Phantom Regiment is pleased to introduce its complete design and caption head team for the 2011 season. While there have been many changes this offseason, most of the “new” faces will be recognizable to longtime fans and alumni.
Dan Farrell will once again lead the design team. Other than a few years off, he has been involved with Phantom Regiment since he began as a marching member in 1972. Dan was brass caption head from 1988 to 1992 and program coordinator from 1993 to 1997. He returned as program coordinator before the 2001 season. He also served as secretary of the board of directors for several years until being named the organization’s full-time director of programs in January 2010.
Longtime brass arranger J.D. Shaw returns to the team for his 10th season. After many years as the French hornist and principal arranger with the Boston Brass quintet, he is in his second year as a French horn professor at University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. He is an alumnus of Phantom Regiment (’90, ’91).
Ryan Bybee returns to the brass staff and will take on a new role as caption head. He was a marching member of Carolina Crown and is now the director of bands at Collins Hill High School in suburban Atlanta.
Dwight Emmert is back for his seventh season as visual caption head. He is the choral director at F.J. Reitz High School in Evansville. Previously he spent more than 15 years as the band/choral director at Gibson Southern High School. Dwight played contrabass with Phantom Regiment in 1982, ’83 and ’88.
New to the team for 2010 are several familiar faces along with a few that are in their first season with Phantom Regiment.
Jamey Thompson, who was the drill designer from 2005 to 2007, returns to that role after taking three years off from DCI. Jamey is a former marching member of the Cavaliers. He has designed the drill for numerous marching bands, winter ensembles and drum corps including Glassmen, Madison Scouts, Empire Statesmen and Connecticut Hurricanes. In addition to his drill design work, Jamey has worked as a freelance accountant in the Chicago area.
KC Michel enters his first season with Phantom Regiment and will serve as the visual coordinator. He’ll oversee the entire visual team. KC, who lives in Houston, marched with the Madison Scouts in the 1980s and later taught with the Scouts and the Blue Knights. He currently is the guard coordinator at Westfield High School in Spring, Texas.
David Veda also will be in his first year with Phantom Regiment. The Las Vegas resident will be the color guard caption manager. He was a longtime member of the Madison Scouts staff and also has worked with Blue Knights and Santa Clara Vanguard. David has worked as a theater and visual arts consultant since 1980.
Another new face is Shane Gwaltney, who enters his first season as the percussion arranger and caption head. He previously was Spirit’s percussion arranger and is a longtime arranger and visual designer for Music City Mystique Indoor Percussion Ensemble. Shane lives in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., where he is the percussion program coordinator at Choctawhatchee High School.
Joining Shane on the percussion team will be Matt Jordan, who will be the front ensemble arranger. Matt was the 2004 DCI Individual & Ensemble champion on timpani while a member of the Cavaliers. He recently received his master’s degree from University of North Texas and is now a doctoral student at Florida State University.
Returning to the Phantom Regiment team, this time as co-caption heads of the color guard, will be K.C. Perkins and Tricia Gooley-Rarick. K.C. has taught many high schools and winter guards as well as the Blue Knights and Phantom Regiment. Tricia is a full-time dance teacher, was guard caption head at Bluecoats and Crossmen, and mostly recently has been on the staff with Phantom Regiment.
The complete staff & bio list will be updated with the the rest of the instructional and management team soon.
