Richardson Berkner Ram Band Directors & Staff
Berkner Band Hall Phone Numbers
Main Office:
469-593-7020
Fax: 469-593-7212
Frank
Troyka
Director of Berkner Bands
469-593-7021
frank.troyka@risd.org
Frank Troyka began his career in 1984 in the Richardson ISD at
Forest Meadow Junior High School where he was the Assistant Band
Director. Four years later he accepted a similar position at Lake
Highlands High School where he worked closely with Malcolm Helm.
From 1991-1996, Frank was the Assistant Band Director at Westfield
High School in the Spring ISD. In addition to conducting the 2nd
band, he played a significant role in the instruction and design of
the marching band, arranging the wind book for the 1992 State
Finalist Big Red Band. In 1993, Mr. Troyka's 2nd band at Westfield
was invited to perform at the Bands of America National Concert Band
Festival, having been selected from an extensive pool of bands that
submitted audition recordings from around the United States. Though a
non-varsity ensemble, Mr. Troyka's 2nd band at Westfield was invited
as a 1st band, performing 17 of the 25 movements of Carl Orff's
magnum opus, “Carmina Burana” (four of which Mr. Troyka
transcribed himself).
Since 1999, Frank has been the Director of Bands at Cypress Falls
High School in the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD until joining Berkner High
School in May of 2006. Under his leadership, the Cypress Falls Band
was selected as a finalist in the Texas Music Educators Association
Honor Band Competition, a featured ensemble at the Bands of America
National Concert Band Festival, a featured ensemble at The Midwest
Clinic, and it is one of only two band programs world-wide to receive
the 2005 Sudler Flag of Honor from the John Philip Sousa Foundation.
The percussion ensemble was a showcase group at the 2004 Percussive
Arts Society International Convention in Nashville and has captured
five state championship titles in concert and marching percussion
competition in the Texas Color Guard Circuit percussion division.
The Cypress Falls Marching Band is a top three finalist at Bands
of America regional competition, a finalist at the BOA Super Regional
in San Antonio, a UIL State Marching Band Contest semi-finalist, and
the color guard recently received its third consecutive state title
in Texas Color Guard Circuit competition. After having been promoted
from the Scholastic A classification in Winter Guard International
competition to the Scholastic Open class, the 2006 Cypress Falls
Color Guard finished 4th in the world at the 2006 WGI Championships
in Dayton, Ohio in April of this year. Since that time, the color
guard has been promoted to the Scholastic World classification, the
most competitive and select level of competition in the activity.
Frank is also very active as a lecturer and clinician throughout
Texas and the United States. He is a perennial faculty member of the
Bands of America Weekend Leadership Experience summer workshop and
served as one of the concert band conductors at the 2003 BOA Summer
Symposium held at Illinois State University. In addition, he occupies
a seat on the Bands of America Advisory Board.
Mr. Troyka also presents annual student leadership training
workshops throughout Texas and various schools and colleges
throughout the country. He is the author “Practical Leadership
for Bands,” a self-published workbook and reference tool used
to prepare students to step into their roles as leaders in their high
school bands.
A member of the Texas Music Educators Association and the Texas
Bandmasters Association, Frank has presented numerous clinics for
directors and students at both of these conventions since 1982. He
also has presented workshops for directors and students in Georgia,
New Jersey, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah, Oklahoma, Louisiana,
Michigan, Illinois, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Wyoming.
A native of Tupelo, Mississippi, Frank graduated from Sturgis High
School (Michigan) in 1977 and began his college career at Western
Michigan University in Kalamazoo. It was there that he learned about
the quality of the public school band programs in the state of Texas,
so at the age of 19 he moved to Dallas to finish his degree at the
University of Texas at Arlington. A resident of Texas since 1979,
Frank considers himself a “Naturalized Texan.”
