Amorris@theturtlepad.com Featured Artists
Randy Sifuentes
Randy Sifuentes began his musical career in 2002 in his hometown Edinburg, Tx. With a strong introduction into music he eventually began his studies under Eduardo Trevino at Economedes High School. Many of Sifuentes's instructional strategies stem from Trevino pushing all his students to always raise their own personal bar of achievement.
From 2016 to 2018, Sifuentes was an assistant band director for Sharyland North Junior High and percussion consultant for Sharyland Pioneer High School in Mission, TX. While at Sharyland, his students were successful on all accounts of percussion ranging from concert, marching, jazz, and world studies. His percussion ensemble earned the state championship title from the TECA circuit in 2018. Sifuentes has been conducting percussion clinician tours around the U.S. since 2014. He teaches privately to ages 5-18, performs at percussion festivals, judges solo and marching competitions, and arranges for marching bands around the country. He has taught battery and front ensemble to various middle schools, high schools, universities, drum corps, and was the front ensemble coordinator for Genesis Drum & Bugle Corps in 2013. He is currently endorsed with Innovative Percussion and Mapex/Majestic.
Sergio G. Arreguin
Sergio G. Arreguin serves as the Assistant Director of Bands/Chorus at Statesboro High School. He received his Bachelor of Music degree from Georgia Southern University in Music Education.In the past, Arreguin has served as the percussion instructor for Georgia Southern University (2015, 2018), Statesboro High School (2013-2015), Toombs County High School (2017), and has taught many percussion groups around Georgia throughout his career. All of his competitive percussion ensembles have received superior ratings at various marching competitions across the state of Georgia.
During his short career, Arreguin has had many opportunities to showcase his talents. He and his colleagues are featured on a professional recorded performance of Ney Rosauro’s Vibraphone Concerto No. 2 featuring Ney Rosauro, himself. His most memorable performance is performing on The Late Show with David Letterman in New York City alongside country music artist, Elizabeth Cook, and 3 other members of Southern Pride Marching Band. Arreguin performed as a member of Georgia Southern University’s Southern Pride Marching Band where he marched Cymbals and Snare Drum.
Arreguin is a member of Georgia Music Educator’s Association and Kappa Kappa Psi. He enjoys playing percussion instruments, fishing, and spending time with his family.
Georgia Southern University Marching Band
Christopher Baños
Christopher Baños is currently in his 6th year of teaching and as the Director of Percussion for Ridge Point High School, Baines Middle School, and the nationally Recognized Ronald Thornton Middle School where he has commissioned a piece from the esteemed composer, Lalo Davila. Between all three schools Christopher proudly serves nearly 80 percussionists who receive consistent success in Region Band Auditions, Marching Percussion, Percussion Ensemble, Orchestra, and Concert Band. Prior to Ridge Point High School, Mr. Baños taught at Deerfield Beach Middle School in Florida.
Originally from Miami, Florida, Christopher grew up in the heart of Little Havana in Miami where he spent his youth developing his love for music. As a young musician, he spent his time performing with various local ensembles in the Miami area. Christopher eventually shifted his love of performance to a love of education. He went on to receive his Bachelor of Music Education degree from Florida International University. Throughout his developmental stages as an educator, Christopher had the honor of studying under many incredible percussionists such as Thom Hannum, Andrew Markworth, Tim Fairbanks, Tim Jackson, Clark Gardner, Sean McElroy, Brandon Cruz, and Andrew Proctor.
Known as an outstanding clinician and educator, Christopher has been a clinician in youth leadership, education, and percussion performance all over the U.S. in states such as Florida, Texas, and Arizona. He has served on the educational teams in various roles for the following ensembles: Colts Drum and Bugle Corps (2016), Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps (2019) The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps (2017-2018, 2022), FIU Percussion (2016), and STRYKE Percussion (2016-2018). Christopher has also had the great honor of performing with several WorldClass ensembles such as Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps (2012), and STRYKE Percussion (2013), and receiving medals during his time with Carolina Crown (2013-2014) and Rhythm X (2014-2015).
Christopher currently resides in Sugar Land, Texas with his fiancé Jeralyn.
Jake Murillo
Jake Murillo is a performer and educator/designer who hails from New Orleans, Louisiana.
He got his start at the age of 15 with ELITE Independent, a percussion independent open class ensemble within WGI. This then led to a summer with the Louisiana Stars Drum and Bugle Corps in 2017, where he participated in DCI I&E and came away with a silver medal in the multi-tenor category. After this, he performed with the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps in 2018, marking his first appearance in the DCI World Championship Finals, reaching 11th place. He then moved on to the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps for their 2019 season, where he had the honor of serving as the section leader for the quadline and as one of the battery section leaders. They came away with an 8th place finish that year, and he came away with a bronze medal in DCI I&E’s multi-tenor category. In 2020 with the shutdown of DCI, Jake then participated in Virtual Arts’ Virtual Drum and Bugle Corps, which took thousands of performers from all over the world and showcased them virtually. He also created the QOVID-19 world class quad cypher, an ambitious project that took quad players from 21 world class drum corps and brought them together for a virtual musical collaboration, amassing thousands of views on YouTube. In 2021, he performed with the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps, helping to mark the historic return of DCI after the 2020 shutdown. He also finally earned a gold medal in DCI I&E’s 2021 iteration. He finally finished his DCI journey with the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps, where he had the massive honor to serve as the quadline section leader and one of the battery section leaders in Blue Devils’ first competitive year since 2019. Jake is currently contracted to perform with Rhythm X for their 2023 season, and is preparing to move up to Dayton, Ohio for his WGI ageout!
