Matt Matthews

Mr. Matthews has been the Director of Bands at Colony High School starting in 2017. He is incredibly proud to lead the Wind Ensemble, Color Guard, Symphonic Band, Percussion Ensemble, and the award-winning “Titan Regiment” marching band!

Matt is the former Associate Director of Instrumental Music at Fountain Valley High School in Orange County, CA. His roles there included co-directing the “Royal Regiment” marching band and concert bands, as well as directing the jazz band and orchestra. During his time at FVHS, the band and orchestra programs consistently received high ratings and awards for their performances. Prior to his position at Fountain Valley, he actively taught in his home state of Ohio; as well as Georgia and Texas.

He has worked with a variety of marching ensembles and indoor percussion groups including Miamisburg High School, Bellbrook High School, Cedar Park High School, and Matrix Indoor Percussion. His roles in those schools have included instructing the marching band, teaching private lessons, and conducting various music ensembles including musicals and brass choirs.

Matt was a marching member of the Glassmen Drum and Bugle Corps from Toledo, Ohio for four years. After aging out with a “Distinguished Service” award, he returned to the corps as a visual staff member. Matt has also served in both music and visual roles with the Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps.

When not teaching, Matt enjoys spending time with his loving wife Arwen, their son Teddy, and their new rescue dog, Rally. 

Tate Kinsella

Tate Kinsella is an active drum set player, and percussionist in the Southern California area. Since discovering his passion for music at an early age, Tate has been pursuing music relentlessly. Since his recent graduation from the University of Redlands School of Music with a B.M. In Drum set Performance, Tate has studied with some of the greatest musicians in SoCal such as: Joel Taylor, Dan Schnell, Nicholas Semrad, Bill Schlitt, David Scott, Yuri Inoo, Scott Worthington, and Jody Fisher. Besides his studies, Tate has also worked as a touring, session, and Live drumset player performing with artists and groups such as : Tru-Lee, CARLY, Sophia Bollman (as seen on NBC’s The Voice), The national tour of “How to succeed in business without really trying”, Joe Bagg, and his new trio project Polyfeels. Tate has also been actively teaching private lessons and high school ensembles for the last 5 years. He has served as the Percussion Caption Head and Arranger for San Gorgonio High School, Percussion Director for Riverside Poly High School, Kaiser High School, and Riverside North High School. He just recently took the position of Percussion and drum set head for the Keyboard Arts School of Music in Wrightwood. 

Nathan Banegas

A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Nathan began his musical career playing trumpet in his elementary school band. Seeing that he had a great affinity for music, Nathan went on to play all throughout middle and high school. After graduating high school, Nathan began his drum corps career with Forte Drum and Bugle Corps in 2010. He would then continue on to march with The Blue Devils for 3 seasons from 2011-2013, helping earn the corps' 15th title in 2012, as well as earning the high visual performer award "Sweet Feet" in the same year.

Nathan’s teaching career began at Destrehan High School (Destrehan, LA) and Lafayette High School (Lafayette, LA) during the off season (along with numerous other high schools throughout the state of Louisiana).

Nathan’s drum corps instructional experience consists of teaching the Louisiana Stars in 2014 (during its inaugural season) and 2015. He also taught Blue Devils B 2014-2016 and the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle corps 2017-2018 (Assistant Visual Caption Head).

Nathan moved to Southern California and teaches at multiple high schools in the area (Colony High School, Riverside Poly Band and Color Guard, and University High School). He also does trumpet coaching at a middle school, private lessons on the side, writes marching band music for 3 high schools, and writes drill for 2 high schools.

When he’s not in the marching band scene, Nathan is an avid trumpet player who gigs during the holidays and gives private lessons.

Kaiden Waterman

Kaiden Waterman is a freelance French Horn professional living in the greater Los Angeles area. Kaiden has played engagements such as the Spiderman Across the Spiderverse Live in Concert national tour, Harry Potter live with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and Barry Manilow’s Very Barry Christmas in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kaiden actively plays Horn for live engagements, recording work, film and television, touring organizations, educational outreach, and much more. He is also an active music educator having taught over a dozen marching band programs, as well as countless group and private lessons. Aside from just playing the French Horn, Kaiden is an avid Horn collector (of the catch and release variety), and actively cultivates a large network of collectors, repair professionals, and other like-minded individuals.

Ethan Greek

Ethan is a musician/percussionist based in the Orange County area, and is currently attending Cal State Fullerton for music education. At Colony, he is one of the battery instructors and has been teaching here for 2 years. His performance experience includes Colony HS 17-21, Gold Indoor 21-23, RCC Marching Tigers 21-23, Pacific Crest 24, and POW Percussion 24-26. His teaching experience includes Corona HS, Etiwanda HS, Colony HS, and Impulse Drum and Bugle Corps this upcoming summer!

Sammie Dobson