Staff

Chris Magonigal was born in Killeen TX and is the product of being a true military brat. After graduating from Ellison HS Magonigal chose to pursue drum corps prior to attending college and thus began the crazy journey to Genesis.

A member of the Sky Ryders Drum and Bugle Corps from 1992-1994, Magonigal saw first hand the enriching benefits and life lessons that drum corps can provide young people. It was during these summers that Magonigal made a promise to himself that, if given the opportunity, he would dedicate his lifes work to bringing a championship caliber drum corps organization to the state of Texas.

A budding entrepreneur during his time at Texas Tech University, Magonigal was always seeking the ability to create his own path. While working for the newly formed Cingular Wireless as Director of Sales from 2001-2006 Chris founded his first business, Magonigal Photography in 2001, specializing in the field of event and sports photography.

During this time Magonigal also invested in the mobile technology field through a chain of retail locations throughout West Texas. Upon sale of those investments Magonigal began working with Sony Mobile Communications as Director of Marketing and investing in small business opportunities. In 2004 he was asked to consult with the then Texas based Revolution Drum Corps in the areas of business and educational content. This experience rekindled his love and passion for the drum corps activity and the desire to return to his lifes dream of bringing a quality drum corps organization rooted in Texas. After working with several drum corps organizations over the next 5 years the opportunity arose in 2009 for Magonigal to make a choice... get out of the activity and focus on his career or give up everything and start a nonprofit drum corps organization. He, of course, chose the latter and thus began the story of Genesis Drum and Bugle Corps.

Chris Magonigal is the driving force behind the Genesis brand and the position of the organization in serving the arts community of Austin. In 2013 Magonigal was awarded Director of the Year by his DCI peers and continues to be focused full time on the Genesis organization.

Charles Aguillon is entering his 28th year as an educator. He has been a classroom teacher, department chair, campus administrator, district administrator and for the past 7 years has served as Director of Fine Arts and Academic Enrichment for the Lake Travis Independent School District in Austin, Texas. In this position, he serves over 11,000 students and staff over 11 campuses. His previous positions were in the Georgetown and San Marcos school districts.

Mr. Aguillon is a graduate of Texas State University-San Marcos where he received both his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Music Education. While at Texas State, he was Drum Major of the Bobcat Marching Band and Assistant Conductor of the Wind Ensemble. Additionally, he has a Master of Arts in Educational Administration from the University of Phoenix as well as having completed all coursework for a Doctorate in Educational Leadership. He has his Superintendent Certification from Lamar University.

As an educator, Mr. Aguillon’s Georgetown High School Band program was recognized on the state and national levels and appeared at the UIL State Marching Band Contest and the Music for All National Concert Band Festival. He is in frequent demand as an adjudicator and clinician for the University Interscholastic League and US Bands. His work in the marching arts includes being on staff for the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps from Casper, Wyoming and his current position as Director of Education for Genesis Drum and Bugle Corps from Austin, Texas.

Active in the field of education, Mr. Aguillon is a regular presenter for conferences such as the Texas Fine Arts Summit, Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Association of Secondary School Principals, Texas Association of School Administrators, Texas ASCD, and the Texas Association of School Boards. He is a statewide trainer for the Center for Educator Development in Fine Arts (CEDFA) and is an author of the Arts and Digital Literacy courses sponsored by the Texas Cultural Trust. Mr. Aguillon has served on the faculties of Texas State University and Southwestern University teaching in the field of the marching arts.

Mr. Aguillon and his wife, Vanessa, reside in the Lake Travis area. Their son Noah is a music education major at Texas Lutheran University and son Brandon is a music performance major at Southern Methodist University. Both are graduates of Lake Travis High School.

Daniel Sanchez is a live performance and session musician living in Austin, TX. His performance credits include work with Wynton Marsalis (Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra), Dan Nimmer (JLCO), Veronica Swift (Mack Avenue Recording Artist), Andre Hayward (JLCO), Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band), Rich Redmond (Jason Aldean), Alan Haynes (Texas Blues Legend), Douglas Lawrence (Count Basie Orchestra), Kenny Williams (The Lion King), Ron Wilkins (Birdland Big Band) and more.

Daniel attended The Texas Tech University School of Music where he performed with a number of ensembles including the Grammy nominated Jazz Ensemble 1, and The Goin’ Band From Raiderland from 1994 to 1997. He received degrees in Music Education and Music Performance and was a member of The Goin’ Band From Raiderland from 1994 to 1997. Additionally he marched with The 1997 Pioneer Drum & Bugle Corps from Milwaukee, WI.

Originally from Atlanta, GA and raised in Lubbock, TX, Daniel moved to New York City in 2001 and returned to Texas in 2009. He has served as a guest performer, clinician, and educator for a number of high schools and collegiate institutions while living once again in Texas. This includes working with Genesis Drum & Bugle Corps since 2013.

Additionally, Daniel works at The A&F Drum Company, and serves regularly at NorthPoint Church.

