Performing Ensembles Instructional Staff
Percussion: Shane Nickels
Shane Nickels is a percussionist specializing in rudimental and orchestral percussion. He currently serves in The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps as a snare drum instrumentalist. Before his service, Shane also performed in DCI and other professional groups includingThe Bluecoats, The Troopers, and the Kansas City Chiefs drumline. As an educator, Shane was the battery instructor for The University of Kansas Marching Jayhawks for two years and has given numerous clinics to private studios, high schools, and colleges throughout the country.
In addition to rudimental percussion, Shane is an orchestral percussionist having performed with the Debut Orchestra, American Youth Symphony, Kansas City Symphony Orchestra, and the Mariinsky Orchestra. He was also a fellow at Music Academy of the West studying under Mike Werner and Ted Atkatz as well as playing at the Tanglewood Music Festival.
Shane received an Undergraduate and Masters Degree at the University of Kansas under Kevin Bobo and Ji Hye Jung. Nickels then went on to receive an Artist Diploma at the University of Southern California under Jim Babor and Joe Pereira of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Trumpet: Buddy Deshler
Trumpet soloist Buddy Deshler is an ambassador for the transformative powers of the arts, champion of living composers, and agent for change in the instrumental music field. His bourgeoning career has taken him around the country, as well as internationally, and has allowed him to share the stage with ensembles such as the King’s Brass, The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass, Foden's Band of Sandbach, Cheshire, and his own Vice City Brass andMarquee Brass.
In addition, Buddy has performed with the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Occasional Symphony, Washington Chamber Orchestra, Concert Artists of Baltimore, American Festival Pops Orchestra, and more. He has also been in residency at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, Rafael Mendez Brass Institute, Le Domaine Forget in Quebec and the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada.
Low Brass: Bill Gray
Senior Chief Petty Officer William Gray, a native of Toledo, Ohio, joined the Navy Band in 1992. He learned a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Toledo in 1981 and a Master of Music from Indiana University in 1984 in tuba performance. He attended the Brevard Music Center Summer Festival from 1978-1983 where he performed the Ralph Vaughan Williams “Tuba Concerto” as a competition winner. He was principal tubist with the Orquesta Filharmonica de Santiago, Chile from 1984-1992 and
was also a guest soloist with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Concepcion, Chile. His teachers include Jaime Hafner and Harvey Philips. Gray serves as the Navy Band assistant operations chief, command transportation supervisor and supervisor and serves on the command training team. Gray also performs with the Quintessential Brass Quintet and is an active private instructor in Northern Virginia.
Clarinet: Mike Goldberg
Mike Goldberg holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Clarinet Performance from the world-renowned Eastman School of Music in Rochester, and remains active as a professional musician and teacher. He currently serves as a Classical Music Host for WCVE-FM, Richmond Public Radio. You can hear his weekday classical shows on Thursday and Friday from 11 A.M. until 3 P.M. He also hosts
"Breakfast Classics with Mike Goldberg" Saturday and Sunday mornings from 7 A.M. until 8 A.M. Highlights of his musical career include performing with the original Broadway production of "Into the Woods" and touring the major concert halls of the Northeastern U.S. and Canada with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and the Eastman Wind Ensemble. He has also recorded for CBS Masterworks. Here in Richmond, Mike is the founder and Artistic Director for Crescendo, a professional chamber music
ensemble, and has performed with the Richmond Symphony, Richmond Philharmonic Orchestra, University of Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Commonwealth Winds, Richmond Symphonic Winds and the Richmond Chamber Players. Also an accomplished conductor, he is the Music Director of the Central Virginia Wind Symphony, a group of the most talented high school musicians in the region. Mike serves as Adjunct Instructor of Clarinet and Instrumental Conducting at Randolph-Macon College and is the clarinet instructor at Colonial Forge (Stafford County) High School.
Flute: Sydney Kimbrough
Sydney Kimbrough is a music teacher at Park Ridge Elementary School in Stafford County. She has taught elementary music for 2 years and this will be her 2nd year teaching private flute lessons. She is also a band staff member for Chancellor High Schools Lightning Regiment Marching Band. Sydney studied privately throughout grade school with Sgt. Heidi Beck who was the principle flute in the Quantico Marine Band. She studied under the direction of Dr. Beth Chandler at James Madison University to earn her
Bachelors of Music.
Saxophone: Will Gillespie
Will Gillespie is a saxophone/woodwinds player and educator, originally from Pittsburgh, PA. He has a B.S. in Music Education, and an M.A. in Music Performance, both from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he studied with Dr. Keith Young. He taught high school band and guitar for 4 years in Kingman, Arizona, before moving back east. He performs and teaches all styles of music.
Oboe: Ariana Pyburn
Ariana Pyburn is currently the Choral Director at Stafford Middle school, where she directs the 6th, 7th,and 8th grade choruses. Prior to Stafford Middle, Ariana was the Instrumental Music Director at John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. At Kennedy, Ariana directed the Marching, Concert, Pep, Beginning, and Jazz Bands, Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble, Brass Quintet, and two guitar classes. She also has experience teaching Elementary Instrumental Music with Arlington County Public Schools, and Middle and High School Band experience at Medina Valley Middle and High Schools in Castroville, Texas. At Medina Valley, Ariana conducted the middle school Symphonic and Concert Bands and beginning Woodwinds; the front ensemble for marching band and indoor drumline, and individual and small-group pullouts from the high school ensembles as needed. She has maintained an active private lessons studio since 2005 and is currently the Assistant Conductor for the Potomac Valley Youth Orchestra’s Philharmonia Orchestra in Gaithersburg, MD. Ariana has performed on Oboe and English Horn with the Texas State University Wind Ensemble, the University of Houston Concert Band, and the Howard Payne University Wind Ensemble. She played Baritone in the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps as well as the Spirit of Houston Cougar Marching Band, and was in the drumline at Howard Payne University.
Horn:
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