Tony Lymon, Rosa Westfall, and Mike Howard
Tony Lymon
Tony is the former Assistant Director of Bands at Petal High School in Petal, Mississippi and currently is the co-music arranger/show designer for the Petal High School marching band. Tony is the director show designer for the Petal Indoor Percussion Theatre, a national WGI Percussion Scholastic World Finalist. He has twice been awarded the Outstanding Junior High Director of the Southeast Mississippi Band Directors Association and the 2008 Mississippi Bandmasters Association AE McClain Outstanding Young Band Director Award. Tony was also the Founder and Director of Eminence Indoor Percussion Ensemble, a regional and national WGI Open Class finalist and championship ensemble.
Tony holds a Bachelors degree in Music Education from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Certification in 3D Architectural Rendering from The 3D Training Institute of New York. He was a member and principal percussionist in the world renowned Southern Miss Wind Ensemble and Southern Miss Symphony Orchestra. While at Southern Miss, Tony was the percussion arranger for the Pride of Mississippi Marching Band and USM indoor percussion ensemble. Tony was also a member of the World Champion Star of Indiana Drum and Bugle Corps (Bloomington, IN) from 1991-1993. In his three years of DCI experience, he won the DCI-Midwest Solo Timpani Champion and the 1994 Percussive Arts Society International Solo Timpani Award. Tony’s original marimba composition “Of Thoughts and Thinking” has become a standard in percussion literature. The piece was most recently recorded by German percussion artist Cornelia Monkse on the CD “Marimba 2” and was featured in the French documentary film “Le Ciel.”
After college, Tony pursued a professional performance career for eight years with the pop/rock band King Konga . While with King Konga, Tony toured the world selling out venues in nationwide. The group did a post September 11th USO tour for the US Military in Hawaii and South East Asia. The four-piece band gained critical acclaim reaching #81 on the AC Hot 100 Pop Charts with “Something Good.” With a rare accomplishment by an independent band, King Konga captured the eyes and ears of many major record labels and the band went on to perform at Woodstock ’99. Tony has also performed with The Mississippi Symphony, Mobile Opera, Hattiesburg Civic Light Opera and The Meistersingers Orchestral/Choral Ensemble.
Tony recently wrapped up a season as the sound designer for The Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps in 2018 and currently serves as Creative Designer for Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps. He is the owner of Eidetic Creative, a multimedia creative designs solution business. He currently resides in Petal, Mississippi with his wife Emily and 13 year-old daughter Colette.
Rosa Westfall
Rosa Westfall—from Atlanta, Georgia—graduated in May of 2018 with a B.S. in Audio Production and a minor in Music from Middle Tennessee State University, before moving back to Atlanta to work as a recording engineer in West midtown.
Rosa has an extensive music performance career in the marching arts, and has marched as a keyboard percussionist, electronics member, and auxiliary percussionist in Alliance Drum & Bugle Corps, Colts Drum & Bugle Corps, Palmetto Percussion, and Music City Mystique.
Rosa has been teaching marching percussion at various high schools in Tennessee and Georgia for 5 years, and now specializes in marching arts audio as an electronics consultant, system designer, and sound engineer for high school marching band, indoor drumline, and drum corps. Rosa was the head sound engineer for Spirit of Atlanta Drum & Bugle Corps for the summer of 2019, is currently on staff with Equinox Percussion, and was hired for the Bluecoats Drum & Bugle Corps for the 2020 season. In lieu of the 2020 DCI season, she became the head sound editor and mix engineer for Virtual Drum & Bugle Corps.
Mike Howard
Mike Howard is currently in his 12th year at Vandegrift High School and in his 17th year of teaching high school band. He was one of the founding directors when VHS opened in 2009 and became Head Band Director in the Fall of 2014. As the Vandegrift Marching Band Director, Mr. Howard’s bands have been recognized with several high honors such as 2019 BOA Grand National Champion, BOA Regional Champion, BOA Super Regional Finalist, BOA Super Regional Class Champion, UIL State Marching Contest Finalist, 6A UIL State Marching Contest Bronze Medalist, 5A UIL State Marching Contest Silver Medalist. The Vandegrift Wind Ensemble was selected as the 2018 TMEA 6A State Honor Band and performed at the 2019 TMEA Convention. Most recently, the Vandegrift Wind Ensemble was chosen as a feature ensemble at the 2020 Midwest Clinic and will perform at the event in 2021. Mr. Howard’s concert bands are consistent UIL Sweepstakes Award winners and TMEA Honor Band State Finalists. At Vandegrift, Mr. Howard is the director of the Viper Marching Band, Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band.
Aside from being the Director of Bands at VHS, Mr. Howard is an active Leadership Consultant and Workshop Presenter. He has been a facilitator for SASI, the Leadership People for the last 16 years. In this time, Mr. Howard has had the opportunity to work with thousands of students and directors from around the United States. As a facilitator for SASI, he is heavily involved with the operations of all Drum Major camps as well as teaching several site-based workshops throughout the summer.
Before coming to Vandegrift, Mr. Howard was an assistant band director at James E. Taylor High School in Katy ISD. Mr. Howard, a native of Hondo, TX, started his teaching career as an Assistant Band Director at Morton Ranch High School, where he helped open the school in 2004. Before teaching at Morton Ranch, Mr. Howard was an instructor for the Cedar Park High School Band in Cedar Park, Texas and an instructor for the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps from Madison, Wisconsin. Mr. Howard’s professional affiliations include membership in Phi Beta Mu, Texas Music Adjudicator’s Association and the Texas Bandmasters Association. He has served music education as TMEA Region 32 Band Chair and continues to serve as TMEA Area E Band Chair. Mr. Howard graduated from Texas State University in San Marcos, Suma Cum Laude, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education. He lives in Leander, Texas with his wife Amber, his daughter, Madison and his son, Justin.
About the Session
Electronics in the Marching Arts
Electronics in the marching arts have become a crucial element of the 21st century marching percussion section in its sonic functioning and from a compositional perspective, as well. This session will explore the use of electronics from the design process through its practical application in rehearsal and performance. Topics will include composition, equipment and hardware, and implementation. Mike Howard, director of bands at Vandegrift High School (TX), Tony Lymon, creative designer of Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corp and Petal High School (MS), and Rosa Westfall, audio engineer at Super Sound Studios (GA) and Virtual Drum and Bugle Corps, will offer their perspectives and experiences in electronics design and functioning.