Welcome to the 2023
Harvest Marching Band Festival

Color Guard

Ben Adams

In addition to his involvement with music education, Mr. Adams is an educator for color guard and dance. He served as the artistic director for WGI Medalist Paradigm Winter guard, an organization he was involved in for 13 years. During his time in Portland, Oregon, Mr. Adams designed and choreographed for over six major organizations such as Cascades Drum and Bugle Corps and Evergreen High School under the direction of Steve Kuske. In addition, Mr. Adams was the designer for the Clackamas Dance Team which held the dance championship title for the state of Oregon in 2012 and 2013. In 2019 and 2020, he was a consultant for the University of Oregon Color Guard.

Drum Major

Anna Quenemoen

Anna works for the US Forest Service in Grants Pass, OR as a wildland firefighter. This will be Anna's third time judging drum majors at the HMBF and she is excited to return!

General Effect Music

Steve Kuske

Before moving to Modesto, he taught successful band programs in Eugene and Salem, Oregon. The Sprague Wind Ensemble from Salem, Oregon, under Mr. Kuske’s leadership, placed in the top three at the OSAA State Band Championships during each of his three years at the school. In Mr. Kuske’s last year in Salem, the Sprague Wind Ensemble was the Oregon State Band Champion.

Mr. Kuske is in demand as a guest conductor and band adjudicator. He adjudicated across the country. In the past, Mr. Kuske has been guest conductor of the Oregon State University Symphonic Band, the California State University Stanislaus Wind Ensemble and both the Salem and North Coast Adult Concert Bands.

Over the past years, he has been invited to speak at the Oklahoma, Arizona, Oregon and Washington State Music Educators Association Conventions, presenting on “Technology in the Music Classroom,” “Creating Success in Your First Years as a Band Director,” “Building a Successful Marching Band Program with Limited Resources,” and “Motivating Band Students.”

He has received three citations of teaching excellence from the Bethel, Salem/Keizer and Evergreen School Districts, but his proudest moments are those he spends with his wife and two sons.

General Effect Visual

Max Logan

His recent clients include such groups as; Mountainside HS, Sherwood HS, Rex Putnam HS, and others. He also has served on the instructional teams of several independent ensembles such as; Oregon Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps, Seattle Cascades Drum and Bugle Corps, and Oregon Crusaders Indoor. Currently he serves as the visual caption head for IMPACT Percussion, based out of Kennewick, WA.

He was the director of the Sherwood Winter Winds ensemble for the four years of its existence, and served on the NWAPA board as Winds-VP for two terms.

Maximilian’s humble performance experience lasted from 2008-2012 with the Oregon Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps.

Music Ensemble

Pat Vandehey

Mr. Vandehey is a Past-President of the Oregon Band Directors Association and serves as Committee Chair of the Adjudication Training Board of OBDA. He served for two years as the Band Liaison to the Oregon Schools Activity Association. He has served twice on the Oregon Music Education Association’s Board as Band Chair served on the OMEA Executive board as President in 2005-2006.

In 1993 Mr. Vandehey was the State, Regional and National recipient of the ASBDA- Stanbury Award for Outstanding Young Band Director. In 2000 he was inducted into the Band World Legion of Honor by the John Philip Sousa Foundation. Also in 2000 he was named one of Oregon’s top ten Music Educators by the Oregon Music Educators Association in the Teaching Music Magazine. In 2002 Mr. Vandehey received the Citation of Excellence from the National Band Association. He is a founding member of the Oregon Chapter of Phi Beta Mu, and in 2006 was inducted into the Northwest Bandmaster’s Association. Mr. Vandehey was named the Oregon’s Outstanding Music Educator in 2010 by OMEA.

Mr. Vandehey began his career at Aloha High School and from 1980 to 1994 built an award-winning program in concert, jazz and marching band. Aloha High School placed in the top three at the Oregon State Band Championships from 1990 to 1994 placing 1st in 1992. He moved to Westview High School when it opened in 1994. Under Mr. Vandehey’s direction all aspects of the band program excelled. The Westview Symphonic Band qualified for the State Band Championships each year of its existence and placed in the top three in the last six years of Mr. Vandehey’s tenure there, winning in 2000, 2001 and 2002.

The Band program at George Fox University grew significantly under Mr. Vandehey’s direction. In 2007 and 2009 George Fox was selected to perform at the MENC Northwest Convention. In 2008 and 2016 the George Fox Symphonic Band was the featured ensemble at the Oregon Music Educators Association conference. In 2010 the Symphonic Band was invited to perform at the Western International Band Clinic in Seattle, Washington.

Mr. Vandehey was the coordinator of Music Education at George Fox. Through the development of a comprehensive Music Education program the number of music education majors has grew from five in 2003 to 30 in 2010. Because of his work with the Music Education Curriculum, Mr. Vandehey was invited to be a presenter at the Society of Music Teacher Education at North Carolina University in 2007.

