Pioneer Indoor
Staff Information
Adam Hill
Director
Adam Hill is an educator/percussionist in the Chicagoland area. He is a Music Education Graduate with a percussion emphasis from VanderCook College of Music under the instruction of Kevin Lepper and Dr. Charlie Menghini. He currently is the Executive Director and founder of the 2 time world champion Pioneer Indoor an Independent WGI marching percussion ensemble. Hill is also director of percussion, music technology, music theory, guitar and assistant marching band director at Romeoville High School in Romeoville IL. Hill is also employed by the Chicago Bears as a member of the Chicago Bears drumline and with the Chicago Bulls as a member of the “Stampede“ Drumline. He was also a member of and percussion coordinator/ caption head and arranger for the Pioneer Drum and Bugle Corps. Hill has Placed with in the top ten for snare drum solo contest in Drum Corp International, Drum Corps Midwest, PASIC, and in 2002 he placed 2nd at DCI snare drum solo competition. Hill is also a recipient of the Dr. Rosenthal Excellent teachers award from Vandercook College of Music. Adam Hill is a very active music arranger, judge, and clinician around the Chicagoland. He is also very proud to be a Pro-Mark, Evans and Mapex/Majestic, Zildjian Percussion endorser.
Don Click
Program Coordinator, Visual Design
Don Click is co-founder of the Music City Mystique youth organization and served as the Executive Director until 2006. He currently serves on the Board of Directors and is a member of the design team.
Don attended the University of North Texas where he earned a degree in Finance. While at UNT, Don spent three years as a member of the UNT indoor drumline. During this time, the drumline won two championships at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. Don also has deep roots in the Drum and Bugle Corps (DCI) activity. Don was a member of the 1985 Bridgemen, the 1988 Suncoast Sound, and the 1989 Concord Blue Devils. He has taught and continues to arrange and consult at various high schools throughout the nation and is a sought after judge both for fall marching band competitions as well as Winter Percussion shows.
Don has served as President of the Southeastern Color Guard Circuit where he was formerly the Percussion Coordinator. With Winter Guard International, Don has held the responsibilities of being a member of the Percussion Advisory Board, Percussion Steering Committee, and is a current member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee serving as Secretary. He was inducted into the Winter Guard International Hall of Fame in 2010.
Don currently lives in Katy, TX with his wife, Stephani, and two children, Avery and Piper.
Brandon Estes
Show Design, Battery Coordinator, Snare Tech
Brandon Estes, Associate Director of Bands at Naperville Central High School, has been an active arranger, clinician and adjudicator in the Chicagoland area and various areas in Texas. A native of Houston Texas, Mr. Estes holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Texas State University – San Marcos where he studied in percussion under Genaro Gonzalez, Tony Edwards and John Lopez. He earned his Master's degree in Music Performance-Percussion from Northern Illinois University, where he studied under and was Graduate Percussion Assistant to Professor Robert Chappell and Dr. Gregory Beyer as well as Richard Holly and Liam Teague.
Mr. Estes' extensive drum corps marching experience includes membership with the Pioneer as well as the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps between 1998 and 2002. In 2005, he also served as Co-Arranger and Percussion Caption Head of the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps. Brandon is currently Director of the Chicago Bears Drumline and a founding member of the Chicago Bulls “Stampede” Drumline.
As an orchestral performer, Estes has performed with the Austin Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Elmhurst Symphony of Elmhurst, Illinois and most recently with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Show Design, Bass Tech
Allan Zwettler is a native of the Chicagoland area and has been actively instructing Illinois marching bands for over 12 years. He was a member of the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps and has taught with numerous drum corps, including the Madison Scouts and the Blue Stars.
Allan currently serves as Percussion Caption Head at Naperville Central High School in Naperville, IL. He is also a design team and percussion staff member with the Pioneer Indoor Winter Drumline. He is proud to be a founding staff member and is excited to be returning to Pioneer Indoor for another season.
Allan has bachelor’s degrees in business administration and elementary education from Northern Illinois University. He is a proud endorser of Pro-Mark drumsticks.
Andy DittrichSnare Tech
Andy Dittrich is a percussion instructor and clinician in the Chicagoland area. A graduate of the University of Illinois and a nine-year drum corps veteran, Andy has become a sought-after and respected marching percussion teacher and consultant. Andy’s long drum corps career included time with Capital Sound (Madison, WI), where he performed under the guidance of Jeff Peterson and Erik Jansson, Southwind, under T.R and Patrick Fitz-Gibbon, and the Madison Scouts, under Roger Carter. Andy also spent four years performing with the Illini Drumline of the University of Illinois. Since aging out, Andy has performed professionally with the drumlines for both the Chicago Bears and Chicago Bulls.
Andy has served as an instructor or consultant for many of Illinois’ top high school programs. In 2009, he served as a battery technician for the Pioneer Drum & Bugle Corps, working with Adam Hill. Andy is currently the percussion director for the Joliet West High School marching band, where he has served in various roles since 2007. He also is a director of the Illini Drumline Clinic, a marching percussion clinic for high school students held annually in Champaign, IL.
