Meet the 2009 Staff

 

Meet the 2009 Whitnall Marching Band Staff

 

This section introduces you to the 2009 Marching Band staff, in their own words.

 

Say “Hi” to Celia Meisel - saxophones section 

 

My name is Celia Meisel, I work with the saxophone section in preparing their music for the show and assist Griffin and fellow staff members on the practice field. This was my second season working with the Marching Falcons.
I have over 20 years experience as a musician and 10 years marching experience. I grew up in Huntsville, Alabama and attended Grissom High School. My high school music experience had a large impact on my future. Our marching and concert bands, comprised of 200+ students, were extremely competitive and our directors set the highest of standards.
I went on to college where I earned a Bachelors Degree in Music from the University of Southern Mississippi. I marched tenor sax in the PRIDE of Mississippi marching band. My major was in Jazz Studies on tenor sax and I also studied flute as a secondary instrument.
In 2008 I earned a Masters in Music from Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, IL. At NIU I studied jazz, picked up a secondary study in voice and met my husband Ryan. I relocated to Wisconsin once I completed my graduate studies.
Currently, I reside in Hartford working as a freelance performer and instructor. My main business is working as a private music instructor, I teach over 20 students on a weekly basis. Most recently I was hired to direct the Concert Choir and teach Early Childhood Music at the Schauer Arts and Activities Center in Hartford. On the weekends my husband and I perform with my trio and five-piece band The Celia Faye Collective. I play sax and sing in this group, my husband also plays sax and writes all of the arrangements. If you want to know where we are playing next you can visit www.celiafaye.com.
Have a good Winter/Spring, hope to see you all next summer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Say “Hi” to Bryan Kujawa. -  brass / marching technique/drill

 

 

 

Hi, I’m Bryan “Kuj” Kujawa. I have worked with the band during their summer rehearsals and performances as one of the brass instructors and as a marching technique/drill assistant. I am a Whitnall Class of 2008 Alumni who marched with the band all throughout high school. I am currently a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin –Eau Claire studying instrumental music education. My professional career goal is to one day be the director of a successful marching band and also compose well known music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Say "Hi" to Dan Buchwald - visual / marching technique.

Hello, my name is Daniel Buchwald and I am 24 years old. I am currently attending the University of Wisconsin Whitewater where I will be seeking a degree in music education.

To date I have marched ten seasons, including marching band and winter drum lines, and have taught now for two years. I marched my first five seasons at Whitnall and included three state championships, three trips to the RCA dome for the Bands of America regional competition, the first sweep of captions in AAA state competition, a trip to Tampa Bay, Florida for the Outback Bowl halftime performance and competition, and a trip to San Diego, California for the 2004 winter drum line finals.

During my time at Whitnall, I marched under the direction of Guy Kammerer, Julie Woodbury, Michael Zens (Madison Scouts), Lucas Kammerer (Blue Devils), Tommy Fagen (Phantom Regiment) and several others. These are the people who I have modeled myself after in regards to their passion and love for this sport as well as their dedication to excellence and continually raising the status-quo and never settling for average.

After Whitnall, I continued my marching at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater where we take all of our ques from DCI corps such at the Madison Scouts, Blue Devils, Cavilers and many more. Over my time marching here at UWW, I have been called out on several occasions as the "prime example" of marching excellence and was used as the standard during my second season here.

In the winter of 2008 I was asked by my brother and Julie Woodbury to march in the Americanos Indoor winter drum line. During this season that I was offered me a job teaching at West DePere with Russell Reuter. It was during this time that I also became a part of Whitnall's visual staff and asked my friend Brian Naughton (drum major 2003 marching season) if he would be willing to work with me. We had a very successful year last year visually, coming out of nowhere to take an impressive 4th place at state with a mere 39 members.

I greatly enjoy working with the kids at Whitnall. I am excited to help them realize their true potential and help them grow as they have helped me grow as a person. I eagerly look forward to many more great seasons with them!

WITH PRIDE!

