Built on
Friday nights

Ryan Demkovich is the Director of Bands at Pearland High School. Before Pearland he spent five years as Director of Bands at Stephen F. Austin High School in Fort Bend ISD, where the band was a consistent Bands of America Regional and Super Regional finalist and a regular qualifier for the UIL State Marching Band Contest. He directed the SFA Symphony Orchestra at the 2018 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic and conducted the SFA Percussion Ensemble at the 2021 Midwest Clinic.

Ryan is from Jenison, Michigan and holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Western Michigan University. He moved to Houston in 2007 for the University of Houston, where he earned a master’s degree in conducting and studied with David Bertman, Eddie Green, John Benzer, and Tom Bennett.

He marched with the Glassmen Drum and Bugle Corps in 2003 and won two world championships with the Cavaliers from 2004 to 2006. He later taught on the Cavaliers brass staff and spent thirteen years as a visual instructor with the Santa Clara Vanguard. Ryan is on the faculty of SASI, The Leadership People, and adjudicates for Bands of America and UIL. He lives in Houston with his fiancé Cyndi and his dog Biscuit, holds Rockets season tickets, and spends his free time on CrossFit and the Houston food scene.

Philip Aaron Gantt is from Wagener, South Carolina and has seventeen years of teaching experience. He spent four years as director of bands at Lexington High School, and before that was an associate director at Rouse High School in Leander, Texas, director of bands at Spartanburg High School in South Carolina, and an associate director at Spartanburg.

He earned a Master of Music in Education from the University of South Carolina in 2005 and a Bachelor of Music in Education from Furman University in 2003. His primary instrument is saxophone, and his teachers included Dr. Cliff Leaman, Dr. Matt Olson, and Sam Skelton. His ensembles have earned consistent superior ratings at SCBDA and UIL marching and concert events.

Mr. Gantt is active in the WGI and DCI communities and is part of the color guard staff for the Boston Crusaders. When he is not doing band, he hangs out with his cats, Alfredo, Lana, and Jezebel.

Jordan Barker is an Associate Band Director at Pearland High School, where he directs the Concert Band and Prep Band. Both ensembles have earned UIL Sweepstakes.

Originally from Fort Worth, Jordan graduated cum laude from the University of Houston with a bachelor’s degree in music education, studying with David Bertman, Cory Meals, Cameron Kubos, and trumpet with Mark Hughes. At UH he performed with the Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band and with the Spirit of Houston Marching Band as a performer and arranger.

He marched trumpet with the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps from 2016 to 2018 and has since served on their brass staff and design team. He is an active arranger and composer for groups across the country. Mr. Barker lives in Pearland with his rescue dog, Lucy.

Mike Royer is a Houston native with more than fifteen years of teaching and performing experience. He was previously Director of Percussion at Klein Oak High School. He earned a Master of Music in Percussion Performance from the University of Arizona in 2016 and a Bachelor of Music Education from McNeese State University in 2014, where he also taught percussion at Sam Houston, Sulphur, and A. M. Barbe High Schools in the Lake Charles area.

He performed with the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps from 2008 to 2010, earning Rookie of the Year in 2008, and with the Cavaliers in 2011 and 2012, where the corps won the Fred Sanford award for high percussion in 2011. He was on the percussion staff at Legends Drum and Bugle Corps from 2014 to 2019, which earned the High Percussion award in 2019.

Mike has been a guest artist with Cedar Creek Summer Drumming, McNeese State Percussion Camp, Yamaha Sounds of Summer, Imperio Marching of Medellín, and Drum Corps International. He is drum captain for the Houston Texans Deep Steel Thunder Drumline and a performing artist for D’Addario. He lives in downtown Houston with his wife Ashleigh and their Great Dane, Drew.

Jacoby Taylor’s marching arts career started at Klein Collins High School in Spring, Texas. After graduation he performed with independent guards and spent four summers with the Madison Scouts, three of them as captain of the color guard.

Jacoby has worked with programs across Texas as a director, designer, choreographer, and clinician. He is the founder and director of Undaunted, an independent open class color guard based in Houston, and serves as Movement Coordinator for the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps.