Creative Team
“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” – Phil Jackson
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Ben Hylton
Ben Hylton is an active composer, music educator, trumpeter, and clinician currently residing in Austin, Texas.
Ben arranges and composes music for all types of ensembles and commercial music groups as well as designs competitive shows for the pageantry arts. Over the past 10 years Mr. Hylton has been an elementary music teacher, middle school, and high school band director in Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida.
Ben was a member of the Blue Knights and the Blue Devils and has taught brass with The Madison Scouts, The Blue Knights, The Phantom Regiment, and visual with The Crossmen. Ben is currently the brass caption head for The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps from Tempe, AZ.
Ben has performed as a solo trumpeter throughout Southeastern United States and in the Caribbean and has performed with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Percy Sledge, Reggae-jazz artist Eugene Grey, Jazz Pianist Donald Brown, and with Carnival Cruise Lines, among others.
Ben received a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from East Carolina University, a Master’s Degree in Trumpet Performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and he completed additional graduate studies in Jazz at Florida State University.
For more information about Ben Hylton, visit www.hyltonmusicdesign.com
Steve Vento
Mr. Steve Vento has been an educator in the pageantry arts for over 25 years. His successful groups speak for themselves. He has composed over 50 original compositions and arranged over 450 shows for marching band and drum corps. His technique of arranging makes every group he writes for sound amazing at every grade level. He writes his music visually to maximize all effects. Steve not only arranges but also helps with the design from the ground up. The ending product is a phenomenal vehicle from start to finish.
Steve also is an active consultant around the country. He helps make the shows he writes come to life by traveling and working closely with the performance groups. Mr. Vento has his B.S. in Education with a performance minor from Missouri Western State University and a Masters of Music Education with conducting emphasis from the University of Tulsa.
His arrangements and compositions have won over 50 state titles around the country and have also been very successful at the national level at Bands of America events. His awards and accolades include 18 time BOA Class Champion, 3 BOA Regional Champion, 70 time BOA Regional Finalist, 18 time BOA National Semi-Finalist, and 10 time BOA National Finalist. Steve’s arrangements and compositions have also received hundreds of “I” divisional ratings at local, regional, and national level contests, including BOA and UIL. His work has been very successful all over the country including dozens of Texas area finalists and advancing groups. Steve also has over 20 years of drum corps experience. Since 2011 Steve has been on The Blue Devils brass staff and beginning Summer 2017 is the brass arranger for Legends drum and bugle corps.
To learn more about Steve Vento, visit www.vmvdesigns.com
John Meehan
John Meehan is the current brass caption head and arranger for the 18 time D.C.I. champions, as well as music director and arranger for the ‘B’ and ‘C’ Corps programs. Since joining the staff of The Blue Devils in 1994, John has helped the A Corps win 12 D.C.I. championships, as well as 12 Jim Ott high brass awards.
John has been composing and arranging music for marching bands and drum corps since 1992. Clients of John's have won numerous state marching band titles, as well as Bands of America Regionals, and been finalists at the Bands of American Grand National Championships.
Other non-pageantry writing includes composing for the album "The Music of WYLAND", scoring the film "Mind Games", writing two spots for Kaiser Permanente, and being commissioned to compose several wind ensemble pieces.
Notable career achievements include lead designer for both the System Blue and King marching brass instrument series, development and production for the Sample Logic and System Blue sound libraries, and performing (as a percussionist) on the movie soundtrack "Monsters University" .
John is a Conn-Selmer and System Blue artist, and exclusively uses Sibelius.
John lives in California with his wife Jackie, their 3 daughters, and two rescue dogs.
To learn more about John Meehan, visit www.jksmusic.com
Dr. Ward Miller
Ward Miller (b. 1978) grew up in Loachapoka, a small farming community near the city of Auburn, Alabama. He earned his bachelors of music education from Auburn University in 2001, where he served as webmaster, arranger, and an undergraduate teaching assistant with the Auburn University Marching Band. He graduated from Arizona State University in 2003 with a masters in Trombone Performance. While in the Phoenix area, he served as a part time assistant and clinician with the Paradise Valley High School bands, the Mesa Community College Wind Ensemble, and the Phoenix Symphony Guild Youth Orchestra. He taught public school in Alabama for three years, serving as Director of Bands at Andalusia and Pleasant Grove High Schools. In 2006 he accepted a graduate teaching assistantship at The University of Iowa, where he studied with Dr. Myron Welch in Band Conducting. While at Iowa, he also worked as a teaching assistant with the Hawkeye Marching Band, where he wrote, taught, and conducted multiple arrangements and halftime drills. He also conducted the Iowa University Concert Band, as well as the Southeast Iowa Concert Band at Iowa Wesleyan University. He earned the 2008 outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant award for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Dr. Miller graduated in 2011 from the University of Iowa with his D.M.A. in Band Conducting.