Dan

 

 

 

 

 

 

Say “HI” to Brian Naughton - visual/drum major tech

Hi, the name's Brian Naughton, I'm 22 years old and currently finishing up my degree at UW-Milwaukee. I graduated from Whitnall High school in 2004, and had marched for six seasons there. The two seasons I marched in the winter drumline happened to be Whitnall's first foray into the winter drumline circuit under the direction of Julie Woodbury, and I'm very proud of that. In the 2004 season I received the Pioneer Award for excellence in performance. As for my summer experience, I marched for three seasons as a mellophone player, with my final year being Drum Major for the 2003 show "Category 5". During that season Whitnall had swept all captions and taken first in AAA state competition, and on our brief trips to compete out of state in Minnesota, I personally had won two "Best Drum Major" awards. I had the pleasure of working with some great instructors like Julie Woodbury, Guy Kammerer, Lucas Kammerer, and Michael Zens, just to name a few. Before graduating I was also the recipient of the nationally recognized John Philip Sousa award.

While not exactly music-related, at UW-Milwaukee I have been a part of the Upward Bound Program for four years, tutoring under-privileged MPS students in all levels of high school math, science, and english. Since being with this program I've had a great deal of experience in learning how to teach students, how to build a rapport and eventually encourage the students to learn on their own. This experience has come in quite handy when teaching Whtinall's students as well.

Speaking of which, I've been helping with Whitnall's summer program in a part-time capacity for several years now, and this season is my first full season on staff as a visual/drum major tech. Ever since graduating in 2004 I've had at least some hand in the training of Whitnall's Drum Majors, whether it be controlling the full training regiment, or coming in as just an adviser. As for visual work I've been writing and adding visual elements to marching shows since my senior year of high school.

I am very excited about being given the chance to work with Whitnall and I look forward to seeing what they can accomplish in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Say "Hi" to Jackie Buchwald - color guard 

 

 

Hello, my name is Jackie Buchwald and I am 22 years old. I am a Psychology major at the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay. I've been officially teaching colorguard for four years. Including both Colorguard and Winterguard, I have marched a total of 12 seasons.

I marched my first 8 seasons at Whitnall High School, 4 of which I was the co-captain. I marched under the direction of Chad Quamme, Scott Jones, Julie Woodbury, Ryan Klassa and many other highly qualified individuals who really inspired my passion for the sport. Throughout my time at Whitnall, the marching band took first place all 4 years, 3 of which we were awarded the title of best colorguard. After high school I decided to continue on with the sport, so I joined the Velocity Winterguard, performing with them for the past 4 years, the last 3 serving as co-captain, until my age-out year last season.

During my years with the Velocity Winterguard, we were awarded Midwest Colorguard champions and missed placing at the Worlds competition by mere tenths of a point.

After my first season of Velocity I was asked by Russell Reuter to come and help teach at West DePere High School as a colorguard tech. I am now on my fourth year teaching at West DePere and have worked my way up to assistant caption head.

In 2008, my sister Becky asked me to come help the colorguard at Whitnall High School. I willingly accepted and asked my friend, and co-captain of Velocity, Heather Graham, to help. We had a very successful year and greatly enjoyed working with the kids. We were more than willing to come back this year when asked to by Mr. James. I thoroughly enjoy what I do and I hope to continue teaching this sport for more years to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Say "Hi" to Heather Graham - color guard

Hi I'm Heather, I am 18 years old and have been involved with colorguard since the age of 12. I have marched 11 seasons in both WSMA and WGI.

I began my career at New Berlin Eisenhower High School in 8th grade where I quickly fell in love with the activity and became captain and a staff member for my sophmore, junior and senior years. At the age of 13 I joined Velocity Winterguard, 3-time Midwest and Power Regional Champions, and learned from highly qualified individuals such as Russell Reuter, Ryan Klassa and Julie Woodbury.

In 2008 I was awarded the Al-Shea Memorial Scholarship from the Midwest Colorguard Circuit based on a resume submitted by my instructors. For the past 3 years I have had the privilege of being the Co-Captain of Velocity along with Jackie Buchwald and Lindsey Powell. This year I was asked to join the staff of West DePere where I continue to learn and teach with many qualified individuals. I plan on marching Drum Corp this summer and will be continuing to teach for many years to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Say "Hi" to Amanda Moser - brass tech

Hey guys! It's Mana. My own music history started back when I was seven. I asked my parents if I could join a soccer team and they responded with, "why don't you pick up an instrument?" They figured it be less chasing around because my brother was already in football and to have two kids in sports could have gotten hectic, boy were they wrong. I couldn't make up my mind between the flute or the violin and my dad said he thought the flute was prettier so I choose that. I remember crying on my bed one night because, "I couldn't make it toot," but that never stopped me. Next thing I know it's eighth grade and they had a pot luck dinner for marching band. I didn't want to go but my mom made me and my life changed from that point on. From my first step onto the practice field to my last step my senior year at state I was the typical "band geek" and loved every minute of it. I played the flute and piccolo mainly, but I also picked up the alto sax, tenor sax, and bass drum my senior year. I even dabbled with the trumpet now and then.

