Ken Ringel is currently in his 4th year as Director of Bands at McKinney High School.  Prior to his appointment at McKinney High, he served as the Director of Bands at Frisco High school, Gainesville High School, as well as Clark High School in the Plano Independent School District.  He has also held assistant band director positions at Clark High School and Jasper High School in Plano, as well as Midlothian High School.

His responsibilities at McKinney High include conducting the Honors Band, Concert I Band, and team-teaching the Symphonic Band, Concert II Band, and the Marching Band.  He is also responsible for the overall focus and management of the band program.  Bands under his direction have consistently been awarded the “Sweepstakes Award” for Superior Ratings in University Interscholastic League Marching, Concert, and Sight Reading contests, and have been named “Best in Class” and “Best in Festival” at various music festivals around the country.

Mr. Ringel has enjoyed a wide-range of experiences in the music field.  He held positions around the Dallas, Fort-Worth area as a freelance horn player and most notably served as a substitute horn player for the Fort-Worth Symphony Orchestra for nine years.  He took part in Drum Corps International as a member of the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps in 1989 and 1990.  He is also active as a marching drill designer and has written for several High Schools and Universities around the country, including The University of North Texas Green Brigade.

Mr. Ringel holds the Bachelor of Music Degree from Florida State University and a Master of Music Degree from Southern Methodist University.  He earned his teaching credentials from Texas A&M Commerce.  He is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association.

A native of Killeen, Texas, Marcus Hunley is a 2000 graduate of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, where he received a bachelor’s in music education.  Mr. Hunley is in his fourth year as Associate Director of Bands at McKinney High School.  Prior to his assignment at McKinney High School, Mr. Hunley has taught in the Frisco, Plano, and Richardson school districts.  Mr. Hunley's teaching responsibilities at McKinney High School include directing the Symphonic Band, Concert II Band, Jazz Ensemble, as well as team-teaching the Wind Ensemble, Concert I Band, and the Royal Pride Marching Band.  

While at Michigan State University, Mr. Hunley studied Saxophone with Joseph Lulloff and James Forger, and studied jazz saxophone with Andrew Speight.  As an undergraduate student, Mr. Hunley was involved in a graduate level saxophone quartet which competed in The Fischoff and Mt.Carmel competitions.  He has recorded with Joseph Lulloff on the CD Joseph Lulloff Plays the Saxophone Music of Colgrass, Dahl and Ruggiero.  Mr. Hunley was involved in the MSU jazz ensemble as well as several jazz combos where he had the opportunity to study with Branford Marsalis, who was in sabbatical at Michigan State University from 1997-1999.  Mr. Hunley occasionally subs with the Dallas Wind Symphony, plays in the DFW Saxophone Quartet, and plays in the jazz combo ClassicJazz Quartet, which plays around the Plano area.  Mr. Hunley’s professional associations include the Texas Music Educators Association and The North American Saxophone Alliance.

John Willmarth is an active performer, composer, author, and educator in the north Texas area.  A versatile percussionist, John is experienced in many areas of percussion including jazz, concert, marching, and world percussion.

As a percussion director in the McKinneyIndependentSchool District, John coordinates the percussion programs for EvansMiddle School and McKinneyHigh School. He has previously served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Kentucky, percussion instructor at CentreCollege, and as Director of Percussion at LafayetteHigh School in Lexington, KY.  As a marching percussion consultant and clinician, he has worked with high schools across the Midwest as well as for Bands of America, The Yamaha Corporation of America, and the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts.

 As a freelance percussionist, John maintains a busy performance schedule.  While in Kentucky, he held the drumset chair in the Dimartino/Osland Jazz Orchestra, Osland/Dailey Jazztet, and the Ross Whitaker Trio.  In addition, he was a regular percussionist for the Paragon Music Theatre Company, and performed with the Lexington Brass Band and the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra.  John is a former member of the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps where, in 1995, he helped to lead the corps to its second DCI title as section leader of the drumline.

 An active composer, John received 2^nd place honors in the 2006 Percussive Arts Society Composition Contest for his piece for solo timpani, Bushido: The Way of the Warrior.  An experienced arranger, he has written marching percussion books for high schools across Kentucky as well as The University of Kentucky and the University of Iowa.  His percussion compositions and arrangements are published by Innovative Percussion, Drop6 Media, Inc, and Tapspace Publications.  As an author, John has contributed articles to Percussive Notes and Bluegrass Music News.

 John earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky under the tutelage of James Campbell and a master’s degree from the University of Iowa where he studied with Dan Moore, James Dreier and John Rapson.  John is a member of the Percussive Arts Society and an artist with Innovative Percussion, Evans Drumheads and the Yamaha Corporation of America.

 For more information on John and his activities please visit www.johnwillmarth.com.