From 2008 through 2013, Dr. Miller was the Associate Director of Bands and Director of Athletic Bands at the University of South Alabama, in Mobile. While at South Alabama, Dr. Miller founded to 230-member Jaguar Marching Band, overseeing all recruiting, teaching, and writing for the band. In addition, he directed the basketball pep bands. His teaching duties included Marching Band Techniques, Brass Methods, Trombone Quartet, Symphony Band (the second concert ensemble, auditioned and approximately 65% music majors), and undergraduate conducting. He also guest conducted the Wind Ensemble, the school's top instrumental concert ensemble.
For more information on Dr. Ward Miller, visit www.drwardmiller.com
Jim Wunderlich
Jim is the owner and primary composer/arranger at Wunderpit music. He served as the front ensemble caption head and arranger for the blue devils from 2006-2017. His arrangements helped earn the blue devils 7 dci championships and 4 Fred Sanford high percussion awards. In addition, Jim has been the front ensemble caption head and arranger for Tokyo’s Soka Renaissance Vanguard since 2007. Jim marched in the Suncoast sound drum & bugle corps in 1989.
In southern California, Jim is the music coordinator for RCC indoor percussion and the Vista Murrieta high school marching band.
Outside of California, Jim arranges for several programs including the 2015 boa Grand National Champion broken arrow high school.
Past indoor percussion credits include 22 years of arranging & instruction at seven-time WGI psw medalist Mission Viejo high school, and 15 years at five-time WGI psa medalist Loara high school.
Jim is a member of the WGI hall of fame. He is a founding member of the Southern California Percussion Alliance (sc-pa.org), and proudly endorses Pro-Mark, System Blue, Zildjian, Evans, Planet Waves & Meinl percussion.
To learn more about Jim, visit www.wunderpitmusic.com
Sean Gordon
For those involved within the arts, coaching sports or teaching academics, there is an age-old adage of “paying it forward” – the idea that those who were once performers, athletes or students become involved in similar educational paths of their respective mentors; to preserve the ideals and traditions passed down and deliver them a new generation.
Sean Gordon is among the new wave of up and coming instructors that fits this positive trend.
Sean’s mallet percussion training began as a seventh grader while attending Canyon Hills Jr. High. He continued to play mallets for Ayala’s percussion section all four years before graduating and participating with groups such as Pulse Percussion, Riverside Community College, Impulse Drum and Bugle Corps and aging-out with the 2007 DCI Champions, The Blue Devils, as a mallet percussionist.
During the course of his indoor career, Sean returned to his alumni as a mallet tech in 2007, holding the position until he was promoted to Front Ensemble Caption Head in 2009 – working with the likes of his former instructor, Caleb Rothe, Bryan Nungaray, and Jim Wunderlich. He began arranging for the 8 time PSCW Champion Concert Percussion Ensemble in 2016, and finished his tenure with the ensemble after completing the 2017 indoor season.
Sean’s teaching prowess has also migrated to the drum corps and independent percussion ensemble scene, as he has worked as the front ensemble instructor for The Academy (2011-2012), The Mandarins (2010), Pulse Percussion (2009-2011) and currently teaches at The Blue Devils Drum & Bugle Corps (2013-Present).
Sean currently resides in Eastvale, CA and is a proud educational endorser of REMO drumheads, and Innovative Percussion sticks and mallets.
Lindsey Vento
Lindsey Vento has been an active educator, director, designer, adjudicator and choreographer for the last 15 years. She has worked with marching bands and color guards in Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. Her designs and work have earned marching band state champion titles, BOA Regional finalists appearances, BOA Grand National finalists appearances, winter guard class state champion awards in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas, and Winter Guard International (WGI) A Class and Open Class finalist appearances. Lindsey was on Carolina Crown’s visual staff in 2017 and Beginning in the Summer of 2018; Lindsey will be the artistic director and program coordinator for The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps.
Lindsey has her bachelors of music education degree and in addition to her work in the pageantry world, she is an active vocal performer, and has been a performer with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and has currently appeared as a featured soloist with high school and collegiate level jazz ensembles.
