2027 Design Team and Caption Heads

Phantom Regiment is proud to announce the design team and caption leadership for the 2027 season.

Bringing together accomplished designers, educators, arrangers, and leaders from across the marching arts and professional music world, the 2027 team combines new perspectives with returning members who have helped shape Phantom Regiment in recent years. Together, they will lead the creative and educational direction of the corps as Phantom Regiment prepares for the 2027 season.

Becca Anderson, Creative Director

Phantom Regiment welcomes Becca Anderson to the design team as Creative Director. With more than 30 years of experience as a designer, instructor, performer, and adjudicator, Anderson has worked with numerous nationally recognized programs and currently serves as Creative Director for Juxtaposition Independent World Guard. She previously served as Creative Director for the Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps and spent seven years as a WGI adjudicator, including judging every class at the WGI World Championships during her tenure. Anderson has also served on the WGI Steering Committee and works full-time as a designer and choreographer for programs throughout the United States.

Steven Estudillo, Visual Designer

Steven Estudillo returns to Phantom Regiment as Visual Designer for the 2027 season. A designer and educator in the marching arts since 2006, Estudillo’s work has been represented throughout Drum Corps International, Winter Guard International, and Bands of America. His extensive drum corps experience includes serving as Visual Designer and Creative Director for Pacific Crest and as Visual Caption Head for The Cavaliers. Estudillo has also spent more than a decade designing and teaching for nationally recognized indoor percussion programs, including Pulse Percussion and Chino Hills High School.

Matt Hartwell, Program and Staff Coordinator

Returning to Phantom Regiment in an expanded role, Matt Hartwell has been promoted to Program and Staff Coordinator for 2027. Hartwell brings extensive experience as a visual designer and educator, including more than a decade with Santa Clara Vanguard, where he served as Visual Caption Manager beginning in 2017. His drum corps teaching experience also includes work with the Blue Devils and Bluecoats, while his international experience includes teaching and designing productions for the Royal Guard of Oman Marching Band.

Vince Oliver, Brass Arranger/Composer

Phantom Regiment welcomes Vince Oliver to the design team as Brass Arranger and Composer. Oliver’s compositions have been performed at venues including Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Palau de Música in Barcelona, with additional works premiered at The Midwest Clinic. Within the marching arts, he has served on the Bluecoats music design team and as Brass Arranger for the Mandarins, and currently arranges for multiple-time Bands of America Grand National Champion Avon High School. A graduate of the USC Thornton School of Music, Oliver has also performed and served as a music director and arranger for productions of the Tony Award-winning Blast!, including Blast! The Music of Disney in Japan.

Tyler Sammons, Front Ensemble Arranger/Percussion Supervisor

Tyler Sammons returns as Front Ensemble Arranger and Percussion Supervisor for Phantom Regiment. His career spans more than two decades in the marching arts, including more than a decade with the Santa Clara Vanguard percussion program, where he contributed to five Fred Sanford Awards for Best Percussion Performance and the corps’ 2018 DCI World Championship. Sammons’ arranging and composing has been performed by nationally recognized ensembles across the country, and he is also an active clinician and member of the WGI adjudication team. He has presented at the Texas Music Educators Association Convention, PASIC, and The Midwest Clinic.

Matt Penland, Battery Arranger

Matt Penland returns as Phantom Regiment’s Battery Arranger for the 2027 season. A professional percussionist and musician in a premier military band, Penland has been arranging alongside Tyler Sammons since 2012 and previously arranged for Music City and the Guardians Drum and Bugle Corps. He spent a decade on the percussion staff of Santa Clara Vanguard during a period in which the corps earned five Fred Sanford Awards for Best Percussion Performance. Penland is also a Phantom Regiment alumnus, with additional performance experience at the Crossmen, Carolina Crown, and Santa Clara Vanguard.

Trent Gronewold, Sound Designer

Phantom Regiment welcomes Trent Gronewold to the design team as Sound Designer. A percussion arranger, sound designer, and educator from Southern California, Gronewold currently serves as Front Ensemble Caption Head for Pulse Percussion and Chino Hills High School while studying Music Composition for Film, TV, and Video Games at Berklee College of Music. His previous drum corps arranging and sound design credits include the Mandarins, Pacific Crest, and Gold Drum and Bugle Corps. Gronewold also brings extensive performance experience, including Santa Clara Vanguard, Pulse Percussion, and Blue Stars.

Katie Hopkins, Movement Caption Head/Choreographer (Brass)

Phantom Regiment welcomes Katie Hopkins to the 2027 team as Movement Caption Head and Choreographer for the hornline. Hopkins most recently served as Movement and Choreography Caption Manager for Santa Clara Vanguard, following several years as a choreographer and movement instructor with the corps. She has also worked with The Cadets and Carolina Crown and currently serves as Vision Dance Company Director at Vandegrift High School in Austin, Texas.

2027 Caption Heads

Joining the design team is an experienced group of educators who will lead Phantom Regiment’s instructional program throughout the 2027 season:

With a combination of returning leadership and new voices, Phantom Regiment’s 2027 design and instructional teams bring a wealth of experience from across the drum corps, indoor, scholastic, collegiate, and professional music communities.

Full biographies for Phantom Regiment’s 2027 staff are available at regiment.org/staff.