Joshua Jenkins – Brass Caption Head
Joshua (JJ) Jenkins is a performer and educator from Fairfield, New Jersey. Currently, JJ is the Director of Bands at Ramsey High School in Ramsey, New Jersey. At Ramsey, JJ is the director of the Ramsey “Big Blue” marching band and the Ramsey Wind Ensemble. His other responsibilities include teaching instrumental lessons for grades 9-12 and coordinating for the Ramsey Winterguard and the Ramsey Winter Percussion. His past experiences include working as a band director in the Vernon Township School District in Vernon, New Jersey and a band director at Brooklawn Middle School in Parsippany, New Jersey. JJ has been a member of the New Jersey Wind Symphony, one of New Jersey’s premier community ensembles, and is currently a member of the Sussex County Brass Quintet.
JJ graduated from Ithaca College with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education. During his time at Ithaca College, he studied french horn with professor Alexander Shuhan and played in many of the college’s ensembles. He was a member of the Ithaca College Concert and Symphonic Bands as well as the Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra and the Ithaca College Wind Ensemble.
No stranger to drum corps, JJ has been a member of the Hawthorne Caballeros from 2008-2017. During his time at the Caballeros, he marched mellophone, held the position of head drum major, was the mellophone technician in 2015, Assistant Brass Caption Head in 2018, and Brass Caption Head in 2019. JJ was also a member of the Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps in 2013 and 2014. During his time with Crown, he was the recipient of the 27th Lancers Foundation Scholarship and was a member of the 2013 DCI World Champion corps. JJ is excited to bring his skills and all he has learned to further the growth of the brass program at the Caballeros!
Kyle Risch – Assistant Brass Caption Head
Kyle Risch, Conductor, is in his eighth year as a public school educator and sixth with the Hawthorne Caballeros. He currently resides at Stetson Middle School where he teaches all the band classes and directs the Jazz Band. He is also a part of the school’s Equity and SEL teams. Inside of the West Chester Area School District, Kyle is also the Assistant Director with the Rustin Marching Band. He also enjoys composing/arranging and teaching private trumpet lessons.
Kyle is a graduate of West Chester University, receiving his Bachelors of Music Education degree in 2013 and his Master’s Degree in Wind Conducting in 2018. During his studies at WCU he has been fortunate to play in the university’s premier ensembles including the Wind Ensemble under the direction of Dr. Andrew Yozviak and the Criterions Jazz Ensemble lead by Dr. Marc Jacoby. Kyle’s professional affiliations include: MENC, PMEA, NBA, NEA, PSEA, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.
Armon Raygani – Visual Caption Head
Armon Raygani is a Music Educator living in Central Pennsylvania. Armon holds his Bachelor of Science degree in Music from Towson University as well as his Master of Music degree in Instrumental Conducting from West Chester University. 2021 will be Armon’s second full season with the Hawthorne Caballeros, and his first as Visual Caption Head.
Armon spent five summers with The Cadets2, spending the last three as drum major of the corps and leading the corps to earn its first World Championship title. Armon has also spent three years as drum major of the Towson University Marching Band where he taught marching fundamentals and had the opportunity to learn from Gino Cipriani and John Miliauskas.
Armon is currently the Director of Bands at Camp Hill Middle & High School, where he directs the High School Symphonic Band, Marching Band, Middle School concert bands, and two Jazz Bands. Armon has worked with the Perry Hall High School and Downingtown East marching bands, Fusion Core (DCA), and judges during the fall season. Armon lives with his wife Taylor and their two cats in Camp Hill, PA.
Taylor Aves – Color Guard Caption Head
Taylor began her color guard career in middle school with the Mechanicsburg Color Guard program and marched every indoor and outdoor season from sixth grade until she graduated in 2014. While in high school, she began her drum corps career marching two summers with the Hawthorne Caballeros (2012-2013). Taylor continued her marching career during college by marching with the West Chester University Marching Band (2016-2017) where she served as a captain her senior year, the Towson University Winter Guard (2017), and AMP World (2018-2019). Taylor also marched Cadets2 (2015-2018), serving as a captain in the 2016 and 2018 seasons.
Taylor began teaching the Hawthorne Caballeros in 2019, and this is her first year as color guard caption head. She currently works with color guard programs out of the greater Harrisburg area and is on the administrative team for AMP Winter Guard. She also taught the Downingtown East High School color guard program 2017-2020, serving as color guard director 2019-2020.
Taylor is a graduate student at Penn State Harrisburg pursuing her Master’s in Applied Behavior Analysis. She works as a behavior technician with children who have special needs and resides in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania with her husband, Armon.
Taylor is incredibly excited to be returning on staff and begin her first year as color guard caption head!
Mark Monaghan – Percussion CH & Music Coordinator
Mark is a NJ based musician and educator. As a graduate of Rutgers University, he holds degrees in both music education (percussion focus) and psychology. Having worked with various scholastic percussion ensembles in New Jersey, Mark has also worked with various independent musical organizations such as The Santa Clara Vanguard (percussion technician) and The Hawthorne Caballeros Drum and Bugle Corps (percussion/music coordinator). He has also worked with his alma mater, the Rutgers University Marching Scarlet Knights, since 2016. Mark would like to thank his teachers for their immeasurable impact on his musical career as well as for their selflessness, time and energy: Joseph Tompkins, Kyle Zerna, Mike Truesdell, Javier Diaz, Todd Nichols, Paul/Sandi Rennick and Kevin Chaffinch.
Kirby Marino – Percussion Coordinator
Kirby is a percussion educator and arranger based in New Jersey. He started his marching career at Phillipsburg High School in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. He then went on to march quads with the Raiders Drum and Bugle Corps (2012-2013) and Fusion “Core” (2015). Kirby aged out with the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps in 2016 and marched with United Percussion (2014-2017), aging out as battery captain.
Kirby has taught and arranged for numerous high schools in New Jersey, but he is currently the percussion director/arranger at Bridgewater-Raritan High School. He was a quad technician at the Hawthorne Caballeros (2017-2019) and then assumed the role of battery coordinator (2020-Present). He is excited to continue the Hawthorne Caballeros’ tradition of excellence!
Matt Blood – Front Coordinator & Music Arranger
Matt Blood is a marching arts designer, educator, and consultant based out of Southern New Jersey. He has worked with many marching bands, indoor percussion ensembles, and drum corps on the East Coast as the sole proprietor of mattbloodmusic.com. Currently, Matt holds the positions of Front Ensemble Caption Head/Arranger for the Hawthorne Caballeros, Front Ensemble Caption Head/Staff Arranger for the Rutgers University Marching Scarlet Knights, Front Ensemble Arranger for the Jersey Surf Drum and Bugle Corps, Front Ensemble Caption Head for United Percussion World and Front Ensemble Arranger for United Percussion 2.
Matt received his Bachelor’s degree in classical percussion performance from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, where he learned from Joe Tompkins, Kyle Zerna, Mike Truesdell, and Javier Diaz. In addition, Matt has performed as a member of the United Percussion Front Ensemble during their 2012-2014 seasons, and was fortunate enough to work with many amazing educators, including Steve Ballard and Ian Hale.
Matt is extremely excited to continue building on the success of the 2021 championship season in 2022 with the Cabs!
