RF EDUCATION TEAM

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 Louie is originally from Old Bridge, New Jersey and has been involved in the marching arts since 2007. He found his passion for cymbals with GMU Indoor in 2012 and has been hooked to the instrument ever since. Garrett continued his marching career with the Oregon Crusaders, Spirit of Atlanta, and Rhythm X.

After aging out, Garrett has had the pleasure of being a cymbal technician at many organizations including Shadow Drum and Bugle Corps, Old Bridge High School, Rhythm X, and Rhythmic Force. Garrett holds a B.S. in Biology from George Washington University and is a sales professional within the SaaS/E-commerce industry. Currently, Garrett resides in Austin, TX where he is an avid runner, mediocre home cook, and consumer of fantasy novels.

Conrad Isenhour is joining Rhythmic Force for the first time for the 2023 season as the Visual Coordinator. Conrad resides in Austin, Texas and works as a marching arts instructor, designer, consultant and adjudicator across the state and country. He is the Visual Caption Manager for the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum & Bugle Corps and is a visual and brass instructor, choreographer, and movement specialist for multiple high achieving marching band programs in the central Texas area including Westlake HS, Cedar Ridge HS, and Vandegrift HS. He held a similar role for the Claudia Taylor “Lady Bird” Johnson High School Marching Band in San Antonio for more than a decade. In his time at CTJ, the band has been a BOA regional and super regional champion, a Grand National finalist and a UIL State medalist and champion.

He was previously a member of the consistent WGI World Class Finalist Monarch Independent Percussion visual team where he coordinated the movement and choreography program. He was the Visual Caption Head and choreographer for 5points Percussion, where he helped lead the ensemble to two WGI Open Class Finals appearances, was a visual staff member for the WGI silver medalist Crossmen Winds, and as a visual designer was fortunate enough to be part of the Cypress Lakes HS Indoor Drumline’s TCGC gold medal in Scholastic AA class and bronze medal in Scholastic A class.

Conrad’s prior DCI teaching experience includes being the Visual Caption Manager and Lead Brass Choreographer of The Crossmen Drum & Bugle Corps, being a member of the Boston Crusaders brass staff, the Blue Stars visual staff, the Cadets visual staff where he led the movement and choreography program for the hornline and battery, and the Crossmen brass staff.

Conrad holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from The University of Texas at San Antonio where he also studied film, dance, and music. As a performer, Conrad spent his time marching baritone for The Crossmen and The Santa Clara Vanguard.

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.

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!

Scott Lowe is originally from Rockport, Texas and graduated from Texas State University in 2015 with a degree in Music Performance. During his time there, he performed in various ensembles including the steel band, percussion ensembles, and the Texas State Wind Symphony. Scott’s marching percussion experience includes performing and serving as section leader with the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps, Texas State Indoor Drumline, and Teatro Indoor Percussion. He has also played drum set for groups at the Austin-based music festival, South by Southwest (SXSW).

As an educator, Scott has served as a private lesson teacher and percussion director in the Austin area. He has also assisted multiple programs in central Texas as a marching percussion instructor. He joined the Rhythmic Force music staff in 2018 and has assisted with battery and front ensemble instruction. Scott currently serves as the Director of Percussion at Pieper High School in San Antonio, TX and is on the audio staff for the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps.

Tyler McClendon was born and raised in Leander, TX and attended Leander High School. Tyler is a 2015 graduate of Texas State University with a Bachelor’s of Music in Music Education. While at Texas State, Tyler was active in many performing ensembles including the Wind Symphony, Symphonic Winds, Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Panoramic Steel Band, and University Percussion Ensemble. Tyler also performed 3 semesters with the Bobcat Marching Band, and served as Snare Captain in 2012. He also serves on staff annually at the Texas State University Percussion camps as the Drumline Coordinator.

Tyler comes with both DCI and WGI experience, marching with Genesis Drum and Bugle Corps in 2011 and with the Texas State University WGI Indoor Drumline in 2012.

In public education, Tyler has served as Assistant Band Director and Percussion Director at Canton High School in Canton, TX, Tivy High School in Kerrville, TX, and currently serves as Percussion Director at Pflugerville High School in Pflugerville, TX. His accolades include many “Best Percussion” awards as well as taking the Tivy Marching Band to State Contest in 2019.

