Sean Gordon
SEAN GORDON: FRONT ENSEMBLE CONSULTANT / INSTRUCTOR
Sean’s percussion training began in middle school, and continued through high school to his age-out summer in 2008. During that time he was a member of multiple groups, including Pulse Percussion, Riverside Community College, Impulse Drum and Bugle Corps and The Blue Devils, as a mallet percussionist.
Sean returned to his alma mater, Ayala High School, 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 Mandarins (2010), The Academy (2011-2012), Pulse Percussion (2009-2011) and The Blue Devils Drum & Bugle Corps (2013-2018).
Sean began arranging for electronics and percussion his senior year in high school, and has had the opportunity to write for many different groups, including Ayala High School, El Dorado High School, American Fork High School, Gold Drum & Bugle Corps, & The Kidsgrove Scouts.
Sean currently resides in Chino Hills, CA and is a proud educational endorser of REMO drumheads, and Innovative Percussion sticks and mallets.
Connie Truong
CONNIE TRUONG: FRONT ENSEMBLE CAPTION HEAD
After graduating James Logan High School in the Bay Area, Connie moved to Southern California to pursue her music performance degree at Cal State Long Beach. She continued to be very active in the marching arts performing with various groups including Pulse Percussion (2015-2017), Blue Devils B (2012) and the Santa Clara Vanguard (2016). Upon aging out of both WGI and DCI, she also finished her Bachelor’s of Music in Percussion Performance.
She has worked with the Sacramento Mandarins (2019-DCI Finalist) and the Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets (2018-2020, Open Class Champion-2018 & 2022).
Currently, Connie is the Percussion Caption Head at Pacifica High School and the front ensemble instructor at the PCC Lancer Marching Band.
2024 is Connie’s 3rd season with Dark Sky and 1st as our Caption Head.
Kevin Tran
KEVIN TRAN: FRONT ENSEMBLE INSTRUCTOR
Kevin Tran studied at UCLA under the direction of Raynor Carroll, former principal percussionist of the LA Phil, and Theresa Dimond, principal percussionist of the LA Opera, where he received his BA in Music Performance in 2017. During his marching career, he performed with Hanford High School from 2009-2013, Blue Devils “B” in 2011 & 2012 and taught at Elan Percussion in 2016.
In recent years, Tran has worked with many schools and organizations throughout Southern California and Northern Alabama, and has been the percussion director at Mira Costa High School since 2021. Currently he is an active performer, composer, arranger, and educator. He is working on many new projects for solo percussion and composing classical & contemporary wind, strings, and percussion literature. Tran is currently signed with Innovative Percussion Inc. as an artist & percussion educator.
This is Kevin’s first year instructing at Dark Sky.
Andrew Kolbe
ANDREW KOLBE: FRONT ENSEMBLE INSTRUCTOR
Andrew is an alumni of Dark Sky Percussion as well as the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps. He has worked with El Camino HS, Carlsbad HS, Vista HS, and Mission Hills HS as a front ensemble educator. Andrew is a lifelong resident of Oceanside, CA and has his BS in structural engineering from UCSD.
This is Andrew’s second season as a Dark Sky instructor.
Taylor Smith
TAYLOR SMITH: FRONT ENSEMBLE INSTRUCTOR
Taylor Smith is a percussion performer and music educator based out of the Central Valley currently finishing a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from California State University, Fresno.
They have marched with various local independent groups including Bakersfield College Drumline, Golden Empire Drum and Bugle Corps, and Redwave Indoor, as well as teaching at several groups such as Mathilda Torres High School, Redwave Indoor, as well as the Fresno State Marching Band.
Taylor is very excited for their first season at Dark Sky!
Stella Cortez
STELLA CORTEZ: FRONT ENSEMBLE INSTRUCTOR
Stella Cortez is a musician and educator from Los Angeles, California. Her involvement in the marching arts began in high school, where she was originally a member of the color guard. Since then she’s been a front ensemble member at Meraki Percussion (2020) and POW Percussion (2022). She studied music education (percussion) at CSUN and she’s been an educator at high schools such as La Cañada High School, Portola High School, Rancho Alamitos High School, and Trabuco Hills High School.
This is Stella’s first season with Dark Sky.
Grant Bubar
GRANT BUBAR: FRONT ENSEMBLE CONSULTANT
Grant Bubar is a freelance percussionist and educator based out of Tarzana, CA and joined the DSP staff for the 2020 season. As an advocate for the education of percussion as a complete art form, Grant has enjoyed performing in, and teaching a wide range of ensembles of varying styles.
Besides competing in WGI with Dark Sky Percussion (2017, 2019), Grant has performed with orchestras, wind ensembles, and chamber groups, including the West Coast Symphony and the TEMPO new music ensemble. He also works as the percussion director for Canyon High School (Santa Clarita), where he instructs both marching and concert percussionists.
Grant is currently living in Thousand Oaks, has completed his undergraduate degree in music education from Cal State Northridge and plans to pursue a Graduate degree in Percussion Performance, but FIRST - his band, Sad Park has been signed to a record deal and will be on tour for the next few years!