ERIC SHRIVER

Battery Arranger and Ensemble Coordinator

Eric Shriver is a composer, arranger, and educator for percussion based out of Southern California. He is currently the Percussion Director and Battery Arranger for Etiwanda HS, Rancho Cucamonga HS, and the Percussion Director and Battery Arranger for Pacific Crest Drum & Bugle Corps

Previously, Eric has been: Percussion Director at Gold Drum & Bugle Corps, Snare Tech for The Cavaliers, Percussion Caption Head and Battery Arranger for the Blue Stars, Snare Tech for the Bluecoats, and Snare Tech/Ensemble Coordinator with Pulse Percussion.

Eric has a Bachelor of Arts in Music (Industry Studies) from California Polytechnic University (Pomona, CA). Eric has performed with the Bluecoats, Pulse Percussion, Black Knights, Pacific Crest, and RCC Marching Band.

Eric is a Co-Owner of Front2BackMusic.com, and also the creator and owner of the “The Build-Up Method,” which is a set of rudimental percussion practice methods using logical skill building exercises and audio tracks.

Eric is a member of the Zildjian, Remo, Yamaha, and Vic Firth educational teams and lives in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, with his Wife Amanda and Daughter Charlotte.

JOHN MAPES

Program Coordinator

This is John’s 14th year on the design team with POW and 17th with Pulse. He is a full-time percussion designer and educator in Southern California since 2000. He received his Bachelor of Arts in percussion from California State University Long Beach in the spring of 2000.

He has been the Percussion Director at Chino Hills HS since 2005 and was director of percussion at Pacifica HS from 2000-2011. John joined the design team for the Blue Stars Drum & Bugle Corps as the battery arranger from 2013-2016. Previously, he worked with the Blue Devil B Corps as the percussion arranger from 2007-2012 and was the Battery Arranger/ Percussion Caption Head for the Esperanza Drum & Bugle Corps from San Diego, CA from 2002-2006. His marching experience includes Velvet Knights and Pacific Crest Drum & Bugle Corps organizations.

John is a Vic Firth Signature artist, a Yamaha artist, a Remo artist, a Zildjian artist and a WGI Percussion Steering Committee/Advisory Board member. He is also a co-founder of Box-Six.com, a website compiling original indoor percussion and marching band shows with fellow composer Ian Grom.

Trent Gronewold

Front Ensemble Arranger

Trent is a full-time percussion arranger and educator from Southern California. He is currently studying Music Composition for Film and TV at Berklee College of Music. He is the Front Ensemble Arranger for POW Percussion, and Front Ensemble Caption Head at Chino Hills High School. Trent ran and designed for the percussion program at Gahr High School from 2017-2024. He has also been on staff at Pulse Percussion since 2022. Previously, he was the Front Ensemble Arranger for Pacific Crest (2023-2024), and Gold Drum and Bugle Corps (2021-2022). 

Since 2016, Trent has been working behind the scenes for music publishing company Box Six, assisting with front ensemble arranging. In 2020, he began writing and publishing indoor percussion shows with John Mapes. He also has his music published on Front2Back music and Standing O Marching.

His marching experience includes the Santa Clara Vanguard (2018), Pulse Percussion (2016-2020), and Blue Stars Drum & Bugle Corps (2015-2016). Trent is also a member of the Vic Firth and Zildjian Educational Team.

Anthony Clark

Visual Design

This is Anthony’s 1st year on staff with POW. Anthony Clark is a full time visual designer and educator. Living in Upland, California, Anthony has devoted the majority of his adult life to pageantry arts. He has been involved in the pageantry arts world for over 10 years as a member, educator, designer, and adjudicator for groups and circuits across the country. 

Anthony has provided visual design for multiple programs, both for field ensembles and indoor percussion ensembles. He currently is the visual designer for Etiwanda High School and Los Osos High School, as well as various other programs throughout the country.

Anthony also has much experience teaching in the Southern California area, teaching multiple ensembles throughout the years. He currently serves as the Visual Caption Head for Etiwanda High School and Los Osos High School. Anthony also has taught at the independent level for many years, and is currently serving as the Visual Caption Manager at Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps.

NOE GOMEZ

Visual Consultant

This is Noe's 8th year on staff with POW. He is a lifelong resident of Los Angeles, California and prolific educator and designer within the marching arts. He has over seven years of performance experience, including Impulse, Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets, and half of a decade with the Santa Clara Vanguard, where he served as drum major from 2012 to 2015. 

