Mark is co-creator and director of the Breach of Silence Percussion Ensemble. Mark is a graduate of Indiana University, Bloomington with a bachelor’s degree in music education in May of 2000. With percussion as his performance medium, he was selected section leader for all IU Bands and Orchestras he was involved in. As a music education major, his grade-point average earned him a spot on the Dean’s List from 1997-2000.
Mr. Snelson has been the Director of Taylor Bands in Kokomo , IN since 2002 where he has led the Concert Band to three Gold Ratings at the ISSMA Organization Contest in Group III, II, and I. The Marching Band made its first two ISSMA State Finals appearances in school history in 2004 and 2005, placing 4th and 10th place respectfully. The Indoor Percussion unit has been IPA State Finalists all four years, placing 10th, 11th, 5th, and 6th respectfully in Class A “Movement.” Prior to his experience at Taylor , Mr. Snelson was the Assistant Director of Bands at Mt. Vernon Middle and High School for two years. In addition to his band duties, he directed the MVHS Jazz Band and was the Director of Percussion. In 2002, the Mt. Vernon Indoor Percussion unit won an I.P.A. Championship in Class A “Movement.”
Friday, November 06, 2009
Chris Neuhauser- Battery Captionhead/Arranger
Chris is co-creator and director of the Breach of Silence Percussion Ensemble. Chris is currently the percussion caption head at Knox High School in Knox Indiana. At Knox, he is responsible for the high school, and middle school percussion education as well as private lessons, arranging, and marching band. Chris has worked with many bands around the state including Greenwood (IN), Northmont (OH), Westfield (IN), Lewis Cass (IN), Plymouth (IN), Kokomo (IN), Taylor (IN), Maconaquah (IN), Western (IN)and Knox marching bands.
While in school, Chris was a member of the Maconaquah Indoor Percussion Ensemble which placed 5th in the nation at WGI Nationals. As an instructor he instructed Maconaquah in their IPA class A state championship season in 2004. Chris started indoor ensembles at both Lewis Cass and Westfield seeing great success.
Chris lives in Peru,with his wife Terra and daughter Jovi, along with their two dogs, "Belá", and "Bernie". Chris & Terra have both been enjoying the wonderful world of parenthood and are looking foward to instilling in Jovi a great love of music and the arts.
Friday, November 06, 2009
David Bugher- Pit Captionhead/Arranger
Davidhas been a performing percussionist and music educator for 13 years. His early classical training began at Ball State University in Muncie , Indiana where he received bachelors degrees in both music performance and music education. While in his undergrad, Bugher earned several honors including winning the 2001 Butler University Matinee Musicale, the 2001 Kokomo Symphony Concerto Competition, and the 2000 Ball State University Undergraduate Concerto Competition, an achievement which earned him a trip to Japan to perform as a guest artist at the Mukogawa Women's University. After graduating from Ball State , Bugher went on to earn his masters degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder , where he focused primarily on jazz performance. Here he worked closely with Dr. Douglas Walter, serving as his teaching assistant for 3 years, and taking lessons with him, initially on classical percussion but eventually on jazz vibraphone. In addition to Walter, Bugher took lessons with area players such as Brad Goode, John Davis, Tom Meyer, Frank Puzzulo, Chip Stevens, and Michael Pagan.
Currently, Bugher resides in Kokomo , Indiana where he works as a band director at Maple Crest Middle School and percussion director at Kokomo High School . He is also active as a freelance composer, arranger and editor and can be seen about once every couple of weeks or so performing vibes around Kokomo and Indianapolis . He is a featured performer on two CDs: “It’s a Very Bugher Christmas!” (2005) and “Jazz Behind Bars” (2006) which can be purchased at http://www.lawlesspercussion.com.