Reagan
Brumley
Associate Band Director
reagan.brumley@risd.org
Reagan Brumley is an Associate Band Director at Berkner High
School where his responsibilities include serving as the conductor of
Symphonic II Band, coordinating the private lesson program, and
teaching 6th grade band in the cluster. Before arriving at Berkner,
Reagan served as Associate Band Director at Lake Highlands High
School where his 2nd Band received exclusively 1st Division ratings
at UIL Concert and Sight-Reading Contest. Reagan also served as the
Music Caption Head for the Lake Highlands Marching Band, which
finished in the top 3 finalists at the prestigious Duncanville
Marching Invitational for the first time in school history, and also
was named a finalist at the Birdville Marching Festival and the UIL
Area Marching Contest. During Reagan’s time at Lake Highlands,
he also taught beginning band at White Rock, Stults Road, and
Hamilton Park Elementary Schools.
Prior to Reagan’s arrival to Richardson ISD, he taught in
Red Oak ISD where he served as conductor of both the Red Oak High
School and Junior High Non-Varsity Concert Bands, both of which
earned 1st Division ratings at UIL Concert and Sight-Reading Contest.
He also directed all outdoor marching band rehearsals, leading the
band to their highest finish at Area Marching Contest in school
history.
Reagan is also privileged to have served as Co-Director of the
Texas A&M University-Commerce Marching Band, which was the
featured exhibition band at several marching contests in the DFW and
east Texas areas. In addition, Reagan was Associate Conductor of the
A&M Commerce Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band while working as a
graduate assistant in the band department. Reagan completed the
Master of Music in Wind Conducting in 2005.
Reagan has been an All-Region Band clinician and a clinician for
bands in the DFW area, and has also presented clinics at the
conferences of TMEA and The Midwest Clinic in Chicago. Reagan and his
wife Cayce, a medical doctor at UT-Southwestern Medical Center, are
both originally from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and now reside in
Richardson.
David
DeSoto
Associate Band Director
David DeSoto grew up in South Carolina
where he played euphonium for two years in the All-State band. A
graduate of Irmo High School, Mr. DeSoto started marching in the
seventh grade and has a first place medal in marching state
championships all six years and one first in class 3A at a BOA
regional. He performed at the Western International Band Clinic,
Bands Of America National Concert Band Festival, the Chattanooga
National Adjudicators Invitational, and the Midwest Clinic.
Mr. DeSoto was one of two undergraduate
euphonium students to enter the University of North Texas in the fall
of 2001. He became the euphonium section leader in 2002, drum
major of the Green Brigade in 2003 and also played euphonium and
co-directed the UNT Basketball Band. That year he also began teaching
band camps with Creekview High School and was a visual and music
staff member and low brass private lesson teacher through 2006. Mr.
DeSoto helped start the DCA Frontier Drum and Bugle Corps, now the
Vigilantes, as visual staff and was later asked to conduct as its
drum major as well. He has also worked as music staff with the DCI
Capital Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps in 2006.
Mr. DeSoto student taught with Arbor
Creek Middle School and Hebron High School of Lewisville ISD. He
graduated from UNT in December of 2006 and continued to teach lessons
and master classes at Hebron until he was employed by Plano West
Senior High School. He served Plano West for two years conducting the
Symphonic Band and teaching marching fundamentals.
Mr. DeSoto is a member of the Texas
Music Educators Association and an alumnus of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia,
where he served on the executive committee for two years as music
director. Mr. DeSoto's family consists of his wife Alicia, a band
director at Shadow Ridge Middle School in Lewisville ISD, and two
cute felines, Gracie the Grey Shorthair and Rosie the Black Egyptian
Mau. His father, Hugh, and his sister, Kathryn, still live in the
lush green state of South Carolina.
Andrew Weak
Associate Band Director
Andrew Weak is an Associate Band
Director at Berkner High School whose responsibilities include
directing the Concert Band I, teaching beginner classes at Audelia
Creek and Jess Harben Elementary Schools, and assisting with the
marching band and other band classes. He recently received his
Bachelor of Music Education degree from Baylor University where he
graduated Suma Cum Laude.
