Darren VanDerpoel
DARREN VAN DERPOEL: BATTERY ARRANGER
Darren VanDerpoel resides in Chino Hills, CA and works throughout Southern California as a music educator. After graduating from Vista HS in 2005, he went on to perform with Esperanza Drum and Bugle Corps, Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps, Black Knights Indoor Percussion, Riverside Community College Marching Band, and RCC Indoor.
Darren earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing Management from Cal Poly Pomona in 2013. He currently serves as the co-director and performing member of Sidle Entertainment, who provide performing ensembles for special events and sports teams, such as Los Angles Clippers and the Los Angeles Chargers.
Darren has been an active percussion instructor in Southern California since 2005, working with several high schools and independent groups. In addition to Dark Sky, Darren currently works at Diamond Bar HS, El Dorado HS, and Ayala HS. Darren proudly uses Remo Drumheads, Zildjian Cymbals and Innovative Percussion Sticks and Mallets.
2024 will be Darren’s 7th season writing and instructing for the Dark Sky ensemble.
William Mutsik
WILLIAM MITSUK - TENOR INSTRUCTOR / C0-CAPTION HEAD
William is a performer and percussion educator currently living in Santa Barbara, California. Since 2015, William has been a Drum and Bugle Corps and Indoor percussion participant in California marching with Pacific Crest (2015), Blue Devils B (2016), Blue Devils (2018), Dark Sky Percussion (2016), and RCC (2017-2019).
His teaching experience includes the 2021 Blue Stars, Blue Devils B and World class CA indoor groups Vessel Indoor 2020 and Dark Sky 2021.
He currently is also a caption head/arranger for a few programs in Santa Barbara and provides private music lessons for students of all ages and experience. William’s marching career has given him the opportunity to be featured professionally in a couple television/internet shows such as The Bachelorette, Jimmy Kimmel and Drop the Mic.
2024 will be Will’s 4th season as a Dark Sky instructor.
”I am grateful to be able to give back to the community which has given me so much.” - W.M.
Alan Aungst
ALAN AUNGST - BATTERY CAPTIONHEAD / ENSEMBLE COORDINATOR
Alan Aungst began percussion with the Dartmouth High School Marching Band and Indoor drumline in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. His drum corps career began with the Spartans in 2012 and continued with Carolina Crown from 2013-2014. Alan then moved to Riverside, California to attend Riverside City College and perform with RCC Indoor Percussion (2015-2018) and the Blue Devils snare line from 2015-2017.
Alan has worked professionally with many high schools in Southern California from Orange County to Temecula County and works with The Cadets (2018 -2022). Alan currently attends Cal State Long Beach and is a REALTOR in Beverly Hills.
2024 is Alan’s 4th season with Dark Sky Percussion.
Matthew Moravitz
MATTHEW MORAVITZ: SNARE INSTRUCTOR
Matthew is a snare drummer and educator from Rancho Cucamonga, California. He attended Rancho Cucamonga High School and has performed in various indoor percussion ensembles and drum corps, including Blue Stars, RCC, and Dark Sky. Matthews instructional experience includes Rancho Cucamonga HS, Pacifica HS, Blue Stars Drum & Bugle Corps and is on the Crossmen instructional staff for 2023.
Matthew currently attends Chaffey College, where he studies Aviation Maintenance Technology.
2024 will be Matthew’s 2nd season as a Dark Sky instructor.
Sean Parra
SEAN PARRA: SNARE INSTRUCTOR
Sean Parra is a percussionist and educator living in Southern California. His experience includes marching at Élan Percussion (2016), Dark Sky (2017), RCC Indoor Percussion (2018-2020) and Blue Devils 2018-2019.
Outside of the world of percussion education Sean also works on video production for his clients as well as working on his own videos.
Gabriel Michels
GABRIEL MICHELS: BATTERY INSTRUCTOR - TENORS
Gabriel Michels is a musician and percussionist based in San Diego California who is currently attending UCSD for a degree in music composition. Gabriel began his percussion journey in 2017 and has since marched tenors at Tri-City Percussion (2020), Pacific Crest (2021), POW Percussion (2022), The Blue Devils (2022), and Pulse Percussion (2023). He has been a percussion educator at various high schools including: Amador Valley HS, San Marcos HS, La Costa Canyon HS, and Chino Hills HS.
This is Gabriel’s first season at Dark Sky.
Kheffy Cervantez
KHEFFY CERVANTEZ: BASS DRUM INSTRUCTOR, BATTERY MANAGER
Kheffy began his indoor marching career in 2013 with the PIO group, Valley Independent Percussion. Returning in 2014 for his second year on Bass drum he helped lead the group to their first PIO Bronze medal.
After graduating from Tulare Union, Kheffy traveled down to Southern California to perform with the 6-time World Champion PIW group - Riverside City College. Kheffy spent 5 years at RCC (2015-2019) helping win a championship title in 2015 and 2018. Kheffy performed for two consecutive seasons with Blue Devils B (2013-2014), as well as one season with the Concord Blue Devils in their 2017 production "Metamorph".
Kheffy has instructed at Tulare Union, Buchannan HS, Clovis East HS, and Central HS as a Percussion Educator and Visual Designer. Kheffy was also contracted as a Bass Technician for the Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps (2021 - 2022). Kheffy recently accepted a position at J.D. Heiskell as a software engineer.
2024 will be his 2nd year on staff at Dark Sky Percussion.
Mike Dow
MIKE DOW - BASS DRUM INSTRUCTOR
Mike Dow began his marching career at age 16 with the Crossmen. He went on to perform 4 years with the Crossmen, and aged out of DCI with Madison Scouts in 2006. During this time, Mike also performed in WGI with United Percussion.
Mike later went on to work at United Percussion, first as a bass drum instructor, later moving on to Staff and Ensemble Coordinator. Mike also spent summers on the percussion staffs at the Troopers, Carolina Crown, Madison Scouts, The Cadets, and the Crossmen.
He has also done work as a teacher and designer for several high school programs in the NJ/PA area, as well as adjudicated in the percussion and visual captions.
Mike currently lives in Los Angeles, where he is a Project Manager for a music branding company.
2024 is Mike’s 2nd season instructing at Dark Sky.