Noe is immersed in the upper echelons of the marching arts, as he is a full time visual designer, judge, and clinician for both high school bands and independent programs. Noe serves on the visual and drum major education team of the Santa Clara Vanguard. He is on the design team at POW Percussion, Gold Indoor Percussion and Arcadia HS where he is currently the Visual Caption Manager at Arcadia High School. Noe also serves as an advisor to the Color Guard Alliance of the Philippines and Impulso Marching Latino America.

Learn more at:  noegomezproductions.com and on Instagram: @noegomez.productions

Christian Blydt-Hansen

Battery & Staff Coordinator

This is Christian's 5th year teaching at POW Percussion. Christian graduated from California State University Long Beach receiving a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. He currently resides in Irvine, CA, working full time as a Software QA Lead. Christian has performed with Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps, Dark Sky Percussion, Pulse Percussion, and the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps. He currently performs with Sidle Entertainment, the LA Chargers Thunderbolts Drumline, and the LA Kings Drumline. Christian has previously worked with Fountain Valley High School, Redondo Union High School, Santiago High School, and Gold Drum and Bugle Corps. Christian currently work with Pacific Crest.

Whitney Taylor

Front Ensemble Coordinator

This is Whitney’s 4th year with the educational team at POW Percussion. She has been a front ensemble tech at the Pacific Crest Drum & Bugle Corps since 2020 and is currently at Woodbridge HS and Temple City HS. Her performance experience includes Pulse Percussion (2016-2020), Blue Stars Drum & Bugle Corps (2016), and the Blue Devils Drum & Bugle Corps (2018).  

Whitney received her Bachelors in Health & Human Sciences with a focus in Psychology from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. During her time there, she also studied percussion with Wesley Sumpter and Peter Erskine. Whitney currently works as a private piano instructor throughout South Orange County both independently and with Elite Musique, LLC and is the Development Chair at FACES Counseling. Her past experience includes teaching at La Quinta HS, Gahr HS, and Arcadia HS. She is a member of the Vic Firth & Zildjian educational team. 

Adam Sanchez

Battery Coordinator

This is Adam's 4th year teaching POW. Adam is originally from Bakersfield California and now resides in Long Beach. Adam has performed in various groups such as the Bakersfield College Drumline, Golden Empire Drum and Bugle Corps, the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps, and Pulse Percussion. Adam is currently pursuing a degree in Jazz/Commercial music studies from California State University Fullerton.

Adam has previously taught many groups in the Bakersfield area such as Centennial High School, Independence High School, Golden Empire Drum and Bugle Corps (2018-2021), and the Bakersfield College Drumline (2019 WGI Open Class Champions)

William Abraamyan

Snare Tech

This is William's 4th year teaching POW Percussion. Will has performed with the Santa Clara Vanguard, Vanguard Cadets, POW Percussion, Pulse Percussion, and the Marching Vlogs All-Star Drumline. He previously taught at Gold Indoor and Hoover High School. Aside from drumming, he is currently studying architecture at Woodbury University while working at an engineering and design firm in the valley.

Gabriel Bustamante

Snare Tech

This is Gabriel’s 2nd year on staff with POW. He has been a member of the Pulse/Pow family since the 2019 season and can’t wait to share the culture and knowledge he developed through the organization with future generations.

Gabriel’s marching experience includes Gold 2017 - 2019, Pow 2019, and Pulse 2020 - 2022. As an instructor, he has taught numerous drumlines across San Diego county, and currently teaches the drumlines at San Marcos HS and Scripps Ranch HS. He also taught the Gold Drum and Bugle Corps snareline in the summer of 2022 and the Pacific Crest snareline in the summer of 2023 and 2024.

Luis Garcia

Tenor Tech

This is Luis's 3rd season working with POW. Luis graduated from CSU Fullerton with a degree in mechanical engineering. He is currently working as a mechanical engineer in the aerospace industry. He has performed with Golden Empire, Bakersfield College, Pacific Crest, POW, and Pulse. Luis has been on staff with some schools in the Bakersfield area as well as with SCVC for their 2022 season. Most recently was on staff with the Blue Stars for their 2023 season.

Gabriel Michels

Tenor Tech

This is Gabriel's first year on staff at POW. He is a musician and composer living in Fullerton CA. Having received his degree in music by studying composition at UCSD, he currently writes and teaches percussion for various high schools while also pursuing his own independent musical projects. Gabriel performed with multiple groups including Pacific Crest, The Blue Devils, POW Percussion, and Pulse Percussion. He also has experience teaching with independent ensembles including Élan Percussion and Dark Sky Percussion for the 2024 indoor percussion season, and Blue Devils B for the 2024 drum corps season.

