The New Mexico Pageant of Bands panel of marching band judges for the 2016 competition consists of:
Charles Frost
Charles is an Austin, Texas, native and alum of the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum Corps. He marched two years with the Vanguard in 2001 and 2003 and continued his music education at Texas State University as a Trumpet Performance Major. After college he worked as a professional musician in Phoenix, Arizona, where he also worked with the Arizona State University Marching Band for four seasons.
When not performing or teaching music, Charles had a 12 year career in the print and graphic design industry before rejoining the Santa Clara Vanguard in 2013. He currently serves as Executive Director of the Vanguard, having previously held roles as Tour Director (2013), Corps Manager (2014), and Corps Director (2016). At Santa Clara, he created the Vanguard Performing Arts program that includes private lessons, Santa Clara Big Band, youth brass ensemble, and the Vanguard Brass quintet.
Charles M. Grove
Charles “Mickey” Grove is a graduate of the University of Mississippi, and began his teaching career in Indianola, MS, and continued in Kosciusko, MS, where he was the director of bands. He was the director manager of the Mississippi Lion’s All State Band for thirteen years, and served on the staff of the Kilties Drum & Bugle Corps, the Memphis Blues Drum & Bugle Corps, and Southwind Drum & Bugle Corps. Mickey has had numerous judging affiliations with Winter Guard International, Bands of America, and Gulfcoast Judging Association, as well as local and area adjudication associations. He is a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and Phi Beta Mu music organizations. He currently resides in Kosciusko, Mississippi, and is an active adjudicator, clinician, and music consultant.
Matt Hartwell
Matt Hartwell is a graduate of Salem High School in Salem, VA. While attending Morehead State University in Morehead, KY, he studied Euphonium under Dr. Stacey Baker. Matt has marched in Drum Corps as a Baritone in The Capital Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps from Columbus, OH. He then marched with The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle corps from Rosemont, IL, playing the Baritone in 2005 and 2006 (Winning a DCI World Championship), and performed on Tuba in 2007 and 2008. In 2007, Matt had the privilege to perform on the Tuba with The Aimachi Marching Band from Nagoya, Japan.
Matt currently serves many roles within the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps organization. He has taught on the visual staff for the drum corps since 2010 and is currently a member of the Design team for the Vanguard Winter Percussion, a WGI Independent World Class program. In 2010, he had the extreme honor of designing a production for His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said al-Said’s Royal Guard of Oman Marching Band. He was selected to design the program for His Majesty’s 40th year in power celebration and a private dinner performance for His Majesty and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England. Matt is currently one of the Show Directors for a Drum Corps style stage show called “Mix It Up” at Busch Gardens theme park in Williamsburg, VA. Matt has also designed many successful programs for high schools, middle schools, and non-profits throughout the country.
Paul Koch
Paul A. Koch (pronounced “cook”) received his Bachelor of Music Degree in 2000 from the University of North Texas, where he studied with Dr. Robert Schietroma, Paul Rennick, Leigh Howard Stevens, She-e Wu and many others. He received his Master of Music in Percussion Performance in 2002 under the direction of Dr. J.B. Smith. As a Graduate Assistant in the Percussion Department, Paul taught the Percussion Methods class and undergraduate private lessons.
His Drum and Bugle Corps experience was on the snare drum with the 1993 Black Gold of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the 1994 – 1996 Colts of Dubuque, Iowa. Paul was the drumline section leader of the Colts in 1995 and 1996. He taught Front Ensemble, Bass Drums, and Snare Drums with the Capital Regiment of Columbus, Ohio in 1999 and 2000, the first two years of the Corps existence. The Capital Regiment won the Division III Drum Title in 2000.
Paul has also been a performer with the Phoenix Suns “PHX Percussion,” an entertainment group that performs at Suns games on traditional marching drums, trash cans, oil drums, and other devices that make a lot of noise. The PHX Percussion group performed with Destiny’s Child at the 2005 NBA All-Star Game in Denver, CO.
