Jake Esterberg
Ensemble Director
Jake Esterberg (he/him) is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, holding a Bachelors of Music Education. He now serves as the Elementary Band Director in Waconia, Minnesota where he teaches 5th Grade Beginning Band at three Elementary Schools and 9th Grade Band at the High School. Jake is the Director of MBI Indoor Percussion and the Program Coordinator for the Colt Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps.
Jake’s marching experience consists of 5 years of Drum Corps (Govenaires Drum and Bugle Corps, Minnesota Brass Drum and Bugle Corps, and Colts Drum and Bugle Corps), 3 years of Indoor Drumline (MBI Indoor Percussion), and 2 years of College Marching Band with the Blugold Marching Band where he served as the Drumline Captain and Percussion Arranger.
As a Marching Arts Instructor and Designer, Jake has taken a variety of roles with groups across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa, including MBI Indoor Percussion (2023 WGI PIW Semi Finalist), Colt Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps (2019, 2023, 2024 DCI Open Class Finalists), River City Rhythm Winterguard (2023 WGI IA Finalist), the Blugold Marching Band, Minnetonka Marching Blue (YIM Outstanding Percussion 2A 2016, 2017, 2018), 728 Cadets/River Valley Percussion Theatre/RVWG, Big River Motion of Menomonie High School (MPA Winds Regional A Champion 2018) and Baldwin-Woodville High School (WSMA Class A Champion 2019, 2023, Outstanding Percussion 2019). Jake also currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Minnesota Percussion Association.
Jake is very excited to be back with MBI to continue to grow for the 2025 season
Connor Woitte
Assistant Director
Connor began his marching career in 2011 with the Eden Prairie Marching Band. From there, he went on to perform with MBI indoor in 2016 and 2018 and the Oregon Crusaders 2018 Drum Corps as a bass drummer.
He began his teaching career with Eden Prairie High School after graduating in 2015. He also taught the Menomonie High School indoor ensembles from 2016-2020. Connor continues to teach at Eden Prairie HS, and returns for his 2nd season teaching the MBI bassline.
Connor is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Stout where he received a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. He currently works as a software engineer for a student information software company. Connor is excited to continue the growth in 2025.
Joe Asleson
Program Coordinator / Batterie Arranger
Joe has been an active marching arts educator and designer in the Twin Cities area for 17 years. Joe worked with the Eden Prairie HS drumline for 12 years in varying roles including percussion caption head, visual designer, and battery arranger. During his time with Eden Prairie HS they were two-time Percussion Scholastic World Class finalists (2013 and 2014). He was also on staff with MBI Indoor Percussion 2010-2019 in various roles including snare technician, visual designer, and director. He returned to the team in 2023 as battery arranger, and will take on the additional roles of visual designer and program coordinator for the 2025 season.
From 2019-2023 Joe served as battery arranger for River City Rhythm Indoor Drumline. Joe also worked with the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps as snare technician and battery choreographer in 2012 and 2013, and has served as battery arranger and visual designer for several ensembles in the Twin Cities metro area and beyond. Joe was elected to the MPA Board of Directors in 2015 and eventually served as 2nd Vice President until 2020.
As a performer Joe was a snare drummer for several seasons with the MN Brass Drum and Bugle Corps. In 2008 Joe was snare section leader of the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps. Joe was a founding member of MBI Indoor Percussion in 2008. In 2009, Joe joined the snareline of Music City Mystique, earning the 2009 PIW bronze medal. Joe has been fortunate to learn from quality educators including Roger Carter, Casey Brohard, Tim Maynard, Carl Eppler, Shane Gwaltney, Joel Matuzak, and Mike Ferry. Joe graduated from Metropolitan State University with a Bachelor of Social Work, and he currently works as a mental health case manager in Hennepin County. Joe lives in the Uptown area in Minneapolis where he lives with his wife April and cat, Buffy.
Matt Hahn
Front Ensemble Arranger
Matt Hahn is an active designer and percussion educator in the Dayton, OH area. Matt is currently the Front Ensemble Designer for the Madison Scouts Drum And Bugle Corps. In 2012, Matt founded Resonant Music Design, a company specializing in marching arts design and education of all kinds.
Matt was a member of Rhythm X from 2005 – 2008 and was a staff member from 2009 – 2015. Matt also was a member of the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps from 2006 – 2007 in the front ensemble and was a staff member from 2009 – 2012. Matt graduated from Miami University (OH) in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education degree.
In 2013, Matt was elected to the Board of Directors of the Mid East Performance Association (MEPA) circuit and was recently elected as Vice President of Percussion for the circuit.
Matt is a proud sponsor of Innovative Percussion, Zildjian Cymbals, and Evans/Planet Waves products. He currently lives in Springboro, OH with his wife Sara, and his sons Micah and Ezra.