OTTo Peralta

Bass Tech

This is Otto’s 10th year on staff. He has been an active educator in Southern California for over 12 years, recently including Mira Costa HS and West HS. Otto’s previous marching experience includes Pulse Percussion, charter member of Pulse Open, Garfield independent, The Academy D&B Corps, and Gold D&B Corps.

Frances (Frankie) fabiyi

Bass Tech

This is Frankie’s 2nd year on staff with POW. She has taught at Torrance HS, Temple City HS and Phantom Regiment. Her marching career started at Torrance High School, playing bass her first year and snare for the rest. She decided to continue to play bass drum going into independent groups starting her junior year with Odyssey Indoor Percussion (2017-2018). Frankie continued to march several other groups which include Pacific Crest (2018), Vessel Indoor Percussion (2019-2020), Mandarins (2019), Pulse Percussion (2022-2023) and Santa Clara Vanguard (2022).

Brenda Hernandez

Bass Tech

This is Brenda's 1st year on staff with POW Percussion. She is a marching arts educator originally from San Jose, CA and is now currently living in Ventura, CA. She is studying physics at Moorpark College and aims to transfer to UC Santa Barbara to pursue a degree in Astrophysics. She was most recently on staff with Music City Drum Corps this past season as a bass technician and is currently teaching at Buena High School as one of the battery technicians.

Brenda has spent a multitude of seasons as a WGI performer. Her experience includes Blue Devils B (2019), Vessel Indoor (2020), Redwave Indoor (2022), POW Percussion (2023), and most recently Pulse Percussion (2024).

Albert Avelar Jr.

Cymbal Tech

This is Albert’s 4th year on staff with POW. His marching experience began at El Rancho High School in Pico Rivera, CA where he played tenors. His cymbal career did not begin until his sophomore year of college, when he marched with POW Percussion in 2015. Albert then returned as section leader of the POW cymbal line in 2016 and marched his first year of drum corps at Impulse. He went on to perform with Pulse Percussion in 2017, then continued his drum corps career at the Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets. In 2018 Albert was asked to be the section leader of the Pulse cymbal line, where he aged out.

Throughout his instructional career, Albert has served as clinician and instructor for many groups in Southern California. He has worked with the music programs at Crescenta Valley HS, San Marino HS, El Rancho HS, Gahr HS, Gold Indoor Percussion, Gold Drum & Bugle Corps, Pacific Crest Drum & Bugle Corps, and The Academy Drum & Bugle Corps. His background of indoor and outdoor percussion make Albert the ideal instructor for any group. Albert’s unique insight into the cymbal community is something he enjoys being able to share with POW Percussion.

jack Wurth

Cymbal Tech

This is Jack's 2nd year teaching at POW Percussion. As a native to Torrance, Jack has been teaching around So-Cal for 5 years, mainly at Torrance HS and West Torrance HS. Has has also spent time teaching at Gold DBC and Gold Indoor Drumline in more recent years.

His cymbal marching career includes Pacific Crest '16 '17 '19, Mandarins '18, Dark Sky Percussion '17, and RCC '18-'22 where Jack was the section leader during Pacific Crest '19 and RCC '20 and '22.

Christian Do

Front Ensemble Staff, Co-Coordinator

This is Christian’s 5th year on staff with POW. He was raised in Fountain Valley, CA attended La Quinta High School where he took interest the marching arts, specializing in design, composition, and audio engineering. Christian has performed with various Southern California ensembles including POW Percussion ('15), Pulse Percussion ('16,'17,'19), and Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps ('18).

Christian has worked with several local HS programs over the years such as La Quinta HS, Los Amigos HS, and Chino Hills HS. He was also the recipient of the Southern California Percussion Alliance Composition Scholarship in 2016. Currently, he serves as the percussion caption head at Arroyo HS, a front ensemble/sound tech at Gahr HS, and as a sound engineer at Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps. Christian attended California State University, Fullerton where he received his B.A. in Pure Mathematics.

Leela Whatley

Front Ensemble Staff

This is Leela’s 1st year on staff with POW. She is from San Diego, CA, and now resides in Santa Barbara, CA. She currently studies Music Theory at the University of California, Santa Barbara with plans to transfer into an audio engineering program. Her staff experience includes Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps as a sound engineer this past season, and has worked in the past at Great Oak High School as a mallet tech and Esperanza High School as the front ensemble caption head.

Leela performed with multiple ensembles during her marching career, including Gold Drum and Bugle Corps (2018-2019), POW Percussion (2020-2022), Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps (2022), Pulse Percussion (2023-2024), and Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps (2023).

Marlon Blair

Front Ensemble Staff

This is Marlon's 2nd year working with POW Percussion. He is originally from Sacramento, CA and now resides in Riverside, CA. His teaching experience includes schools in Northern California and San Bernardino District, and he is now teaching at Etiwanda High School. 

