Matt Hurley – Program Coordinator
Matt Hurley will be returning to the Caballeros in his role of Program Coordinator. This will be Matt’s 5th year in this role.
Matt brings with him a wealth of Drum Corps experience, having marched in DCA corps from the time he was 15. Matt’s Drum Corps marching Experience started way back in 1979 when he became a member of the Bayonne Bridgemen’s feeder corps, The Bayonne Kidets. He went on to also march with the Bayonne Bridgemen, The New York Skyliners, and the Sunrisers.
Matt also has been very active in the Indoor Color Guard world. He has performed with the
Bayonne Kidets, Conquest Color Guard, and The Emerald Marquis. He is currently the Program Coordinator for the AMP Indoor Color Guard Organization. Prior to his Role at AMP, he was also the operations manager with The Black Watch Independent World color guard for 12 years.
Matt has designed and instructed many NJ/PA High School Marching Bands throughout the years. According to Matt” Way too many to List them all”.
According to Matt “Each and every year at the Caballeros bring its own unique experience and excitement.”
Mark Monaghan – Percussion Caption Head and Music Coordinator
The Hawthorne Caballeros are excited to welcome back Mark Monaghan as Percussion Caption Head as well as our 2020 Music Coordinator!
“Mark is a percussionist/educator/arranger based out of the Northern New Jersey Area. He attended Rutgers University for his bachelor’s degree in psychology and is currently pursuing his second bachelor’s degree in Music Education.
Mark began his marching career with United Percussion in 2012. From there his marching experience included one more year with United, two years with The Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps (2012 and 2013), and two years with the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps (2014 and 2015). Mark also was part of the Rutgers University Marching Scarlet Knights Drumline for 3 Years.
Mark’s teaching experience started with Edison High School in 2012. He currently holds the Co-Caption head position there with his colleague Tom O’Hara. He has also had experience with various other high schools in the northern/southern regions of New Jersey. He has taught the Rutgers University Marching Scarlet Knights Drumline from 2015 to the present day and is also currently a bass tech with United Percussion where he has taught for several years. Mark is a current staff member of the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps, where he has taught from 2017. He was fortunate enough to be a part of the world championship edition of the Santa Clara Vanguard in 2018.
Mark is fortunate enough to have received instruction from the truly creative and inspiring minds of his teachers Kevin Chaffinch, Joseph Tompkins, Mike Truesdell, Javier Diaz, Kyle Zerna and Paul Rennick.
Mark is excited to return for his fourth year as Percussion Caption Head and first as Music Coordinator with the Hawthorne Caballeros Drum and Bugle Corps.”
Matt Blood – Front Ensemble Caption Head/Arranger
Matt Blood is a percussion arranger, educator, and performer based out of the Southern New Jersey-area. He has arranged for many marching arts ensembles, including the Haddonfield Memorial HS Marching Band, InMotion Wind Performance Company, the Eastern Regional HS Indoor Drumline, the West Deptford High School Marching Band, the Hawthorne Caballeros Drum and Bugle Corps, and the Rutgers Marching Scarlet Knights. Currently, Matt is the Percussion Supervisor/Arranger for the West Deptford Band, Front Ensemble Caption Head/Arranger for the Hawthorne Caballeros, Front Ensemble Caption Head/Arranger for the Rutgers MSK, and a Front Ensemble Technician for WGI PIW Finalist United Percussion.
Matt received his Bachelor’s degree in classical percussion performance from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, where he also has performed in some of their top ensembles. Using the knowledge he gained from educators such as Joe Tompkins, Kyle Zerna, Mike Truesdell, Javier Diaz, Steve Ballard and Ian Hale, Matt performs in local bands and orchestras in the New Jersey Tri-state area. In addition, Matt has performed as a member of the United Percussion Front Ensemble during their 2012-2014 seasons.
This will be Matt’s fourth year with the Caballeros, and he is incredibly excited to be working with this fabulous staff in 2020.
Rich Klimowicz – Sound Designer
In 2013 Rich graduated from Millersville University with his degree in Music Performance and is currently living as a freelance percussionist in Lancaster, PA. He has actively served as a Marching Percussion specialist for many years now, currently working as the District Percussion Director for the Hempfield High School Marching Knights Program, Percussion Instructor and Arranger for Millersville University Marching Band since 2009 and a Percussion Program consultant for the Penn Manor Marching Band, Millersville PA.