In WGI, Tyler has served as front ensemble staff for Monarch Independent in 2016 and 2017, and currently serves the battery staff at Rhythmic Force Percussion since 2018. Both groups have consistently made Open and World class finals in their respective years.

In DCI, Tyler is currently the Battery Caption Head at Genesis Drum and Bugle Corps.

His professional affiliations include Texas Music Educators Association, Salyers Percussion, Texas Bandmasters Association, and the Percussive Arts Society.

Mikey Sheeran began his career at Cedar Ridge High School, where he decided to go study Music Education at Texas State University, graduating in May of 2018. Mikey was a founding member and the first Snare section leader and Percussion Captain of the Guardians Drum and Bugle Corps in 2013. He then marched with Genesis Drum and Bugle Corps, Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps and aged out with the Crossmen Drum in Bugle Corps.

In the Indoor scene, Mikey marched two years of Imperial Percussion Theater, and was a founding Member of Monarch Independent where he marched three consecutive seasons aging out as the Ensemble Captain. Mikey was on the Guardians Drum and Bugle corps Percussion Staff from 2018 – 20. He was on the Percussion Staff at Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps in 2022. Mikey has been on the Rhythmic Force Staff since 2018. Currently Mikey is the Percussion Director at Westwood High School in Round Rock Texas.

Mikey is endorser by Vic Firth, Zildjian, Encore Mallets and Evans Drumheads.

Christian is a resident of Houston, Texas and a current student at the University of Houston. He is finishing up his degree in instrumental music education and has experience performing with the school’s wind ensemble, symphony orchestra, percussion ensemble, steel band, and world renowned “Spirit of Houston” marching band. Christian has had the opportunity to perform in Drum Corps International with the Phantom Regiment, and WGI Percussion with Monarch Independent. 

His teaching experience includes numerous high school percussion programs in the Houston area, and independent groups as well. Christian also served as the former percussion caption head at Compass Drum and Bugle Corps during their 2021 season. In 2022, he served as a bass technician for the Louisiana Stars. He is extremely excited to be a part of the bass drum staff at Rhythmic Force and plans to bring wonderful pedagogy and experiences for the students!
Outside of the activity, Christian enjoys spending time with his labradoodle, Piper. 

Nathan Zamora currently serves as the Percussion Director for Hendrickson High School and Kelly Lane Middle School in Pflugerville, Tx. He joined the RF staff during the 2020 season of “Dissolving Boundaries”.

Nathan attended The University of Texas at Austin earning a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education. While at The University of Texas, he was a member of the Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Opera, Wind Symphony, Symphony Band, Percussion Ensemble, Longhorn Band, and Marimba Band. Alongside Dr. Tiffany Galus he helped pioneer the UT LIVE! Livestreams, creating graphics, and leading the videography.

He studied percussion under Dr. Thomas Burritt & Tony Edwards, both world-renowned artists, and performers. He was a member of the 2016 PAS International Percussion Ensemble Competition winning collegiate ensemble with The University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Zamora studied conducting under Jerry Junkin, Dr. Tiffany Galus, and Dr. Scott Hanna. He was also a member of the Guardians Drum Corps Front Ensemble and has performed with the Austin Symphony Orchestra and the Cedar Park Winds.

Nathan has worked with different programs such as Westlake HS, John Paul Stevens HS, Austin High, and The Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders. He also helps lead and photograph the annual UT Conducting Workshop in Austin, Texas.

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 had the privilege and honor of being a designer, educator, and clinician for both indoor and outdoor ensembles across the country where his clients have earned State Championships, State Finalists and BOA Regional, Super Regional Class Championships as well as Finalists, BOA Grand National Finalists and WGI Regional & World Championship Finalists. He has worked with groups such as Round Rock High School, Murray High School, Pinecrest Cadence Academy, Reeths-Puffer High School, Pelham High School, Westwood High School, Audio Theater, Rhythmic Force Percussion, and many more. He has 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 Leander, Texas with his dog Nia and teaches at Vista Ridge High School, Georgetown High School, McNeil High School, and Rhythmic Force Percussion.