Cymbal Tech
Jennifer Tarka, is a performer and music educator in the Chicago-land area. She graduated from VanderCook College of Music, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in music education. She is presently in her fourth year with the Pioneer Organizations (Drum & Bugle Corps and Indoor Percussion Ensemble). She began her marching cymbals career in 2004, when she marched her age-out year of DCI with Pioneer Drum & Bugle Corps. Currently, Jennifer works as a general music teacher in Chicago, where she teaches kindergarten through 8th grade. She also consults for marching cymbal lines in the Chicago-land area. Outside of teaching, Jennifer continues to perform in the Moraine Valley Community Percussion Ensemble and the Moraine Valley Community Concert Band.
Kimmie Wallace
Visual Coordinator
Bio Coming Soon
Andrew Strauss
Visual Tech
Andrew Strauss is recent graduate of DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. He received his Bachelors of Science degree in Mathematics Education last autumn and is currently working at Academy South in Township High School District 211. Outside of school, Andrew is also a professional percussionist performing for the Chicago Bears and Chicago Bulls drumlines. While he has been a musician his whole life, he honed his percussion skills performing and teaching with both the Pioneer Drum and Bugle Corps, from Milwaukee, WI and Pioneer Indoor from Romeoville, IL. Andrew has spent a total of 7 full seasons with the drum corps, split between four years as a marching member and the remaining time as the Bass Drum Technician. He was also a member of the 2008 World Champion Pioneer Indoor playing Snare Drum and has been on staff as both a visual and music educator the past two seasons.
Gina DeGregorio
Front Ensemble Tech
A graduate of VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, Gina is currently a band director at Deer Path Middle School in Lake Forest. In addition to her marching experience as a former member of the Pioneer Drum & Bugle Corps, Gina has first-hand knowledge of theatrical productions as a performer and instructor and is an experienced percussion instructor at Hersey High School.
Front Ensemble Tech
Tom Moffitt is currently a senior at Northern Illinois University, studying Electrical Engineering. With over a decade of experience in the fields of percussion, guitar and piano, Tom is primarily a recording musician and educator in the Chicagoland area. Tom started his experience in the realm of Front Ensemble throughout high school, and continued his endeavors as a member of the 2007 Pioneer Indoor Front Ensemble, as well as the Madison Scouts Front Ensemble from 2007-2011, serving as section leader in both organizations. Tom is currently a Drumline member of the NIU Huskie Marching Band, where he receives instruction under Bret Kuhn. Throughout his extensive drum corps career, Tom has received education from Roger Carter, Nick Angelis, Jeff Lee, Dr. Brad Meyer, and Dr. Andrew Bliss.
Given his tenure as a recording musician, Tom is experienced in professional audio configurations and live sound settings. The 2012 season will serve as Tom's second year as an instructor for the Pioneer Indoor Front Ensemble, as well as serving as the group's electronics engineer.
Dustin Shahidehpour
Front Ensemble Tech
Dustin Shahidehpour is currently a 3rd year student at the Illinois Institute of Technology where he is pursuing a degree in Computer Science. He was also a student at the Lawrence Conservatory of Music where he studied closely with Dane Richeson, Jamie Ryan, and briefly, Nancy Zeltsman.
Dustin also has an extensive background in Drum Corps. From 2007 to 2009 he was a member of the Madison Scouts. During his time there, Dustin served as the section leader for two seasons and was under the instruction of Roger Carter, Dr. Andrew Bliss, and Dr. Brad Meyer. In 2010, he moved on to the Phantom Regiment where he won the Fred Sanford High Percussion Trophy under the direction of Paul and Sandi Rennick. For his age-out year in 2011, Dustin served as the Front Ensemble section leader for the Santa Clara Vanguard, which was also under the direction of the Rennicks.
This will be Dustin’s first full-time season with Pioneer Indoor. In the past, Dustin has worked with Naperville Central High School and Lemont High School.
Bryan Harmsen
Music Arranger, Show Design
Bryan is the owner of Visaudio Designs. He has arranged for and been a clinician and instructor for a number of schools around the country, primarily in Texas. He is a music arranger with a focus in percussion arranging and his arrangements and compositions have helped many ensembles earn numerous gold medals on their local circuits as well as finalist positions and the 2011 PSO SIlver medalist at WGI World Championships. Bryan was a member of a number of drum and bugle corps including Spirit of Atlanta, 2000, Southwind, 2001 and 2002, and The Cavaliers for 2003 and the 2004 championship season.
Recently, Bryan has also started giving clinics and master classes on using the Virtual Drumline sound library from Tapspace Publications. Contact him if you would be interested in setting one up in your area. While not working on music, Bryan also dabbles in web and graphic design and has an affinity for all things on the leading edge of technology. He currently resides in Louisville, Kentucky with his wife Emily and their two dogs and two cats, Roxy, Wilson, Ralphie, and Bella.
