CONDUCTORS MARK CALIMA
Mark Calima is in his fourth year as the Director of Bands at Cedar Ridge High School and in his tenth year as a music educator. His responsibilities include conducting the Wind Ensemble and overseeing the Cedar Ridge Raider Marching Band, Jazz Band, and Color Guard. Mr. Calima is a 2004 cum laude graduate of the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in music education. Prior to opening Cedar Ridge, Mr. Calima started his career in 2004 as the Assistant Band Director at Bammel Middle School in the Spring Independent School District (Spring, Texas). The following five years he was the Associate Director of Bands at Westfield High School in the Spring Independent School District. During this time, his bands received superior ratings from the University Interscholastic League (UIL) in both marching and concert band. His concert bands also received consistent “Best in Class” awards at festivals across the state of Texas. In 2003, while serving as the lead visual instructor of the marching band, the Westfield “Big Red” Band was crowned the Bands of America Grand National Champion Band. While at Cedar Ridge, Mr. Calima’s concert and marching bands have received exclusively superior ratings from the UIL as well as “Best Overall Group” at every music festival attended. While only in the school’s infancy, the Cedar Ridge Band has also had many other successes in both the concert and marching settings under his care. Accolades include: 2011 4A UIL Area D Marching Finalist, 2012 5A Area D Marching Finalist, 2013 Bands of America Grand Nationals Finalist Band, and most recently having the Cedar Ridge Low Brass Choir appearing as a featured group at the 2013 Midwest Clinic. Mr. Calima was the founder and director of Houston Area Summer Wind Ensemble (HASWE), which was a non-profit summer band camp for Houston area high school musicians. The goal of the camp was to provide “high level instruction for low cost.” The camp thrived from the summer of 2004 through the summer of 2009 and was supported by Drum Corps International’s “ExSIGHTment of Sound” Organization. Mr. Calima was awarded the 2009 “Who’s Who among America’s High School Teachers” and was Cedar Ridge High School’s very first “Teacher of the Year” in 2012. Mr. Calima’s personal and professional influences include: Philip Geiger, Diane Vasquez, Gary Markham, Richard Floyd, Dick Clardy, Tom Bennett, Eddie Green, Matthew McInturf, Robert Herrings, Trent Cooper, Rick Ghinelli, Jim Van Zandt, Rick Rodriguez, Ryan Brittain, Megan Wike, KC Michel, Jeff Soloman, Philip Stanton, Brian Eisemann, Ryan Rambusch, Richard Crain, Gabe Musella, Jodie Rhodes, and Bert and Perla Calima. Mr. Calima’s professional affiliations include the Texas Band Masters Association, Texas Music Educators Association, and the Texas Music Adjudicators Association.
RYAN BRITTAIN
Ryan Brittain is in his fourth year as the Associate Director of Bands at Cedar Ridge High School in the Round Rock Independent School District. He is a Houston native as well as a 2010 summa cum laude graduate of the Moore’s School of Music at the University of Houston, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in music education. While in college, Mr. Brittain was under the batons of Tom Bennett, David Bertman, and Franz Kreger, where he held the status of principal horn in both the Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra. In conjunction with finishing his degree in the spring of 2010, Mr. Brittain had the privilege of being hired and aiding in the preparation of Cedar Ridge High School’s opening in the fall of 2010. Bands under Mr. Brittain’s direction have received consistent University Interscholastic League (UIL) Sweepstakes Awards at Concert and Sight-Reading Contest, as well as Best in Class awards at various festivals throughout Texas. Most recently, the Cedar Ridge Raider Band was named a 2013 Bands of America Grand National Championships Finalist Band. Mr. Brittain grew up in the Spring Independent School District (Spring, Texas), where he was a member of the Bammel Middle School Band program under the direction of Charlotte Royal and Diane Vasquez, as well as a member of the Westfield High School Band, under the direction of Philip Geiger and Jodie Rhodes. Mr. Brittain was a four-year Texas All-State French Horn player and ranked first in the State his senior year. He was also a part of the Westfield High School Bands of America Grand National Championship Band in 2003. His professional affiliations include the Texas Bandmasters Association and the Texas Music Educators Association. Mr. Brittain’s goal is to cultivate the same standards of excellence with his students that were placed on him as a student. His students are his greatest inspiration.