Marlon performed with many world class ensembles, including The Sacramento Mandarins (2016-2018) and the Concord Blue Devils (2022). His WGI experience includes RCC (2020) and Pulse Percussion (2022-2023).

Taron Turner

Front Ensemble Staff

This is Taron’s 2nd year teaching at POW Percussion. Raised in Madera, CA, Taron began his marching career as a snare drummer and switched to the front ensemble his junior year of high school. Taron’s marching experience includes POW Percussion and Pulse Percussion. He is a graduate of University of California, Riverside with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and is currently in the process of pursuing his Master of Arts. 

Taron has been the front ensemble tech at SB Percussion and Chavez Middle School. He now serves as the front ensemble instructor for Ramona High School. 

Sean Tsui

Front Ensemble Staff

This is Sean's first year on staff at POW. Sean graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology with plans to attend graduate school to pursue a career in behavioral analysis. His teaching experience includes various schools across Southern California, such as Temple City HS, Damien HS, Granada Hills Charter HS, and he is currently at Arroyo HS, Chino Hills HS, and Los Alamitos HS. Sean's performance experience includes Pulse Percussion (2022-2024) and the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps (2022-2023).

Zachary Novack

Front Ensemble Staff

This is Zachary’s 2nd year teaching at POW. Zachary graduated from Carnegie Mellon University, receiving his Bachelors of Science in Statistics and Machine Learning. He currently resides in San Diego, CA, where he is a PhD student in Computer Science at UC San Diego researching the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Music. His performance experience includes Stryke Percussion (2017-2018) and the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps (2017-2018). Zachary has previously taught and arranged for numerous groups around the country, including the Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps, Gateway HS, Tomball HS, Cooper City HS, and West Broward HS.

Chris Schmitz

Visual Staff, Coordinator

This is Chris’s 2nd year on staff at POW. He is a full-time drill writer, choreographer, and educator based in Southern California. His performance experience includes the Sacramento Mandarins (2016-2017) and Blue Devils Entertainment. A native of Northern California, Chris has been based in Southern California the last three years, working at programs such as Rancho Cucamonga HS, El Dorado HS, Etiwanda HS, and Sunny HIlls HS, among others. He is currently on staff at Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps, and was previously on staff at both Gold Drum and Bugle Corps and Gold Indoor Percussion, as well as Golden Empire Drum and Bugle Corps. Chris currently resides in Placentia, California, and studies Dance Education at Fullerton College.

Nicklous Chau

Visual Staff

This is Nick’s 3rd year on staff with POW. He currently attends Orange Coast College for kinesiology. His marching experience includes Gold Drum & Bugle Corps, Mandarins Drum & Bugle Corps, and then being a part of Pulse Percussion’s visual ensemble. Nick is also an avid student for dance; training in hip-hop, house, freestyle & is currently dancing with the Voyage: Oasis Division. He has also taken classes from studios such as Offstage by GRV, LMNL Space and Movement Lifestyle. Nick has taught various high schools around SoCal as a visual coach/choreographer and is currently teaching Chino Hills HS & Rancho Cucamonga HS. He has also taught independent orgs such as Instinct Percussion and Gold Drum & Bugle Corps.

Darrel Burns

Visual Staff

This is Darrel’s 1st year on staff with POW. Darrel Burns is a visual specialist, drill writer and designer based in the San Diego area. He has been training and encouraging young performers in the SoCal band world since 2013, drawing upon experience gained from both Open and World Class ensembles (Velvet Knights, Academy, Blue Devils) paired with continued study in the areas of leadership, fitness and dance.

Darrel has proudly served several high schools and other ensembles throughout San Diego County and the Inland Empire, including Open Class Finalist Meraki Percussion, Dark Sky Percussion, and 5-time Open Class medalists Gold Drum and Bugle Corps.

While away from the floor or field, Darrel can be found snapping photos, studying or simply enjoying life with his wife Skyler and their two cats.

Julia Robles

Visual Staff

Julia Robles has been involved in the marching arts since 2011. Her performance experience includes such groups as the Oregon Crusaders, Phantom Regiment, Dark Sky Percussion, and the Santa Clara Vanguard.

She has taught various high school programs in the southern California region for the better part of the last decade. In addition to her high school teaching experience, Julia has spent the past four years as a visual technician for multiple drum corps in both the open and world class divisions, most recently with Pacific Crest. She has been on staff with indoor groups at all levels including but not limited to Etiwanda Indoor, Instinct Percussion, and POW Percussion.

Julia currently teaches in the San Diego area and judges for several circuits in California and Arizona.