While at Baylor, Mr. Weak studied
clarinet with Dr. Richard Shanley and was a member of both the Baylor
Wind Ensemble and the Baylor Symphony Orchestra. He continued to
pursue his love for the piano by studying with Dr. James Williams and
by regularly accompanying wind and vocal students. Though a clarinet
player, Mr. Weak marched and played the Sousaphone in the Baylor
University Marching Band, and as a junior he was inducted into the
Baylor chapter of the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society.
In his final semester at Baylor, Mr. Weak moved to the Dallas area to
complete his student teaching at Berkner High School.
Mr. Weak is a native of Omaha,
Nebraska, where he graduated from Millard North High School. During
high school, he participated in numerous musical activities including
band, orchestra, jazz band, and musicals. He also spent two years as
drum major of his high school band and was awarded the John Philip
Sousa Award. He was one of two Nebraska students who marched in the
2005 Bands of America Tournament of Roses Parade Honor Band, and in
2009 he was on staff for this same event.
Mr. Weak is an
active member of both the Texas Music Educator’s Association
and the Texas Bandmaster’s Association.
 Lynne
Jackson
Associate Band Director
Lynne Jackson is currently in her 40th
year as a music educator. She has degrees from the University of
Michigan and Vandercook College of Music. As well as being a new
staff member for the Berkner Area, she also serves as an adjunct
lecturer in music education at the Meadows School of the Arts at
Southern Methodist University.
Ms. Jackson formerly spent 26
years as a band director for RISD in the Pearce Area
Cluster. Her tenure included positions at North Junior High and
Parkhill Junior High as well as thirteen years at J.J. Pearce High
School. In 1983, Ms. Jackson was selected as the Richardson ISD
Teacher of the Year. She is also a lifetime honorary member of the
PTA.
In 1995, the National Endowment for the
Humanities awarded Ms. Jackson a grant to study Mozart in Vienna,
Austria and Prague, Czech Republic. Since that time, Ms. Jackson has
traveled extensively throughout Europe, South America and Canada. She
has accompanied students to New York City on three occasions for
performances at the famed Carnegie Hall. She has also traveled and
performed with students in London, Paris, Switzerland, Austria,
Italy, and Germany.
Ms. Jackson’s professional
affiliations include Phi Beta Mu, an honorary band director
fraternity, Texas Music Educators Association and the Texas
Bandmasters Association. Lynne is widely known throughout Texas as an
adjudicator, clinician, and mentor to young students and teachers.
Her interests include traveling,
cooking and golf as well as spending time with her family.
Michael
Reed
Associate Band Director - Percussion Instructor
469-593-7025
michael.reed@risd.org
Michael Reed is in his sixth year as Associate Director with the
Berkner Area Band Program. Mr. Reed's position involves Co-Directing
the Percussion Program at Berkner High School with Scott Ward. They
also oversee the percussion sections at Liberty and Apollo Junior
High Schools. His teaching responsibilities at Berkner include both
the Varsity and Junior Varsity Battery Sections, teaching and
conducting the Percussion Ensemble class, preparing students for
successful TMEA All-Region, -Area, and -State level auditions,
preparing soloists and ensembles for the Chamber Music Recital and
Festival, and co-directing both the Percussion Ensemble Concert and
the Spring Showcase performance. At each Junior High School, Mr. Reed
instructs the Intermediate Percussion classes, assists with the
Concert Band and Symphonic Band rehearsals, and conducts
master-classes and sectionals for the percussion sections of each
band.
Before starting at Berkner, Mr. Reed was the Assistant Director of
Bands at Langham Creek High School in Houston, Texas from 2001 -
2003. While at Langham Creek, he had the opportunity to help the band
to a Texas 5A State Marching Band Contest appearance. Additionally,
he helped the Symphonic Band attain the title of Texas 5A State Honor
Band, followed by performances at the Texas Music Educators
Association Convention, and the renowned Carnegie Hall in New York
City.
