Educational Staff
Austin Herald - Visual & Brass
Austin Herald is a native of Murray, KY and graduate of Murray State University, where he received his bachelors in Music in 2016. He went on to complete his Masters in Business Administration in 2019. Last fall he moved to St. Louis to begin his career in finance. He started his music career playing French Horn in grade school and learned mellophone for high school and college marching band. Austin auditioned and was offered a contract as a member of the mellophone section for the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps in 2011, where he marched for one summer. In 2013, he received a contract to march with the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps, which is where he marched until his age-out year in 2015. Austin will be specializing in high brass and visual instruction for the Waterloo Marching Band this year.
2024 will be Austin's 4th year teaching the WHS Band!
Brianna Smith - Front Ensemble
Brianna Smith is a native of Davenport, Iowa and has been involved in percussion activities since her elementary school days. Brianna has led her high school battery as snare captain, was a principal percussionist in high school indoor ensembles, and played bass drum for Northern Illinois University under the direction of Innovative Percussion Artist Bret Kuhn.
Brianna was the 2019 WHS Front Ensemble teacher and is excited to come back and help the Waterloo Marching Bulldogs continue to grow!
2025 will be Brianna's 5th year teaching the WHS Band!
Jay Spirakis - Low Brass & Visual
Coming soon!
Colorguard - Alan Willingham
Alan has been involved in the marching arts as a performer, instructor and judge for over 30 years. He began his color guard career as a member of the Black Knights Drum & Bugle Corps Belleville, IL and later as a member and instructor of the Railmen Drum and Bugle Corps, Omaha NE. Since that time, he has instructed many award winning color guards across the country to include groups from Nebraska, Iowa, New Mexico, Alabama, as well as several programs within the Metro East. Most recently he was the guard designer for the Murphysboro High School band and instructor for the Belleville West Winter Guards.
Alan Is a retired Lt Col from the United States Air Force and currently works full time with the Department of Veteran Affairs. He received his bachelor’s degree in speech communication from SIU Carbondale and received his master’s degree in management from Florida Institute of Technology. He has been married to wife Sharilyn for the past 27 years and they have 2 children a daughter “Gus” and son Evan. Sharilyn and Alan have team instructed color guards over their time together and look forward to bringing education and success to the Marching Bulldogs.
2024 will be Alan's 2nd year with the WHS band!
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Adam Unnerstall - Woodwinds
Adam Unnerstall is a renaissance man when it comes to the music industry. Based in the St. Louis area, his resume is full of interesting and diverse experiences. Primarily a music educator, Adam was the music director at Valmeyer School District #3, located in Valmeyer, Illinois, for three years where he served as the one music professional in the entire district, responsible for all Kindergarten-5th grade general music, junior high choir and band, high school choir and band, as well as directing the high school’s yearly fall musical production. He also taught clinicals across Illinois and Wisconsin in both rural and inner-city schools. He has been a guest conductor with the Waterloo Municipal Band and a guest clinician for Waterloo Junior High School’s performance concert. Adam worked as a valued marching band staff member for Bloomington High School and Waterloo High School, which are two competitive programs in Illinois. Adam is currently pursuing his Master of Arts degree in music at the critically acclaimed Webster University located in St. Louis, Missouri.
2024 will be Adam's 4th year teaching the WHS Band!
Joel Caskey - Battery
Hey! I'm from Murphysboro, Illinois where I started studying percussion back in 1999. Since then, I have continued to study and pursue music as a passion and degree. I've been in so many ensembles that I've lost count; I participated in ensembles in elementary, middle, and high school as well as for my undergraduate degree in college. While at Murphysboro I participated in marching, jazz, concert ensembles first as a student and later as an instructor. I attended Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Music Business while minoring in Music composition; Digital Studies and Social Sciences; Business Administration; and English Literature. I have spent a collective 7 years as a front ensemble & battery instructor in both Murphysboro and Carterville, Illinois. Additionally, I have performed in several orchestras, including the Symphony Orchestra in Paducah, Kentucky.
2024 will be Joel's 4th year teaching the WHS Band!
