Matt Kozacek - Associate Director of Bands (Fall 2005- present)

Born into a military family, Matt moved around many times, never staying at a city too long before moving on to another. His family settled down here in Phoenix and he has lived in Arizona ever since. Matt found stability by being involved in band through elementary and high school, then decided to make music his career and attended the School of Music at the University of Arizona in Tucson. This is his fifth year teaching after graduating from the University of Arizona with a BA in Music Education. Matt is a tuba player and loves playing when he gets a chance. While at the UofA, Matt played in numerous ensembles, even touring through the middle of Europe with the Wind Ensemble. He was the principal tuba player in the Wind Symphony, and Tuba Section Leader of the marching band for two years. He played in the pep band for three of the four years he was at UA and even played in the Campus Band just for fun. Matt was also actively involved in Kappa Kappa Psi, the national honorary band fraternity, doing many service activities with the brotherhood. Matt is also an active member of MENC (National Association for Music Educators), ABODA (Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association) and AMEA (Arizona Music Educators Association). Not surprisingly, Matt is excited about continuing with his third year at Basha High School and is looking forward to continuing with the motto of "building a legacy".

Susan Mallek - Associate Director of Bands (Fall 2006- present)

Susan was born & raised in the Windy City of Chicago, where she taught music for 6 years. She has been a middle school band director, a general music & choir teacher, an adjudicator for solo/ensemble contests, & a high school color guard instructor to several schools. Susan earned her B.A. in Music Education from VanderCook College of Music in Chicago where she was principal oboist, member of the Percussion Ensemble & Madrigals, & secretary of Tau Beta Sigma, a national honorary music sorority. She has been playing flute & oboe for over 20 years, performing for 15 years in community bands, weddings, church ensembles, & musicals such as 'Oliver', 'Oklahoma', & 'H.M.S. Pinafor'. She has also enjoyed teaching private lessons in flute, oboe, & clarinet for over 10 years. Susan has been a member of many music & education organizations such as MENC- National Association for Music Educators, IMEA- Illinois Music Educators Association, IDRS-International Double Reed Society, AMEA- Arizona Music Educators Association, AFS- Arizona Flute Society, NEA- National Education Association, IEA- Illinois Education Association, AEA- Arizona Education Association, & CEA- Chandler Education Association. After recently taking a couple years off to become a Domestic Engineer to her 4 year old twin girls, Susan is very excited to be at Basha High School & to be a part of such a fine staff, a dry heat, & an awesome Bear Regiment!!!

Jimmy Madonia - Percussion Caption Head (Fall 2004 - present)

Jimmy graduated from Dobson High School in Mesa, AZ in 2003. During his time there, he was a member of the color guard for 1 year and the front ensemble section leader for 2 years. Jimmy played timpani in Momentum Percussion Theatre (WGI) from 2004-2006 and in Arizona State University's Inaugural Winter Drumline in 2007 (age out). His drum corps experience includes playing marimba in the 2005 Troopers and the 2006 Colts (age out). Jimmy is currently the percussion caption head/arranger at Basha HS and Casa Grande Union HS in Casa Grande, AZ. He also taught the front ensembles at Dobson HS (03-04) and Desert Ridge HS in Gilbert, AZ (04-07). Jimmy attends Mesa Community College and is working towards transferring to Arizona State Univerisity in Tempe. Former instructors include Jason Poole, Aaron Morales, Liz Bayersdorffer, Steve Ridley, Rich Hinshaw, Antonio Hernandez, Dom Moio, Nick Angelis, Matt Holm, Darrell Thompson, Jesse Parker, and Steve Ballard.

Pam Edgar - Colorguard Caption Head (Spring 2007 - present)

Bio Coming Soon

Albert Jiminez - Colorguard Instructor (Fall 2007 - present)

Bio Coming Soon

Felicia Thorn - Colorguard Instructor (Spring 2008 - present)

Felicia was born in Yuma, Arizona and moved to Gilbert when she was 6. Her first dance experience was with the Color Guard at Gilbert High her freshman year. Felicia's very first field season was on the sabre line and she's been on it ever since. She have been on Black Guard at Gilbert all four years as well. Felicia has been a Captain since her sophomore year and she really enjoys teaching and leading the guard. Being at Basha is a really great experience for Felicia since she's considering becoming the Caption Head of her own guard some day. Felicia plans to attend ASU and major in psychology. Previous instructors include: Pam Edgar, Rob Jet, Brandi DuBose, Alan Dekko, Kassidy Rogers, and others.

