OUR STAFF – Piscataway High School Superchiefs

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Dr. Sumner has been a part of the Piscataway Superchief Band since 1979 when he was a freshman at Piscataway High School. Following graduation in 1983 he worked with the band as a staff member for approximately 15 years until 2000 when he became the director of the band.. Prior to that appointment, he also taught at Rutgers University, Seton Hall University, and Union County College. He received his Master of Music from Mannes College of Music, and his Doctor of Musical Arts from Rutgers University. “Doc,” as he is affectionately known in school, is also an active professional musician both as a conductor and performer. In addition to his tenure at Piscataway as director of the Wind Ensemble and Orchestra, he is also the artistic director and conductor of the Raritan Valley Symphonic Band. He has also been a guest conductor for the New Brunswick Chamber Orchestra, and Rutgers University Wind Ensemble, as well as assisting Maestro Mariusz Smojli with the Riverside Symphonia. He has conducted and played in dozens of musical productions including working at the Hunterdon Hills Playhouse. As a free-lance clarinetist, Dr. Sumner is the principal clarinetist of the Riverside Symphonia for which he is also the personnel manager and contractor. He has also performed with numerous other orchestras, concert bands, and jazz bands across the country, including the Allentown Symphony, Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, and Aspen Jazz Ensemble, as well as with Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville on their East Coast Tour in 2004. Dr. Sumner has recorded on the Mark and Capstone record labels and has also been published by Grand Mesa Music Publishers for his string orchestra arrangement of “Flow My Tears” by John Dowland. In both 2005 and 2017 he was awarded the “William D. Revelli Award” for Best Overall Concert Band in a competition with the Piscataway High School Wind Ensemble. His conducting teachers have included Dr. William Berz of Rutgers University and Mr. Peter Rubardt, artistic director of the Pensacola Symphony. Dr. Sumner was also accepted into the Julliard School Summer Conductor’s Symposium, and was nominated as a semi-finalist for the “GRAMMY Signature Schools Award” 2014, sponsored by the Grammy Foundation. In his “spare time” Dr. Sumner managed to receive his black belt in TaeKwon Do, and volunteers at his church as well as for the Boys Scouts of America.

Director Dr. Christopher G. Sumner

Jason was a member of Superchief band 2010-2013. He currently studies trumpet and music education at Rutgers, mason gross school of the arts. He is very excited to be working with the band this year, as well as the many more to come

Brass Caption Head Jason Lakshmanan

Color Guard Clinician Imani Stewart

Will Marinelli is a drummer/percussionist based in the Greater New York City area. He earned his Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the Ithaca College School of Music, and his Master of Music in Percussion Performance at New York University. His primary teachers have included Jonathan Haas, James Saporito, Simon Boyar, and Gordon Stout. Will’s diverse performance career has taken him across two continents, from New York City’s East Village to Salzburg and Prague. From cornerstone orchestral and operatic repertoire, classic and modern musical theatre, pop/rock, and even ragtime xylophone, he is at home with many different drumming and percussion styles. He has performed with local ensembles such as the Plainfield Symphony, Garden State Philharmonic, Central Jersey Symphony, as well as numerous school musical productions. In addition to performing, Will is also a passionate and dedicated music educator. In his spare time, he enjoys walking, cycling, playing golf, and cellular photography.

Front Ensemble Instructor Will Marinelli

Marco Jaimes is a bass trombonist and marched in the band from 2010-2013. He is currently enrolled at Bard College where he is finishing up his undergraduate degree in music. Marco enjoys all styles of music and is eager to share his enthusiasm with the musicians of tomorrow.

Low Brass Instructor Marco Jaimes

Haley graduated music education from Penn State in 2018. Since then, she has been teaching in the Piscataway School District as the 4-5 orchestra teacher at MLK. In her free time, she teaches private lessons, works with the Piscataway marching band, and plays violin with local theater companies.

Sound Technician Haley Schilla

Mr. Zampella has been a part of the Piscataway Superchief Band since 2005 as a woodwind instructor. He has worked with the band on and off for 10 years until he became director in 2015. Before that time, he taught at Rutgers University as well as several school districts throughout the state. Mr. Zampella earned his Bachelor’s degree in music education from William Paterson University and his Master of Music degree in saxophone performance from Rutgers University. He has studied saxophone with Dr. Paul Cohen and Dr. James Noyes as well as conducting with Dr. William Berz and Dr. Joel Craig Davis. Outside of PHS, Mr. Zampella is an active clinician, composer, and arranger for jazz and classical ensembles, as well as a freelance musician in the greater tristate area. He is the founder and director of the Garden State Jazz Orchestra, a big band promoting the betterment of jazz education in New Jersey. Mr. Zampella has performed with numerous ensembles including the New Jersey Youth Symphony, Garden State Jazz Orchestra, Freelance Ensemble Artists, Imperial Concert Band, and Hawthorne Caballeros Drum & Bugle Corps. He has performed at venues including Carnegie Hall, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Westminster Abbey, and the U.S. Ambassador’s residence in London, as well as recorded at the legendary United Sound Systems Recording Studio in Detroit. Mr. Zampella’s spare time is spent enjoying hiking and traveling, raising his beautiful daughter, and is expecting his second child in the fall of 2017.