Design Staff
Drill & Visual Design
Keegan Bosch - Drill & Design
Keegan Bosch (they/them) is a writer, composer, and educator currently living in the Portland, OR metro. After marching with Pioneer (2013) and the Phantom Regiment (2014-2016), they worked in a number of positions throughout the marching arts. Notably, Keegan has served as a visual technician for Center Grove High School, a brass tech for Southwind Drum and Bugle Corps, and most recently as the Percussion Caption Head for Mt. Pleasant High School in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. They currently work on the visual staff for the Seattle Cascades Drum and Bugle Corps. Keegan holds a BA in English from the University of Northern Iowa, an MA in Communication from Ball State University, and a Bachelor in Music Education from Central Michigan University. In the tiny bit of free time they have, Keegan enjoys playing soccer, coaching collegiate debate, and running too much.
Music Design
Zachary Geller - Music Design
Zachary Geller is a teacher, composer and arranger living in Buffalo Grove, IL. He is currently the Director of Bands at Grayslake Central High School in Grayslake Illinois and has taught instrumental music for 12 years. He received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2010, and his Master of Music Education degree in 2018 from U of I as well. As an undergrad at the University of Illinois, Zach was a member of the Marching Illini for four years, during which he arranged the music of Ben Folds, which was performed by the Marching Illini in 2009. He was also assistant director, and later, director of the Orange and Blues Band. While at the University of Illinois, Mr. Geller studied trumpet privately with Professors Ronald Romm, Tito Carrillo, and the late Dr. Michael Ewald, conducting with Dr. Joseph Manfredo and Dr. Louis Bergonzi, and music technology with Professor Scott Wyatt. Zach has been composing and arranging music for marching bands all across IL for over a decade, and is excited to be working once again with the amazing Waterloo High School Band program.
Colorguard Design
Alan Willingham & Sharilyn Willingham (Dance)
Alan has been involved in the marching arts as a performer, instructor and judge for over 30 years. He began his color guard career as a member of the Black Knights Drum & Bugle Corps Belleville, IL and later as a member and instructor of the Railmen Drum and Bugle Corps, Omaha NE. Since that time, he has instructed many award winning color guards across the country to include groups from Nebraska, Iowa, New Mexico, Alabama, as well as several programs within the Metro East. Most recently he was the guard designer for the Murphysboro High School band and instructor for the Belleville West Winter Guards.
Alan Is a retired Lt Col from the United States Air Force and currently works full time with the Department of Veteran Affairs. He received his bachelor’s degree in speech communication from SIU Carbondale and received his master’s degree in management from Florida Institute of Technology. He has been married to wife Sharilyn for the past 27 years and they have 2 children a daughter “Gus” and son Evan. Sharilyn and Alan have team instructed color guards over their time together and look forward to bringing education and success to the Marching Bulldogs.
Percussion Design
Riley Warren - Percussion Design
Riley Warren is the owner of Rhythmic Wavelengths LLC. Riley is a native of Austin, Texas where he attended Round Rock High School and performed with the award winning Rock Drums. Riley holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from University of Texas at Austin with a B.M. in Music Studies and a Performance Certificate, where he studied with Dr. Thomas Burritt, Tony Edwards, Jerry Junkin, and Dr. Bob Duke.
Riley is currently in his 6th year as Director of Percussion at Forney High School, where he has taught since 2017. Under his direction, the Forney HS Drumline and Indoor Drumline have earned high accolades at contests in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, as well as receiving percussion captions at multiple area marching band competitions. Most recently, the Forney HS Percussion Ensemble was selected to perform a Showcase concert at the 2022 Percussive Arts Society International Convention.
Prior to working at Forney, Riley served as percussion instructor at several notable Texas high school band programs including Vandegrift HS, Cedar Ridge HS, and Round Rock HS, working under the direction of Paul Pape, Mike Howard, Joe Hobbs, Rick Rodriguez, and Steve Roeder. He has also worked with Leander HS, Lake Travis HS, East View HS, and Manor HS.
Riley spent six consecutive summers from 2010-2015 performing in Drum Corps International as a member of The Crossmen and The Cadets, serving as Front Ensemble Section Leader for both groups. During his time with The Cadets, Riley was recognized as Rookie of the Year in 2014 and Cadet of the Year in 2015. During his time with these organizations, Riley studied with Dr. Iain Moyer, Colin McNutt, Ian Hale, Michael Zellers, Jason Ihnat, Nathan Ratliff, Jules Scogna, and Buck Palmer.
Visit https://rhythmicwavelengths.com/riley-warrens-bio/ to read more!