Rich’s drum corps career began in 2006 with The Reading Buccaneers and continued up until his age out year with the Cadets in 2010. After aging out he soon joined the staff at the Jersey Surf in 2012 and has continued to work with the World Class Organization each year, now going into his 8th consecutive year involved in Drum Corp International. In 2013 Rich joined the education and instructional staff at United Percussion and served the World Class unit up through 2015. All of these years of involvement has allowed him to grow while facing the demands of the World Class activity and along the way has partnered with Joe Costable as he founded OTFAudio. This will be Rich’s third year returning to the Hawthorne Caballeros and is excited to work with the design team going into the 2020 summer season.
In addition to his involvement with the marching arts activity, Rich has a regular orchestral performance schedule through the year and maintains a regular studio of private students. He proudly works as Vic Firth Artist and has been a member for the Vic Firth Education Team since 2012.
You can read more and follow Rich at: http://www.RichKlimowicz.com
Chris Bernotas – Brass Arranger
Chris is excited to return for his second season with the Caballeros! Composer, conductor, clinician and educator, Chris M. Bernotas brings an energetic and enthusiastic approach to the world of music education and the marching arts. An active composer and arranger of concert band and string orchestra music, Mr. Bernotas is published with Alfred Music Publishing, Daehn Publications, Wingert-Jones Publishing, Northeastern Music Publications, Carl Fischer Music, TRN Music Publishing, and Bandworks Publications. Mr. Bernotas is the co-author of Alfred Publications Sound Innovations: Ensemble Development for Young, Intermediate and Advanced Concert Band, along with Peter Boonshaft as well as co-author of the Sound Percussion method books with Dave Black.
Having a well-established history in the marching arts, Mr. Bernotas has written and arranged music for many drum corps and marching bands throughout the United States, including the Hawthorne Caballeros, Fusion Core, Connecticut Hurricanes, Rochester Crusaders, Magic of Orlando, and the University of Maryland’s ‘Mighty Sound of Maryland’ Marching Band. He also adjudicates for marching band competitions and festivals nationwide. Mr. Bernotas is an active guest conductor and presenter at clinics and conferences throughout the United States.
For recordings please visit: www.youtube.com/chrisbernotas
Follow on Twitter: @cbernotas
Like my page: www.facebook.com/chrismbernotas
Matt Penland – Percussion Arranger
The Caballeros are excited to welcome Matt Penland to the design team as our Percussion Arranger!
“Matt Penland is a percussion performer, educator, and arranger based out of Washington, D.C. where he is a percussionist in the U.S. Air Force Band. He is also on the instructional staff for The Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps, George Mason University Indoor Drumline, and Thomas Jefferson High School. Matt has performed and given masterclasses at the North Carolina Percussion Symposium, Northwestern Percussion Symposium, Nebraska PAS Day of Percussion, the University of North Carolina-Pembroke, International Percussion Festival Seoul in South Korea, and recently was a guest soloist with Sharyland Pioneer High School at PASIC 2018. He earned a Bachelor of Music Performance degree from the University of North Texas and a Master of Music Performance degree from Northwestern University. Matt is excited to begin his first year with the team at Caballeros!”
His marching career began at United Percussion in 2009 and 2010 marching quads. He then went on to march the Santa Clara Vanguard for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. With SCV, he was a featured performer at PASIC in 2013. In addition to his marching performance background, Paul received second place at the 2013 Atlanta Modern Snare Drum Competition and received first place at the 2014 PAS Kosa NY Chapter Snare Drum Competition. Paul is also credited with playing snare drum on the Wu Tang Clan album “40th Street Black”, and with helping design and perform the opening to the 2013 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Along with his performance and education experience, Paul has published a snare drum solo book through Bachovich publications, entitled “The Rutgers Solos”. As a dedicated educator, Paul has been inspired by many notable teachers; including Joseph Tompkins, Paul Rennick, Tom Aungst, Javier Diaz, Ken Riehman, and Kyle Zerna.
Justin McAdams – Visual Designer
Justin McAdams is excited to return to the Hawthorne Caballeros staff for his second year as visual designer. He is the band director and district music coordinator for the Phoenixville Area School District in southeastern Pennsylvania and recently completed his 20th year of instruction as a lead clinician with the nationally recognized George N. Parks Drum Major Academy.
Justin is no stranger to the Caballeros, as he was previously on the brass staff with the corps in 2010. He is a regionally and nationally recognized drill writer and program consultant for marching arts programs at the high school, collegiate, drums corps, and winter percussion ensembles up and down the east coast.
