studied Graphic Design and Advertising. He currently lives in Austin, Texas with his dog Nia and teaches at Round Rock High School.