Mr. Vandehey has been Director of Bands and Coordinator of Instrumental Music Education for the last four years. PSU was a featured performer at the 2019 Northwest Regional Convention of the National Association for Music Education in Portland. PSU Wind Symphony also was a featured performer in the 2020 NAfME Convention in Eugene.

Mr. Vandehey is married to Kristin, his wife of 44 years and has two daughters, both of whom are educators.

Music Individual

Maggie Whiteman

While teaching at Eastmont, Maggie was an active member of the Music Education community. She has given clinics at the Washington Music Educator's conference, the Whistler Cantando festival, judged at the Harvest, Sumner, and Auburn marching band festivals, judged at the Leavenworth Autumn leaf parade, served as the Drum Major technician for both the Columbians and Cascades Drum and Bugle Corps, served as a faculty member for 2018 and 2019 at the CWU Summer Leadership Camp, as well as working with many high school marching bands across Washington.

In addition to teaching and adjudicating, Maggie has had an active performance career. She graduated from Central Washington University in 2017. While at CWU, Maggie performed on the CWU Wind Ensemble's recordings of Alan Hovhaness's music. She was a featured artist and can be heard on all of the chamber music tracks. Maggie was also a featured performer at the 2017 National Association for Music Education's annual in-service conference in Washington, D.C., where she performed for notable administrators and music educators. Maggie was a drum major for the Cascades Drum and Bugle corps and the Central Washington University Marching Band, as well as marching mellophone for the Columbians Drum and Bugle Corps. She is a proud CWU alum who enjoys her free time hiking, skiing, and spending time with her family.

Percussion

Jeff Bush

For over 30 years Jeff has served as a director of percussion for many award winning high school and independent percussion programs around the Pacific Northwest. He established the Grants Pass HS Indoor Ensemble starting in 1995 until 2002. Grants Pass HS became the first World Class Percussion Ensemble in the Pacific Northwest. In 2009 Jeff founded the Oregon Crusaders Indoor Percussion Ensemble. In their first two years of existence, OCI earned the 2009 WGI Independent A Class Gold Medal and 2010 Independent Open Class Bronze Medal.

Jeff is currently the Director of Percussion for the Sherwood, OR School District. The Sherwood Percussion Ensemble has won numerous open class championships including the 2022 WGI Percussion Scholastic Open Class Gold Medal. SPE has also had success in the concert realm winning the OSAA Concert Percussion Ensemble Championship in 2018 and 2019.

Jeff’s marching experience includes the Blue Devils and Marauders Drum Corps organizations. He has served as the percussion caption head and Battery arranger with the Marauders, River City Railmen, Seattle Cascades and Oregon Crusaders Drum Corps.

Jeff is the co-founder of the Northwest Indoor Percussion Circuit which is now known as NWAPA.

Jeff is an Innovative Percussion Education Artist.

Visual Performance Ensemble

Robbie Rutherford

Professionally, Robbie has performed with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus on the Legends and Out of this World tours around the United States. Additionally, he has worked as a high school, middle school, and elementary band director in Vancouver, WA, Ellensburg, WA, and Edmonds, WA.

Lastly, he was on the brass staff for the Seattle Cascades Drum and Bugle Corps from 2014-2018. During this time, he often worked with high school bands in the Yakima and Seattle areas on visual and musical technique.

Mr. Rutherford is also an alumnus of the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps of Concord, CA. He served as a split-lead trumpet player from 2012-2013 and was a soloist in the 2012 DCI World Championship season.

Currently, he is in his eighth-year teaching, working at Mount Si High School in Snoqualmie, WA. He likes to spend his down time camping, hiking, and spending time with his wife Emily and dog Ody.

Visual Performance Individual

Michael Tran

Prior to becoming a band director, Tran spent several years consulting for numerous high school ensembles throughout Washington State. Additionally, he devoted three years to coordinating and writing for the Central Washington University “Wildcat” Marching Band. Michael graduated from CWU, earning a dual degree in music education and psychology. During his enrollment, he performed in a varying array of instrumental and vocal ensembles and served as the NAfME Collegiate Senator, a position he held for three years. He is currently enrolled at Eastern Washington University, pursuing a master’s degree in music education.

Tran’s marching band experience began back in sixth grade in parade band and continued through high school. He participated in the drum corps activity as a lead trumpet player for The Seattle Cascades and The Troopers. After serving his final year as Drum Major, Michael returned to the Seattle Cascades as an administrator where he would later be promoted to Executive and Corps Director. Under his leadership, the group secured their highest finishing score since 2007.

Michael now resides in Redmond, WA with his wife and enjoys spending his time in the wilderness. He has completed over 1,000 miles of hiking through the Sierra and Rocky Mountain Ranges. Michael enjoys the opportunity to make an impact each day and is thrilled to be back at the Cavalcade of Bands! He wishes all the performing ensembles the best of luck and skill!