John McClean - Battery Instructor (Fall 2007 - present)

John was born and raised in Dallas, Texas but has lived in the Phoenix area for over 10 years now. He is a Desert Vista graduate and in May 2007 completed his Associated Degree in Fire Science at Mesa Community College. John is currently applying to multiple fire departments in the Phoenix area, however, plans to continue his marching percussion passion by teaching the Basha High School Drumline. His marching percussion experience includes 5 years of DCI (www.dci.org) Division 1 Drum Corps (Troopers 2003 and 2004, Esperanza 2005 and Concord Blue Devils 2006 and 2007) and 3 years of indoor Winter Guard International (WGI) competitions (Momentum 2004 and 2005 and ASU 2007). Additionally, John has performed with the Phoenix Suns drumline and the Arizona Cardinals drumline "Big Red Thunder". John has been instructed by some of the top percussion instructors in the nation including: Scott Johnson, Sean Vega, Ben Maughmer, Rich Hinshaw, John Mapes and Pete Sapadin. This past summer he completed his age out year with the Concord Blue Devils (www.bluedevils.org) where he was fortunate enough to help them capture their 12th World Championship in 35 years. Additionally, the drum line won their 10th High Percussion Award.

Dustin Roa - Pit Instructor (Spring 2007 - present)

Dustin was born in California but moved to Arizona at the tender age of 10. He started music in the fifth grade on trumpet and later attended Chandler High School; graduating in 2005. While still playing trumpet, he spent his last two marching seasons playing tenors on the drumline. He was the xylophone player for Momentum Percussion Theater's Front Ensemble in 2005 and 2006. In 2007, he played marimba for the ASU Winter Drum Line and became a member of The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps (where he will return for the 2008 season). Along with Basha, Dustin has taught at Westwood, Chandler, and Mesquite High School. While continuing his interest in the marching activity, Dustin is a full-time student at Scottsdale Community College, where he studies Film with an emphasis in Screenwriting.

Thien Pham - Cymbal Instructor (Spring 2007 - present)

Born and raised in Gilbert, Arizona, Thien graduated from Gilbert High School in 2006, and in that time he was a member of the cymbal line for three seasons and drum major for one season. Thien was also a member of Momentum Percussion Theatre World Line playing cymbals since 2005. He is now currently the section leader of the cymbals for the Arizona State University Marching Band and Winter Line. While attending Arizona State University he is undeclared at this time but would like to major in Supply Chain Management with a minor in International Tourism. While juggling with school work and class time he still manages to teach at Casa Grande High Union School and Basha High School as the Cymbal Tech and Visual Tech.

Ryan Johnson - Brass/Visual Instructor (Fall 2007 - present)

Ryan was born in Mesa and quickly moved to Gilbert as a young child where he has been ever since. He began playing music in the fifth grade on trumpet. Ryan graduated from Gilbert High School in 2006 where he played trumpet for the jazz band and euphonium for the concert and marching bands. Ryan began playing euphonium in his freshman year. During his freshman summer in 2003, Ryan participated in the Arizona Academy Brass and Percussion Ensemble which quickly evolved into the Drum and Bugle Corps in which he has been apart of for five years now. Ryan began teaching high school marching band the fall of 2006 and is privileged to be apart of the growing band program that is coming out of Basha High School.

Jeff Cooper - Brass/Woodwind Instructor (Fall 2007 - present)

Born in Iowa, raised in Arizona, Jeff graduated from Corona del Sol High School after participating in the marching band all four years. Three of those years, Jeff played alto saxophone, but switched to mellophone his senior year. In his time at Corona, Jeff served as a section leader, band council treasurer and vice president, and also won the both the "Most Improved Marcher" award (his freshman year), and "Outstanding Marcher" award (his junior and senior years). Jeff's love for the art sparked his interest in The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps, where he has marched mellophone for two years. This being his first teaching gig, Jeff is excited to be working for such a quality organization right out of the gate.

Ben Henderson - Brass/Visual Instructor (Spring 2008 - present)

Ben Henderson is in his first year intsructing at Basha. He has been a part of The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps in 2004 and 2005. Most recently he has been a member of The Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps in 2006, 2007, and is now the Mellophone section leader for the 2008 season. He plays trumpet in the Arizona Wind Symphony, and currently attends ASU where he is studying English Literature and Philosophy.