John Filippone is a proud alumnus of our brass and conducting programs. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in computer science, he started his career in Boston at IBM as a software engineer. He now works at a start up in the finance tech space called LiquidX as a software engineer specialized in blockchain technology.

John is currently involved in a number of initiatives that bring alumni back into the fold to expand the offerings of our organization. Most notably, he has spearheaded our conducting and leadership program, bringing in our drum major alumni to put together a curriculum for our conductor auditions and a series of conducting/leadership clinics for high school drum majors.

Benjamin Allgood was born in Blue Mound, IL and later relocated to Laguna Vista, Texas where he graduated from Port Isabel High School. After moving to San Marcos, Texas, he found a career in the culinary world as a chef.

Benjamin marched 6 seasons (2012-2016, 2018) as a mellophone player and 1 season as a drum major (2017). Soon after aging out in 2018, he took on the role of kitchen manager for Genesis in 2019 and return for the 2021 season.

Meet Cody Bliss! Cody is serving as the Health & Wellness program director for the 2020-2021 season. Cody marched 6 seasons with Genesis from 2013-2018 on Baritone and Euphonium. After Graduating with a degree in Kinesiology from Texas A&M University in 2019, Cody now attends the University of the Incarnate Word School of Physical Therapy in San Antonio and will graduate with his DPT in December 2022.

Joining our staff this year is Kayla Ruiz, stepping into the role of our Media Manager! Originally from McAllen TX, she moved to San Marcos and attended Texas State University. After graduating with her bachelors degree from Texas State’s School of Mass Communications and Journalism, she relocated to San Antonio.

While attending Sharyland High School, she marched with Genesis DBC from 2011-2013. During her time at Texas State she was a member of the Bobcat Marching Band Color Guard from 2014-2016, where she was captain for two years. Additionally, she was in the panhellenic sorority Gamma Phi Beta and the service sorority Tau Beta Sigma. From 2015 to 2019, she was a colorguard educator at Jack C Hays High School. Kayla continued her marching career in 2018 and 2019 with Origins Colorguard where she then joined the staff as their Media Coordinator. Prior to joining the staff at Origins, she was a media manager for a fitness center in Kyle TX.

Pranav is a proud alumnus of Genesis DBC who hails from the Rio Grande Valley region in South Texas. Upon graduating from Sharyland High School, he attended the University of North Texas in Denton, TX to pursue an electrical engineering degree. During his time in college, Pranav spent 3 seasons (2011, 2013, 2014) as a member of the Baritone section. After finishing his age-out season in 2014, he completed his bachelor’s degree at UNT and went on to begin a career in software development.

Pranav currently resides in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex where he is pursuing a master’s degree in business administration while working as a senior software developer for a security technology company. In his free time, he enjoys listening to and creating music, watching sports, making art through different media, and working on Genesis alumni-related projects.

Daleth Salas was born and raised in Brownsville, Texas. After graduating from Port Isabel High School, she relocated to San Marcos, Tx where she achieved a Bachelor’s of General Studies with minors in psychology, public health, and coaching from Texas State University.

Daleth started at Genesis in 2014 and aged out in 2018 from the colorguard section. While marching, she spent 4 seasons on the leadership team of Genesis. After her age out, she spent the 2019 season as a volunteer on the food truck.

Key Poulan is a composer and arranger with an expertise in the marching arts. He has composed and/or arranged for the world’s most famous drum corps including the Santa Clara Vanguard, Mandarins, Genesis, Glassmen, Spirit of Atlanta, Cascades, Spartans, Fusion Core, Hurricanes, Caballeros, Sunrisers, Raiders, Millennium (Italy), Juliana (Netherlands), Siamyth (Thailand), Star United and the Mass Brass Mini Corps.

He is currently on the design team for the Virtual Arts Indoor Winds Program through WGI and was the wind arranger for the WGI group Chromium Winds (The Cavaliers) and won back-to-back Gold Medals in their first 2 years of existence.

As the owner of Key Poulan Music, he has been recognized as one of the country’s top arrangers and composers in the area of contemporary marching band, has several concert band works to his credit. His marching band arrangements have won several national titles at the Bands of America Grand Nationals Championships. His works have won many state titles throughout the United States and have been performed around the world.

Key Poulan graduated from Marshall High School in Marshall, Texas in 1980 after starting band in Lindale Texas. Key received his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from East Texas State University (currently Texas A & M – Commerce) in 1985 and had the opportunity of studying under many fine educators including: Gary Hill, Dave Ward, Dr. Robert Houston, and Dr. Gene Lockhart. Key studied trombone under the late Dr. Neill Humfeld and composition with Dr. Ronald Yates and Dr. Margaret Wheat at ETSU. Key also credits his success to his mentors: Philip Geiger, Bill Watson, Eddie Green, Dr. Lawrence Sutherland, Dr. Gary Gilroy, Dr. Jerry Payne, Melvin Reddic, Hubert “Butch” Almany and the person who started him on trombone in the 5th grade – Jasper Huff.

