Kirby Marino – Battery Coordinator
Kirby is a percussion educator and arranger based in New Jersey. He started his marching career at Phillipsburg High School in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. He then went on to march quads with the Raiders Drum and Bugle Corps (2012-2013) and Fusion “Core” (2015). Kirby aged out with the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps in 2016 and marched with United Percussion (2014-2017), aging out as battery captain.
Kirby has taught and arranged for numerous high schools in New Jersey, but he is currently the percussion director/arranger at Bridgewater-Raritan High School. He was a quad technician at the Hawthorne Caballeros (2017-2019) and then assumed the role of battery coordinator (2020-Present). He is excited to continue the Hawthorne Caballeros’ tradition of excellence!
Shannon Kelliher – Visual Technician
Shannon began her marching career at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in New Jersey. She was a member of their Front Ensemble and was a Drum Major. In 2014 she began college at Rutgers University where she was first introduced to Drum Corps. She marched cymbals with the Rutgers University Drumline for two years and was section leader her second year. Shannon marched Cadets Winter Percussion for two years in 2015 and 2016 and was section leader in 2016. In the Summer of 2016, she marched in the Reading Buccaneers Drum and Bugle Corps cymbal line.
Shannon has been an educator for various programs in New Jersey including her high school alma mater, Ramsey High School, Old Bridge High School, Hopewell Valley Regional High School, and the Rutgers University Drumline. Currently, she teaches visual at Immaculata High School and cymbals at United Percussion World.
Shannon joined the battery staff in the Summer of the 2022 season and is excited to continue working with this amazing organization.
Shannon is a graduate of Rutgers University with a BA in Criminal Justice and Sociology with a minor in Psychology.
Brian Horn – Snare Technician
Brian Horn is a marching percussion educator from Somerset, NJ. His marching percussion career started 15 years ago at Immaculata High School in Somerville, NJ. Brian’s first experience with an independent group was playing snare drum as a member of the Bushwackers (2010). Following the DCA experience, Brian then marched 2 seasons, including his age-out season, at United Percussion (snare drum 2011, 2012)
Brian has been the caption head at Westfield High School (US Bands), since 2012. Brian also has WGI, DCA, and DCI teaching experience, with East Coast Percussion (2018), with United Percussion A (2019), The Hawthorne Caballeros (2018,2019) and most recently with the Jersey Surf (2019)
Tom Heider – Snare Technician
Tom Heider is a percussion instructor from Freehold, New Jersey. He has been a marching percussionist since high school where he found a passion for the activity. Afterwards he went on to march with The Bushwackers in 2014-2015, the Rutgers University Marching Band in 2015-2016, The Hawthorne Caballeros in 2016, United Percussion in 2017-2018, Cadets2 in 2017, and finally aged out with The Cadets in 2018. As an educator, Tom spent two years running the Madison High School percussion program alongside fellow Caballeros staff member Ryan Brodhead. He also helped with the 2019 preseason at The Raiders as a snare tech. Tom could not be more excited about returning to The Caballeros this summer!
Zachary Brenna – Snare Technician
Zachary Brenna is excited to enter his 5th year with the Caballeros organization, as both a performer and staff member.
Zach has been involved in drum and bugle corps since 2014, performing with the Long Island Sunrisers (’14-’17), Hawthorne Caballeros (’18-’19) and The Cadets (’20-’21). During this time as a performer, Zach also worked with and arranged at several schools such as Brentwood High School, Musselman High School (WV) and currently holds the percussion caption head & arranger position at Lindenhurst High School. This will be Zach’s second year with the instructional staff at the Caballeros.
Zach has had the privilege to study under several influential educators such as Mike Rabinowitz, Mark Monaghan, Tom Aungst, Jake Gall, and Kevin Murphy.
Carlos Vazquez – Snare Technician
Carlos is a graduate of the Mason Gross School of the Arts, where he double-majored in Music Education and Psychology and is currently working on his master’s degree in percussion performance at Rutgers. Carlos has been a percussion educator in New Jersey for over 10 years teaching several high schools, private lessons, clinics, and the Rutgers University Drum Line. He is an active freelance musician in the New York and New Jersey area, specializing in classical and Latin percussion. He has played on the national tour of Hair the musical and currently plays snare drum for the NY Giants Drum Line as an employee of Blue Devils Entertainment. He has had the honor to play alongside musicians such as Eddie Palmieri and Delfeayo Marsalis and has recorded with the Wu-Tang Clan. This will be Carlos’ 6th season with the Caballeros Drum and Bugle corps.