Natalie Sterner
Visual Designer & Choreographer
Natalie Sterner is excited to return to MBI Indoor Drumline as a visual and movement designer. Natalie has been performing since 2003 with multiple dance ensembles and has professionally studied ballet, pointe, modern, African, jazz, tap, and lyrical. She has also marched with the Rosemount High School color guard, MBI Winter Guard, and Lux Independent Winter Guard. She studied Dance Movement Therapy at University of Wisconsin-Madison and applies that knowledge to her teaching style and technique.
Natalie also brings to MBI extensive teaching experience including Rosemount High School competitive fall and winter programs since 2016 and River City Rhythm Winter Guard since its inaugural season in 2017. She has served as a designer, choreographer, equipment technician, movement specialist, and winter guard director. She is particularly known for her emphasis on movement, establishing movement programs and building technique for groups that have both experienced and novice dancers, and is looking forward to applying her experience to drumline at MBI.
Natalie holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and works in strategic sourcing for a global manufacturer.
Deryck Lawson
Batterie Coordinator
Deryck started his marching career back in 2014 with Burnsville HS, from there, he graduated in 2015 and went on to march with groups such as the Govenaires and River City Rhythm over the next few years until finally aging out with Matrix in 2019.
Deryck is looking forward to year 6 with MBI Indoor Percussion and couldn’t be more excited to get the season underway.
Joe Jaeger
Batterie Consultant
Joe has been an active music educator and performer throughout the Twin Cities area since 2009. He has experience instructing, arranging, and directing for marching band and indoor percussion at Rosemount HS, Eden Prairie HS, 728 Cadets, River Valley Percussion Theatre, and many more. At the independent level, Joe has found a home at Minnesota Brass, consistently working as a snare tech and battery coordinator for the summer and winter ensembles. He has also worked as a snare technician with the Seattle Cascades Drum and Bugle Corps, and the percussion caption head with Chops Drum and Bugle Corps.
Joe studied music at Normandale Community College, and finished his music education degree at the University of Minnesota. Currently, he is the middle school band director and elementary music teacher at Prairie View Elementary and Middle School in Otsego, MN.
Joe’s marching experience includes 6 years of Drum Corps and 4 years of indoor percussion: Minnesota Brass Drum and Bugle Corps (2009-2010, 2013, 2016), Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps (2011-2012), MBI Indoor Percussion (2010-2013). Other professional performance experiences include the Minnesota Vikings Skol Line, and various rock, funk, hip-hop, and jazz groups around the area.
Alex St. Clair
Front Ensemble Coordinator
Alex St. Clair started his marching career at El Dorado High School Marching Band in 2010 on baritone saxophone. In 2012, he transferred to South St. Paul Secondary and very quickly found a home in their winter drumline with the front ensemble. He has since marched in the front ensemble at MBI Indoor (2014-2017), Minnesota Brass Drum and Bugle Corps (2014-2017), and Minnesota Brass Sound Sport (2018-2019). The MBI organization has supported and shaped Alex into the hard-working and passionate educator he is now. Since 2018, he has been teaching the front ensemble at MBI Indoor and hopes to give back the same way his instructors did for him. Alex is also the front ensemble coordinator and arranger at South St. Paul Drumline where he’s been since 2014, the front ensemble coordinator and arranger for the Andover High School Marching Band since 2014, and a Front Ensemble Instructor at Irondale High School since 2020.
Emalee Judeh
Front Ensemble Coordinator
Emalee is a Twin Cities resident born and raised where she began her marching career at Eagan High School. She found a strong passion for the marching arts that led her to an early performing career as a member with the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps and Minnesota Brass Drum and Bugle Corps. After high school, Emalee moved to Southern California and was a member of Pulse Percussion as well as the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps. Emalee’s teaching career would begin at POW Percussion in Southern California and she eventually moved back to Minnesota to teach at Rosemount High School, and MBI Indoor. Emalee is currently residing in Eagan with her longtime partner Austin, their two dogs Bruce and Teddy, and is excited to be back again for another amazing season.
Anthony Gilleland
Front Ensemble Consultant
Anthony Gilleland is a performer and educator based out of Northern Kentucky. He is currently the Percussion Director for Beechwood Independent Schools in Fort Mitchell, KY where he teaches percussion methods, lessons, and marching ensemble rehearsals.
Anthony is currently on the front ensemble staff at ConneXus. He has also been involved with groups such as Carolina Crown, The Cadets, Pulse Percussion as well as the design team for George Mason University Indoor Drumline.
He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in percussion performance from California State University, Fullerton, and plans to return to school in the near future for a Master’s in percussion performance.
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Kory Esterberg
Front Ensemble Instructor
Kory Esterberg’s music career began while taking piano lessons throughout grade school. His love of music led him to join band in 6th grade, where he learned about the marching arts. He joined his high school drumline, River Valley Percussion Theatre, in 7th grade. After his high school years, Kory attended college at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. There, he founded the Blugold Indoor Drumline, which provided college students with an opportunity to play, teach, and design drumline shows.
Kory has taught a number of front ensembles in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Most recently, he has been working with the Minnetonka Marching Blue and River Valley Percussion Theatre. He also just finished a season as a director of Minnesota Brass Drum and Bugle Corps.