To sum it up in few words, as hard core as I was in high school it never left my system and to have the opportunity to be a staff member has brought back that space in my life that has been missing, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

When I'm not staffing the Whitnall Marching Band, I'm working full time at Starbucks and also volunteering at Stepping Stone Farms School of Horsemanship. I mainly do the chores when I head out there, (mucking out the stalls, feeding, and letting the horses in and out, etc.) but I also help out with the kids that come who have social and mental disabilities.

I am planning by the end of next fall or sooner to get my equine assist therapy certificate so I can work more with them and have a better understanding on how to help them. It is such a joy to see that smile on their face when they have finally achieved something they have worked on for so long.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Say "Hi" to Lauren Murray - pit / front line tech

My name is Lauren Murray, and I am the frontline instructor for Whitnall’s Marching Falcons. I graduated from Whitnall High School in 2008 where I was an extremely involved music student.

I played flute in the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Lenee Stevens for five years. While involved, I was honored to be selected as a participant of the John Downey Fellowship. The program paired me with the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee’s associate professor of composition, William Heinrichs. With his guidance, I composed a piece that was performed by the Chamber Flute Ensemble.

I was also a member of Whitnall’s concert band (flute/piccolo, clarinet, and French horn), sinfonietta (flute/piccolo), marching band (baritone and mellophone), and jazz band (guitar, vibraphone, percussion, flute, and trombone) under the direction of Andrew Putnam and Julie Woodbury.

My love of percussion started when I joined the winter drumline in 2005. Through the instruction of Alex Arcano and Julie Woodbury, I refined my skills and became the frontline’s co-captain in 2006. I continued to play marimba and vibraphone throughout my high school career. At my final high school concert, I was awarded with the Civic Music Association Recognition Award and the John Philip Sousa Award.

I am currently attending the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee for a major in marketing, certificates in entrepreneurship and international business, and a minor in Spanish. With my undergraduate degree, I hope to start a nonprofit organization that brings music programs to underprivileged high school students. Until that happens, I am extremely fortunate to be working at West DePere High School and Whitnall and look forward to continuing to share my passion with a new group of musicians.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matt Grevsmuehl - percussion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris Buchwald - percussion

Hello, my name is Chris Buchwald and I am 18 years old. This is my first year teaching a drum line, and I consider it a great privilege to be doing so. I got involved with the marching arts at the age of 9, when my older brother Dan first started in the Whitnall Marching Band, and quickly fell in love with the program.

I marched all 4 years of high school in the band program, playing a trumpet my first year, and on the drum line the last 3 years – 1 as a bass drum and the other 2 on a snare. During my senior year, I was made drum captain. I also marched 4 winter seasons; 2 seasons in Whitnall's winter drum line, one season in the Americanos Indoor Independent class-A group where I was also the Drum Captain, and my last winter season at Shadow Indoor percussion, where we took second place our first ever year in a winter circuit.

I spent this last summer marching in the MACBDA circuit with the Oregon Shadow Armada Marching Arts Program, where we won first place and best percussion in the MACBDA circuit in every single competition and in the circuit championships. Through all of my 10 marching seasons in the last 4 years, I have worked with a wide range of different instructors such as Julie Woodbury, Chad Quamme, Andrew Putnam, Tobie Wilkinson, Mike Thursby, and David William Henzie Skogen. I draw my inspiration for this program from every one of them.

Through my years and this wide variety of instructors, I've learned many different techniques of teaching. After graduation high school, and aging out of the Marching Falcons, I was asked by Mr. James to come and help out with the Drum Line this season. This year I have enjoyed so very much watching this group of students learn and grow, and helping them to be the best they can be.

I am Currently going to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater where I am enrolled in the School of Music earning a degree in Music Education.

This coming summer I am planning to march Drum Corps, and am auditioning for the Blue Stars Drum Corps. I've also been offered a spot on the winter snare line of the 4 time Independent A World Championship Pioneer Indoor drumline.

Music is what I love, and I love nothing more than passing what I've learned on to a new generation of kids.