Mr. Reed received a Bachelor of Science (emphasis in music
education and percussion performance) from Texas A&M University -
Commerce. Mr. Reed performed with the Wind Ensemble (co-principal),
"Pride" Marching Band Drumline, Percussion Ensemble, Steel
Band, and the Pep Band. His principal instructors were Bobby Francis
(conducting & methods), Dr. Jeff Emge (conducting), and Dr. Brian
A. West (percussion). Additionally, he was named the university's
Mayo Scholar (formerly Regents Scholar) for 1997, an honor bestowed
on only 34 students in the school's history.
Mr. Reed is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association,
Percussive Arts Society, Texas Bandmasters Association, and Kappa
Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity.
Mr. Reed's successes can be attributed to strong support from his
wife Lisa, as well as the fine band staff and parents associated with
the Berkner Area Bands.
 Scott
Ward
Percussion Instructor
scott.ward@risd.org
Scott Ward is in his third year as the
Percussion Specialist at Berkner High School. Mr. Ward has been
teaching private lessons in RISD since 2004 and has been an
instructor for the Berkner Drum Line in some capacity since 2001. In
addition to his private instruction duties, he, in conjunction with
Michael Reed, is responsible for all percussion activity and
instruction for the Berkner area. Mr. Ward is also the
composer/arranger for all the percussion music in the competition
block show.
Previously, Mr. Ward served as the drum
line instructor and adjunct percussion teacher at Texas Christian
University in 2004-05. He received his M.M. in Percussion Performance
from Texas Christian University in 2004 while serving as the
percussion graduate assistant. He received his B.S. in Music
Education in 2002 from Texas A&M University-Commerce. While
attending each of these universities, Mr. Ward performed in a number
of ensembles including the TAMU-C and TCU wind ensembles, percussion
ensembles, steel drum bands, marching bands and the TCU jazz band and
orchestra.
Mr. Ward is an active composer,
performer and educator throughout Texas. In addition to his
arrangements for Berkner, Mr. Ward writes wind and percussion
arrangements for a number of successful marching bands and drum lines
throughout Texas and serves as a drum line clinician for several high
schools and universities each marching band season. He is also the
Front Ensemble Arranger for Revolution Drum and Bugle Corps
in San Antonio, TX. As a freelance percussionist, he has performed
with a variety of groups including the North East Texas Symphony,
East Texas Symphony, and the Texas Wind Symphony. His compositions
are published by C. Alan Publications, including Sleight of Hand
for solo percussion, Of Roman Times for Brass and Percussion,
Funk Infusion for Percussion Ensemble, and Lucid Dreaming
for solo percussion.
Scott is a member of The Texas Music
Educators Association, Percussive Arts Society, Texas Bandmasters
Association, Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity, and
Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society.
Mark
Moreno
Color Guard Instructor
469-593-7025
mark.moreno@risd.org
Mark Moreno is in his first year at Berkner High School. Duties
and responsibilities include choreography, instructing, recruiting,
auditioning, equipment maintenance, silk and equipment storage and
inventory, and facilitating all rehearsals and performances. Mr.
Moreno works closely with the director and drill designer to
coordinate all effect moments and maintain effective staging.
Mr. Moreno comes to us from San Antonio, TX where he graduated
high school as a tenor saxophone player and drum major. His
colorguard history includes Liberty Independent Winterguard (San
Antonio), Millenia Independent Winterguard (San Marcos, TX), Fantasia
Independent Winterguard (Riverside, CA), Revolution Drum and Bugle
Corps (San Antonio), and Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps (Concord,
CA).
Prior to Instructing at Berkner High School, Mr. Moreno was the
assistant colorguard instructor at Ronald Reagan High School in San
Antonio, TX. While at Reagan, he helped the program receive multiple
regional titles at Bands of America Competitions, including a silver
medal at the Bands of America Grand National Championships in
Indianapolis, IN.
Mr. Moreno would like to graciously thank all parents and band
directors for the support they have contributed to the colorguard
program this year.
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