Mr. Michael Huestis has been involved in music education since 1991 and has taught at Timpview High School in Provo, Utah, American Fork High School in American Fork, Utah and The Colony High School in North Dallas. In 2016 Mr. Huestis accepted a position teaching the Prosper Mighty Eagle Band in Prosper, TX. Throughout his career Mr. Huestis’ bands, percussion ensembles and drumlines have performed at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, Music for All National Percussion Festival, MENC Biennial Conference, Bands of American Grand National Championships, President Bush’s inaugural parade in Washington D.C., the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City and the Drum Corps International World Championships. Mr. Huestis was featured as one of the “50 Directors Who Make a Difference” by “School Band and Orchestra Magazine in 2008. Mr. Huestis earned his Bachelor of Music Degree was from the University of North Texas and a Masters in Percussion Performance from B.Y.U.

A highly sought after composer and arranger, Mr. Huestis has served as the percussion arranger for Pacific Crest Drum & Bugle Corps from Diamond Bar, CA and Genesis Drum & Bugle Corps in Austin, TX. His compositions are published by JKS Music, Rowloff, Key Poulan Publications and HuestisMusic Publications. Michael is the author of the classroom method, “Developing the Percussionist-Musician” which was developed for middle school and high school students.

Mr. Huestis has presented clinics and master classes at numerous state music education association conventions and universities. His professional affiliations include Texas Music Educators Association, National Association for Music Education, Jazz Educators Network and the Percussive Arts Society, where he served one term as a chapter president.

Shawn Glyde’s approach to modern percussion writing for both indoor and outdoor competition (USA and Europe), has led to 100+ jr. high, high school, independent, university, and drum corps drumlines performing his arrangements and compositions every year since 2002. He composes percussion and custom drumline arrangements independently, as well as for XtremePercussion.com, GPG Publications, Key Poulan Music, and Jair Klarfeld Music.

Glyde has authored six drum method books, judges for WBA, CVGPC, PCJA and SCPA. Shawn is the percussion arranger and/or music coordinator for several marching music programs throughout the United States and Europe. He is currently Director of Percussion Studies at the newly constructed Clovis North HS Educational Center in Clovis, Ca. Shawn balances his musical life by teaching private drum lessons and recording cds as a contemporary jazz solo artist. For more info, check out http://www.shawnglyde.com

Alyson Downs is a graduate of Casper College with an Associates's degree in Dance and the University of Central Oklahoma with a Bachelor's degree in Dance.

She worked in the Oklahoma City Metro for five years teaching dance with the Arts Council of Oklahoma City and color guard with Yukon High School before moving to Texas in 2019.

Alyson was a member of the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps color guard for eight seasons, aging out in 2015. She served as a captain from 2013-2015 and received the Troopers Member of the Year award in 2013. Alyson also performed with Eclectix Independent Winter Guard in 2015.

Alyson taught the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps color guard from 2016-2018 and has been on staff at Genesis Drum and Bugle Corps since 2019, currently as the Color Guard Caption Head. She is also the Color Guard Director at Guyer High School.

Felix Hernandez is currently the director of bands in Taft ISD and resides with his wife, Virginia, and his 2 children in Corpus Christi, TX. In his 15 years as a music educator, Felix has taught at multiple schools in the South Texas area and has guided the band programs to multiple trips to the Texas State Marching Contest, countless Sweepstakes awards and to multiple runner-up positions in the State Honor Band process. Felix is a product of Roy Miller High School in Corpus Christi, TX and upon graduation, attended college at Texas A&M University Kingsville where he graduated with his Bachelors of Music Education and is currently working on his Masters of Music Education. His performance credits include performances with renowned jazz artists such as Maynard Ferguson, Bobby Shew, Ed Shaughnessy, Bob Mintzer, James Moody, Ernie Watts, Peter Erskin, and Lou Marini. Beginning his drum corps career with the Crossmen in 2002, Felix has been active in the drum corps community ever since. His previous teaching positions have been on the visual staffs of Revolution, the Blue Stars, the Crossmen, the Academy and the Boston Crusaders. During his career, Felix has been a sought after clinician and adjudicator in the South Texas area and his professional affiliations include the Texas Music Educators Association and the Association of Texas Small School Bands.

Carlos Botello began his DCI marching career with Lone Star Drum and Bugle Corps in 1995-1997 marching snare all three years. In 1999 he was an age out of Pioneer Drum Corps and In 2000, he also played snare in the Blue Knights WGI World Class Percussion Ensemble. Botello has been teaching drum corps since 2005 and has taught many groups including (Pioneer, Revolution, Blue Devils B, Colts and Mandarins).

Botello has marched and studied with percussion instructors Mickey Hartzog, John Wooton, Allan Murray, Brian Stevens, Doug Rosener, and Curtis Pierre. Botello holds a B.A. in Music Education from New Mexico Highlands University and teaches Percussion at Naamn Forest High School. He has instructed and arranged for many groups all over the United States. Botello is the owner and creator of the Left Hand Path Drum Book series which has 13 books under the brand. Botello is a Beetle Percussion Artist and is sponsored by Salyers Percussion.