OUR STAFF
Admin Team
Mark Hammons
Director
Mark Hammons has been an active member of the marching arts for over three decades. He has served as an instructor, arranger, and director for multiple groups around California, including World Champion Clovis East to name a few. Mark has been adjudicating field and indoor percussion through the Western United States since 2005 and serves as the judges coordinator for a handful of circuits throughout California. In addition to his pageantry endeavors, Mark has an extensive career in Educational Technology. He served as a Technology Coordinator for Fresno County (as well as Google Innovator and Apple Distinguished Educator) and left the county to be Co-Founder of Breakout EDU, an educational gaming solution for schools.
Mark is proudly endorsed by Pearl Drums, Vic Firth Drumsticks, Zildjian Cymbals, and Evans Drumheads.
Design Team
Oliver Bullock
Program/Visual Coordinator
Oliver Bullock has an extensive career in the marching arts. He has served on numerous instructional teams as a drill designer, program coordinator, and director of groups throughout the state of California including Beyer High School in the early 2000’s, Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets & Winter Percussion, and was the founding Director of Frente, an independent color guard at Fresno State. This is Oliver’s first year as program coordinator for Red Wave Indoor.
Benjamin Pyles
BATTERY ARRANGER
Benjamin Pyles is the Director of Athletic Percussion at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Previously, Ben majored in music education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Lamar University, with a primary focus in Percussion.
Ben has over two decades of world-class experience as a performer, designer, and instructor, with the Glassmen, Bluecoats, Crossmen, Spirit of Atlanta, Colts, and Sacramento Mandarins Drum & Bugle Corps. Ben currently serves as the battery instructor at Ronald Reagan High School, and Music Designer for Monarch Independent.
Ben is also endorsed by Sabian Cymbals and Innovative Percussion Inc.
Albert Avery
FRONT ENSEMBLE ARRANGER / SOUND DESIGNER
Albert Avery is a designer, writer and educator from the Central Valley. He has received his B.S. in Business Administration - Computer Information Systems from California State University, Fresno. Outside of the marching arts, Albert focuses on community management and social media engagement. He is also currently working at Universal Audio full-time as a Technical Customer Support Specialist.
In the marching arts, he is a front ensemble caption head, arranger and electronic designer for Clovis High School. In addition, he is the front ensemble arranger for the Fresno State Bulldog Marching Band, along with being the front ensemble arranger and sound designer Red Wave Indoor, Fresno State's independent world percussion ensemble in the Central Valley.
He continues to write for various ensembles in the Central Valley, along with being a consultant specializing in amplification, electronics, and sound design for the marching arts.
Albert proudly endorses Vic Firth Sticks/Mallets, and Zildjian Cymbals.
Albert lives in Clovis, CA.
Ensemble Staff Coordinators
Austin Ballard
ENSEMBLE COORDINATOR
Austin Ballard (he/him) has been part of the Red Wave Indoor Staff since 2022. He has been involved with various percussion programs throughout the Central Valley for the past ten years since graduating from Tulare Western High School in 2014. Most recently he worked with Buchanan High School as a snare tech, and currently works as the percussion caption head at Hanford West High School. Austin has performed with The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps (2014-2017) making DCI finals for the 2016 season, as well as POW Percussion (2018-2019) where he served as the section leader for the 2019 season.
Austin graduated from California State University, Fresno with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Mathematics. Outside of music, Austin currently teaches 7th and 8th grade mathematics in Tulare, CA.
Justin Clement
BATTERY CO-COORDINATOR
Justin Clement (he/him) grew up in the Central Valley and graduated from James C. Enochs High School in 2017. Since then, he has spent his time as a percussion instructor at various high schools in Northern and Southern California.
Justin’s performance experience includes Blue Knights, Carolina Crown, and Broken City Percussion. This will be Justin’s third year on staff with Red Wave.
Andrew Ziehm
BATTERY CO-COORDINATOR
Andrew Ziehm is a percussion educator based in California’s Central Valley. He has spent over 10 years writing, teaching, and designing for various music programs. Though Andrew is a percussion specialist, he also composes/arranges full shows for marching bands, working top-down to create cohesive wind, battery, and front ensemble content. Andrew’s performance history includes many west coast programs such as Blue Devils and Blue Devils B (2012 - 2015), Pulse Percussion (2016), and Vanguard Winter Percussion. He feels grateful for the experiences, accolades, and memories created in these amazing ensembles. When not working in the music world, Andrew is a high school English teacher. He graduated with a Single Subject English degree from CSU Stanislaus. He enjoys mentoring students both in the classroom, and on the field!
José Ledesma
FRONT ENSEMBLE COORDINATOR
José Ledesma is a second-year on staff member with Red Wave Indoor. He is an active performer and educator based out of the Central Valley in the heart of California. José earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Fresno State, where he specialized in percussion.
José is currently the Director of Percussion for Desmond Middle School and Torres High School in Madera, CA where he designs and instructs curriculum for both middle school and high school marching ensembles, concert percussion, chamber percussion, and solo work. Under his direction, José has introduced an Indoor Percussion program to Desmond Middle School as well as a Percussion Ensemble to Torres High School. Prior to this position, José was the Director of Instrumental Music for Firebaugh High School where he also introduced an Indoor Percussion program, Percussion Ensemble, and Mariachi. Prior to his credentialed positions, José has also worked with various front ensembles in the Central Valley as a coordinator, arranger, sound designer, and instructor for 8 years.
José’s performance experience spans the full spectrum of percussion performance including the Fresno State performance ensembles: the Bulldog Marching Band, the Symphony Orchestra, the Wind Orchestra, and the Percussion Ensemble. In addition to his collegiate ensembles, he has also performed with the Sacramento Mandarins, POW Percussion, and the Wind Symphony of Clovis.
Jose is a Vic Firth and Zildjian Educational Artist, Vice President for the South Valley Winter Arts Association, Secretary for the Board of Directors at Pulse Percussion, and will serve as the Front Ensemble Staff Coordinator for Red Wave Indoor.
José currently resides in Fresno, CA with his partner and dog.