Whether you need a competitive show design from the ground up, a flow chart of planned staged ideas for winds, guard, and battery, guard choreography book, winds body visual book, video study of your weekly performances, or a hands on clinician at a rehearsal, Lindsey can assist you in making the upcoming season the best and smoothest process ever.
For more information on Lindsey Vento, visit www.vmvdesigns.com
Zachary Barber
Mr. Barber started his marching career with Avidity Independent of McKendree University where he discovered his love for the performing arts. During his 5 years with the program, they changed from open class to world class. He marched 4 years with the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps and served on the leadership team for the color guard. Zachary has also been a part of Lexis World winter guard during their first inaugural season in world class finals.
Zachary has also been teaching color guard and winterguard for many years and has built his whole life around the activity. He spends his seasons traveling across the Midwest choreographing for high school groups such as Blue Springs, MO; North Hardin, KY; and Kennesaw Mountain, GA just to name a few. When he’s not choreographing he can be found designing for groups of all different classifications and sizes during the fall and winter season. Mr. Barber is also a choreographer for The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps
To learn more about Zach, visit www.zbarberdesigns.com
Keith Dunton
Keith Dunton's work in the realm of marching band design vividly illustrates the confluence of creativity, technical expertise, and a deep understanding of musical and visual arts within the marching arts sphere. As an international music clinician, freelance musician, and marching arts producer based in Los Angeles, California, Dunton brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to his role as an Artistic Designer and Program Coordinator. His academic background, with a Bachelor of Music in Trumpet Performance from St. Olaf College, underpins his sophisticated approach to marching band design and production.
Dunton's portfolio is extensive, encompassing a wide array of marching band programs across the United States and Asia. His company, Design by keith. offers a comprehensive suite of services that take a concept from ideation through to the final stages of production. This involves everything from generating ideas, assembling the right team, and overseeing the project to its fruition. Dunton's expertise lies in his ability to understand each aspect of the production process thoroughly and his capacity to bring complex concepts into reality, thereby transforming the abstract into tangible, impactful marching band performances.
His current client list for 2024 is impressive and diverse, including schools and programs from Beijing, China, to various states across the U.S. such as Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Missouri, and Utah. This international and national reach is a testament to Dunton's reputation and the high demand for his unique skills in marching band design and production.
In essence, Keith Dunton's work in marching band design exemplifies the pinnacle of creativity and precision in the marching arts. Through his leadership, programs across the globe are able to realize their visions, bringing captivating performances to life that engage and inspire audiences. His role as a creative producer in this domain not only enhances the aesthetic and emotional impact of marching band performances but also contributes significantly to the advancement and appreciation of the marching arts as a complex, interdisciplinary form of expression.
For more information on Keith Dunton, visit www.designbykeith.com
Jude Boughton
Jude Boughton is a full time, program coordinator, show designer, visual/dance educator, and adjudicator with over 25+ years experience teaching and creating within the pageantry arts in the United States.
Following high school Jude attended Kutztown University of Pennsylvania with a focus in Theater & Dance and additional studies in Movement for Non-Dancers/Athletes & Dance in the Musical Theater.
After judging for WGI for 8 years Jude was proud to have served as a member of the WGI Advisory Board for an additional 8 years & two terms on the WGI Board of Directors representing 12-time WGI Independent World Class finalist The Black Watch Color Guard (03-12).
Jude moved to Austin, Texas in 2010 where he was employed at Round Rock High School as program coordinator and color guard director of the Dragon Band from 2010-2018 (2013, 15, & 17 Bands of America Grand National Finalist, 2016 UIL 5A State Marching Finalist, 2-time WGI Open Class Finalist, & recipient of The Sudler Shield.)
Other selected TX. works include serving as co-program coordinator of Vandergrift High School Band from 2012-15 (2013 4A UIL State Marching Champion & 2015 UIL Silver Medalist,) & Leander High School Band as program coordinator from 2014-2017 (2015 UIL Bronze Medalist & 2016 BOA Grand National Finalist.)
Most recently Jude served as co-program coordinator & the inaugural color guard director at newly formed Weiss High School in Pflugerville, Tx. (2019 UIL 4A State Marching Finalist, 2021 BOA regional finalist) before retiring from full time high school guard direction in 2022.
An at-home chef & avid reader of biography, Jude resides in Austin, TX. with partner Will and dogs Cindy and Lily.