Director Mr. Ken Zampella

Christian Lopez is an active music director, educator, and performer throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He currently serves as the Director of Music at Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, New Jersey. A graduate of Penn State University, he holds a degree in Music Education with a Performer’s Recognition Certificate in Percussion Performance. He has performed as a featured soloist with the Appalachian Wind Symphony and as a guest percussion lecturer for the Holidaysburg Area School District. In addition, he has performed with the Penn’s Woods Festival Orchestra, Plainfield Symphony Orchestra, and the Raritan Valley Symphonic Band. As a gigging theater musician and director, some of Mr. Lopez’s favorite credits include: The World Premiere of Joe Iconis’ musical, “Love in Hate Nation” at Penn State (Drum Set); "Carrie" at Main Street Theater Company (Music Director), "Tick...Tick...Boom" at Wonderlust Theater (Music Director), Spring Awakening (Drum Set), and the Penn State Singing Lions Show Choir (Vocal/Music Director).

Assistant Director Christian Lopez

Alvin Scott holds a Master’s degree in classical saxophone performance from the Manhattan School of Music, and a BM in Music Education from William Paterson University. A performer known for his dark, rich timbers and facile technique, Alvin has recorded and performed compositions with M. Zachary Johnson for the albums “She Walks in Beauty” and “Tribute.” He is currently performing with the Hanover Wind Symphony on soprano and alto saxophone, a part of the High Mountain Saxophone Quartet. He is also bari sax player for the Garden State Jazz Orchestra, and a freelance musician in the New York metropolitan area. In addition to all that, he is a teacher in the Wayne Public Schools in New Jersey.

Woodwind Caption Head Alvin Scott

George Mattis started his drum corps marching career in 1983. Between 1983 and 1992 he performed with the Skyliners, Bushwackers, and Sprit of Atlanta as well as Conquest winter guard. George has taught multiple HS marching bands and winter guards including Ramapo-Indian Hills, Ridgewood, North Plainfield, Westfield, Bridgewater-Raritan, Hillsborough, Elizabeth, Hunterdon Central, Chatham, Piscataway, and Randolph, . He also taught independent winter guards throughout NJ and PA including The Classics, Winter Sky, and WGI A Class Silver Medalist and Open Class Finalist Pegasus Winter Guard. His drum corps teaching includes Skyliners from 1993-1996 as well as the Hawthorne Caballeros and the Raiders.

Show Designer/Color Guard Choreographer George Mattis

My name is Isaac Holiday, I am a movement/color guard specialist that been teaching for over twenty five years. I marched with the New York Lancers Drum and Bugle Corps, and The Harrison Bushwackers Drum and Bugle Corps as well as taught numerous drum corps, marching bands and winterguards throughout the New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania area. Thanks, Go Superchiefs!

Color Guard Instructor Isaac Holiday

Taylor Newman is a multifaceted percussion performer and educator. A native of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, Taylor began his formal studies at the Ithaca College School of Music studying with international marimba virtuoso Gordon Stout. Taylor finished his education at the Cleveland Institute of Music studying with Cleveland Orchestra members Richard Weiner, Marc Damoulakis, and Paul Yancich. While in Cleveland, Taylor was awarded the CIM Avedis Zildjian Percussion Scholarship and was the third place prize-winner in the 2016 Modern Snare Drum Competition. Taylor has performed with The Hunterdon Symphony, The Bloomfield Symphony, Imperial Brass, the Princeton Symphonic Brass Ensemble, The Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, New York, and at the Fringe NYC International Arts Festival. Taylor is also the director of the worship team at Lower Valley Presbyterian Church. An active and passionate educator, Taylor currently teaches at Piscataway High School, as well as in his private studio located in Califon, New Jersey. Taylor has previously taught at Voorhees High School, The Cleveland School of the Arts, Euclid High School, the NYC public school system, and Hunterdon Preparatory School. Outside of his music career, Taylor is also a competitive ultra runner, recently completing a 300 mile charity run from New Jersey to Massachusetts. He is also co-founder and Executive Director of The Move for Mind Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to advocate, educate, and inspire to improve mental health through the power of movement.

Percussion Caption Head Taylor Newman

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