Staff
Drum Major Instructors
Glen Brough has been as the Visual Coordinator for the Spartan Marching Band since 1988. He was the Drum Major of the MSU Band for four years and has taught drum majors nationwide for nearly four decades. He has also instructed marching with the Phantom Regiment Drum & Bugle Corps and is currently on the board of directors with the corps. Glen has written marching drill for dozens of high school bands and is Assistant Director of Admissions for Michigan State University.
Galen Karriker will begin his second year as the Director of Bands at the University of Akron after serving as the Assistant Director / Marching Band Director for 15 years there. Prior to that, he was the Assistant Marching Band Director at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for five years. Galen holds a Doctorate in Wind Conducting from MSU, where he also completed his masters degree. He has a BA in Music from Louisiana State University. Galen has served as an instructor the Phantom Regiment Drum & Bugle Corps, as well as the corps' Conductor in 1991.
Chris Owen served as the Drum Major for the Spartan Marching Band from 1998-2001, a position that only six others in the history of the ensemble have held as long. Chris was an accomplished drum major at Farmington High School prior to enrolling at MSU and is expert in the instruction of signal baton technique. He is a graduate of the College of Engineering at MSU and has worked for the past 13 years as a civil engineer.
Marc Compton was the Drum Major of the Spartan Band from 2005-2006. A former trumpet player in the SMB, Marc is originally from South Haven. He is a 2007 graduate from MSU where he majored in Secondary Education. He is currently a high school history teacher in the state of Washington. Among his many roles with the camp, Marc serves as the primary facilitator for the leadership and management development program.
Rachel Linsmeier has the distinction of serving as the second female Drum Major in the history of the Spartan Marching Band. She is the Director of Bands at Traverse City West Middle and Senior High Schools. A 2011 graduate in Music Education from MSU, she is an accomplished trumpet player from Okemos who played in MSU's top wind ensembles. Rachel's expertise with the signal baton and movement choreography has been extremely beneficial to both the Performing Arts Marching Band Auxiliary Camp and the Spartan Marching Band during her tenure as the Drum Major.
Simon Holoweiko is a 2012 MSU Music Education graduate from Grand Ledge who served as the Drum Major of the SMB in 2010-2011. He is the Director of Bands at Martin County High School in Stuart, FL. As one of the university’s finest trumpet players, Simon possessed the unique combination of being a highly skilled musician and marcher who had the ability to convey this knowledge in a variety of instructional settings.
Xavier Boudreaux is a 2013 graduate of Michigan State University, as well as an alumnus of the Performing Arts Camp drum major clinic. He served for two years as SMB Drum Major in 2011-2012. A flute major from Virginia, Xavier also performed as a member of the Madison Scouts Drum & Bugle Corps color guard in 2011 and with MSU’s State of Art Winterguard. He is currently pursuing a Masters of Music in flute performance at Syracuse University.
Frank Loomis is a Physiology major in MSU’s Lyman Briggs College. Originally from Manistee, he will serve in his third and final year as the SMB Drum Major in 2014. Frank marched in the trumpet section as a MSU freshman, and he continues to perform with Spartan Brass during the winter sports season. He is the only three-time recipient of the Brough SMB Leadership Award, which provides scholarship funding in recognition of his academic success and contributions to the Spartan Band. Frank will be a candidate for admission to medical school in 2015.
Color Guard Instructor
Peter Eichler will begin his second year in leading the instruction of the SMB Color Guard. He also directs MSU's State of Art Winterguard, which has won five state championships, four WGI regional championships, and one WGI national championship. He performed with two drum and bugle corps, Carolina Crown and Glassmen, and served on the instructional staffs with Carolina Crown and Phantom Regiment. He has also performed with the national and international touring companies of BLAST! His winter guard experience includes membership in Third Edition and Pride of Cincinnati, as well as instructing Third Edition, Jenison High School, and Plymouth-Canton Educational Park. Peter holds a BA in Music from MSU and was a mellophone player in the SMB. He is the Event and Promotion Coordinator for the East Lansing-based Douglas J Companies.
Percussion Instructors
Jon Weber has taught the Spartan Marching Band Drumline for the past 19 years. Dr. Weber also teaches applied percussion in the MSU College of Music. He has presented at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention on creating a model drumline in the university setting and using rudimental drumming as part of the overall percussion curriculum. University marching bands across the country have performed his arrangements. Jon has also taught at Oklahoma State University and the Detroit Pistons Drumline, for which he still writes many of their performance works. His students have performed in Phantom Regiment, Santa Clara Vanguard, The Cavaliers, Carolina Crown, The Cadets, Bluecoats, Madison Scouts, Blue Stars, Rhythm X, Northcoast Academy, East Side Fury, and many other ensembles. He received his DMA from Michigan State in 2008. Jon Weber is a Yamaha Performing Artist.
Wayne Bovenschen is Associate Professor of Percussion at Oklahoma State University where he instructs numerous ensembles, including the Cowboy Marching Band. His OSU concert and marching percussion ensembles have performed many times at the highly-acclaimed Percussive Arts Society International Convention. Wayne earned both his bachelors and masters degrees from the College of Music at Michigan State University. He served as percussion section leader and later as graduate teaching assistant with the SMB Drumline. Wayne marched with The Cavaliers and Phantom Regiment drum and bugle corps, and he has been on the instructional staffs with several other DCI ensembles.
Steve Wulff is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Music Performance at MSU where he studies percussion and teaches the MSU Drumline. Steve is originally from Eaton Rapids, and he has a bachelor’s degree from MSU in Music Performance. He performed with the SMB Drumline, Wind Symphony, and Symphony Orchestra. He has also been a featured soloist with the MSU Percussion Ensemble. Steve completed a Master’s in Music Performance at the University of South Carolina where he was the director of the USC Drumline. Steve has also been a member of Northcoast Academy and the Detroit Pistons Drumline.
Dan Pulter is one of several recent SMB Drumline members whose fathers also played in the line at MSU. Dan served as the Section Leader of the Drumline in 2010, and he played snare with the Madison Scouts and Bluecoats drum and bugle corps. He has performed in the WGI indoor circuit with Northcoast Academy and Rhythm X percussion ensembles. He has also instructed Percussion Independent World competitor Eastside Fury. A Human Biology and Microbiology graduate of Michigan State, Dan is currently pursuing admission to medical school.
Amanda Watson has the unique distinction of having performed as the only female center snare in the history of the Spartan Marching Band Drumline. Originally from Canton, she was a member of the highly acclaimed Plymouth-Canton Educational Park Marching Band Drumline. She was also a member of the Phantom Regiment Drum & Bugle Corps snareline in 2011. She completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology in 2013 and is seeking admission to a graduate program in occupational therapy for this fall.