Paul has ten years of high school teaching experience and is currently in his 5th year as Director of Bands at Grand Canyon University, in Phoenix, Arizona. Currently, he is a Doctoral Student in Conducting, Wind Emphasis, at Arizona State University, under the direction of Professor Gary Hill. Paul resides in Chandler, Arizona, with his wife Jacque and son Paxton.
Michael Marcantano
Michael Marcantano hails from Florida, where he performed with Alliance of Miami and choreographed for Paradigm World Class Winterguards. He has also performed with the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps. Michael has also choreographed for the stage. He has adjudicated throughout the Midwest, focusing on Ensemble Analysis, Visual Effect, and Colorguard. Michael is a restaurant manager, specializing in the Chicago Startup scene. He is also a flag and floor Designer for FLASH Visual Media.
Celestino Sosa
Celestino Sosa is in his 25th year in Music Education and 35th year in Colorguard Pageantry. Under his direction, the Band and Guard programs have received superior ratings in Marching, Concert, and Sightreading. His programs have been a UIL State Marching Contest Finalist, Texas Color Guard Association State Champion, North Texas Colorguard Association State Champion 2000, 2001, 2002, 2010, and 2014. While at DeSoto High School his winterguard programs were 3-time State Champion, WGI Regional Finalist, and 3-time WGI Semi-Finalist. In 2010, Little Elm High School was the 2010 WGI Regional Champion, NTCA Scholastic National A Champion, and WGI Scholastic A World Champion. Mr. Sosa is currently an Associate director of Bands in Royse City ISD, Texas.
Mr. Sosa has been a Visual Consultant and Guard Choreographer for various marching bands including State Champions Canton High School and Whitesboro High School. Other State Finalists include Denton HS, Midland Lee HS, Pampa HS, Howe HS, DeSoto HS, Springtown HS, Cameron HS, Melissa HS, Canyon HS and Panhandle HS. He has worked with many other Texas high school programs. Mr. Sosa has also served on Staff with the All-American Citrus Bowl, Tournament of Roses Parade, and Adolphus Dallas Children’s Parade.
George Strickland
Mr. Strickland has been the Assistant Director of the Texas University Interscholastic League Music Office since 2009. Before his tenure at UIL, he taught instrumental music in the public schools for twenty-nine years. Bands under his direction were awarded consecutive UIL Sweepstakes honors. Individual members of his bands were recognized with All-Region, All-Area, All-State, and UIL Regional and State Solo and Ensemble awards.
George has been an adjudicator for marching bands, concert and sightreading band events, and instrumental solo and ensemble events in Texas. He has also adjudicated events in Colorado, Tennessee, Indiana, New Mexico, and Texas festivals held in Dallas, Denton, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and Houston.
Mr. Strickland has served as President of the Association of Texas Small School Bands, Region President of Texas Music Educators Association Region 2 and 7. He is currently a member of the National Federation of High Schools Activity Association, serves as Chair Pro-tem and Treasurer for the Texas Coalition for Quality Arts Education, and member of the State Board of Directors of the Association of Texas Small School Bands. George is an active adjudicator of the Texas Music Adjudicators Association, member of Texas Bandmasters Association, Texas Music Educators Association, and Phi Beta Mu International Bandmaster Fraternity.
Shelba Waldron
Shelba Waldron has a history in the marching arts that spans over a thirty-year time frame of performing, instructing, judging, and administration. She is most known for her work with winter guards at the World Class level such as the Shaktai Performance Company, Alliance of Miami, Fahrenheit, and Paradigm Performance Groups. She has judged nationally for WGI and judges throughout the country in both the fall and winter seasons. Shelba writes the very popular blog Growing Up Pageantry that discusses and deals with issues related to the marching arts. She is passionate about the proper coaching techniques used for young women and writes about the topic frequently.
In Shelba’s professional life, she is a national expert and speaker on topics of youth development such as bullying, gender specific programming, and children raised in poverty. She has a Masters in Criminal Justice and is currently working toward her personal training certification to focus on proper training techniques for youth in the marching arts. She has a nine year old son Joshua, who loves science and wants to become a scientist one day to build a real life Star Wars Light Sabre.