Luke Chemidlin – Quad Technician
Luke Chemidlin is an enthusiastic percussion instructor and educator based in Somerville NJ. Luke began his marching career with Immaculata High School where he discovered his love for music and performance. He has performed on quads with the Raiders Drum and Bugle Corps (2014), 7th Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps (2016), the Rutgers University Drumline (2015-2016), Cadets2 Drum and Bugle Corps (2017), as well as United Percussion in 2017.
In recent years, Luke has gone back to Immaculata High School to help teach and grow the program. He began his teaching career 7 years ago, helping to design and arrange Immaculata’s marching band program as well as their indoor drum line program (2015-Present). He now runs the percussion program as Percussion Caption Head. In addition, Luke has taken part in teaching United Percussion 2, serving as a quad tech and then Battery Coordinator, and now returns for his 2nd year as Battery Caption Head.
Throughout the course of his marching career, Luke has had the privilege of learning from incredible instructors, including Dan Bonham, Neil Cote, Ken Riehman, Paul Nalesnik, John Forte, Jeff Bickford, Omi Batan, Carlos Vazquez, Brendan Murphy, Andrew Kain, Joe Ciancimino, Alex Beltran, and many more. Luke is honored to take part in The Caballeros Drum and Bugle Corps organization for his 2nd year as a quad tech, and eagerly awaits to continue the tradition of excellence!
Jonah Nack – Quad Technician
Jonah Nack is a percussion educator and musician from New Jersey. He is currently completing his music education degree at Rutgers University where he studies under Joe Tompkins, Javier Diaz, Ian Sullivan, and Mike Truesdell.
His marching experience began at Roxbury High School in Succasunna, NJ. He then went on to march quads with the Rutgers University Marching Band (2018-2019), United Percussion 2 (2019), and the Hawthorne Caballeros (2019-2021).
Jonah has taught at multiple high schools around New Jersey and is currently a percussion technician at Bridgewater-Raritan High School.
Jonah is excited to continue a tradition of excellence here at the Hawthorne Caballeros!
Ryan Brodhead – Bass Technician
Ryan’s marching career started in 2012 with The Cadets2 Drum and Bugle Corps for their inaugural season, and continued with them through the end of the 2013 and 2014 competitive seasons. During that time, Ryan performed with Cadets Winter Percussion for the 2014 and 2015 WGI seasons and then spent three years touring & performing with the 10-Time DCI Champions, The Cadets Drum & Bugle Corps (2015, 2016, 2017). Upon aging out, Ryan received the ‘Cadet of the Year’ award as a member of the 2017 Cadets Drumline. He also spent three years in the Rutgers University Drumline and served as bass drum section leader for his last two years.
Ryan has worked with multiple high school percussion programs in New Jersey and is currently the Percussion Caption Head & Battery Arranger for Madison High School. Ryan teaches within the WGI circuit as well, having spent two years with United Percussion 2, and is currently in his second year with United Percussion World as a bass tech. 2023 will be Ryan’s second season on staff with The Cadets Drum & Bugle Corps as well as this being his 6th year with the Hawthorne Caballeros.
Outside of the marching arts, Ryan received his Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Rutgers University. Currently, Ryan works full time as an IT Systems Administrator in Manasquan, New Jersey.
Tristan Shafran – Bass Technician
Tristan is a music educator and performer from North Jersey. He is currently the Band Director at Weehawken High School in Weehawken NJ. After his high school marching career, he marched with Fusion Core, Caballeros Drum and Bugle Corps, the Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps, and aged out with the Santa Clara Vanguard.
He attended Rutgers University Mason Gross School the Arts as a Music Education major in the Saxophone studio. Currently, he is the bass tech for Bridgewater-Raritan High School and Livingston High School. He is excited to return home to the Caballeros as a staff member after having been a two-year vet and give back to the organization that introduced him to the marching arts. He is ready to defend the Best Percussion title won at 2022 DCA Championships and help grow the Caballeros family.
Roman Trujillo Jr. – Bass Technician
Roman is a percussion educator and arranger from Southern California. After his high school marching career he marched with Impulse Drum and Bugle Corps and aged out with the Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps.
He moved to New Jersey in 2016 and immediately started teaching at numerous high schools in New Jersey. Currently he is the percussion caption head at Pequannock Township High School and the battery coordinator at West Milford High School. He was the bass technician at Hawthorne Caballeros from 2017-2020. He’s excited to return to the Caballeros after taking a year off and continue the success and excellence that Hawthorne is known for!