Vlad Boz
Batterie Instructor
Vlad is a proud alumnus of South St. Paul High School, where he participated in the marching band and indoor drumline 1997–2002. He also marched with the Pioneer Drum and Bugle Corps (2001–2002), the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps (2004–2006), and the Minnesota Brass Drum and Bugle Corps (2003, 2007–2008). He has been teaching South St. Paul High School since 2009, Rosemount High School since 2011 and Minnesota Brass since 2010, in addition to having taught several other local groups in the past. And he’s been president of the Minnesota Percussion Association since 2015. Vlad has a degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota and works in marketing and communications. In his spare time, he enjoys petting strangers’ dogs and writing his bio.
Austin Collins
Batterie Instructor
Austin Collins is a percussion educator based in the Twin Cities, Minnesota where he lives with his partner and their two miniature dachshunds. Austin’s marching background includes Seattle Cascades (2014-2016), Dark Sky Percussion (2017), POW Percussion (2018), The Cavaliers (2018-2019), Pulse Percussion (2019-2020), and the Minnesota Vikings Skol Line.
Austin has been teaching various high schools in Washington and Minnesota since 2018 and has taught quads at Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps in 2020-2021, Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps 2023-2024, and most recently will be on staff at the Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps this upcoming season! He also taught visual at Santa Clara Vanguard 2022. Outside of teaching drum lines and private percussion lessons, Austin is a certified Radiologic Technologist at Southdale Hospital.
Austin is beyond excited to be a member of the team of undeniable educators and is looking forward to creating an unforgettable experience of excellence and comradery for the members involved as well as a lasting legacy for the Minnesota Brass program.
Andrew Wennekamp
Batterie Instructor
Andrew started his marching career in 2014 at Sauk Rapids-Rice HS. He graduated in 2018 and marched with the Govenaires Drum and Bugle Corps and Minnesota Brass Drum and Bugle Corps. Andrew also marched with MBI Indoor Percussion from 2019-2022.
Jack Gillie
Batterie Instructor
Jack Gillie, hailing from New Brighton, Minnesota, began his journey with the drumline at Irondale High School, where he graduated in 2017. His dedication to marching arts took him to the River City Rhythm Drum and Bugle Corps, where he performed in 2017 and 2018. In 2019, he marched with the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps, as well as joining the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps for the 2020 season. In addition to his experience with drum corps, Jack dedicated four seasons to MBI Indoor Percussion (2018-2022). Additionally, Jack expanded his performance experience by spending two years with the Minnesota Vikings Skol Line.
Beyond performing, Jack is passionate about education. He began teaching marching percussion at Rosemount High School as a snare instructor in 2018. He has also worked with various other schools, including Irondale, St. Francis, and Brandon Valley High Schools. In 2023, Jack served as a snare instructor at MBI, and he is excited to be back for the 2025 season.
Currently, Jack is a student at Metropolitain State University, where he studies Computer Science.
Isaac Steffen
Batterie Instructor
Isaac started his marching career at Farmington High School (2015-2018). He then went on to do Chops Drum and Bugle Corps (2016, 2018), Chops Percussion Indoor (2016-2017), Minnesota Brass Drum and Bugle Corps and Soundsport (2017, 2019, 2023), MBI Indoor Percussion (2019-2022), The Cadets (2021-2022), and Rhythm X (2023). He has also been the bass tech at Eden Prairie High School since 2019.
Aside from Band, Isaac likes to play video games, hang out with friends, cook tasty food, and pet his cat, Nathan. He is very excited for this upcoming season, and can’t wait to clean some beats!
Ben Linser
Batterie Instructor
Ben Linser is from New Brighton, MN, where he went to Irondale High School. While there, he participated in fall marching band and winter drumline. After graduating high school, he went to the University of North Dakota and graduated with a degree in computer science. In college, Ben marched cymbals with River City Rhythm, Minnesota Brass Indoor, Oregon Crusaders, and Cap City Percussion.
Since aging out and graduating college, Ben now works as a software developer in Minneapolis and lives in the metro with his wife, Emma, and two cats, Jynx and Claire. His prior teaching experience includes Irondale High School, Eden Prairie High School, the UND Marching Band, River City Rhythm Drum Corps and Indoor Drumline, and MBI indoor. Ben is excited to be back with MBI again this winter for the 2025 season!
Justin Mons
Visual Instructor
Justin is an Arizona native, and has been involved in the marching arts for 16 years as an instructor, adjudicator, and visual designer. After marching 7 years at The Arizona Academy, he joined the visual staff at the Mandarins. Justin served the Mandarins as a field tech in 2013, Assistant Visual Caption Head ’14-’16, and ‘17-22 returned back to a lead field tech position. Justin also spent a part of the 2015 summer on visual staff for the Academy. Most recently in the 2024 season, Justin was on the visual staff for the Blue Knights, and was the Drill Designer for the All Age Class A champions, Govenaires.
In the world of indoor percussion, Justin served as Visual Caption Head and was a designer for Vision Percussion 2017-2020. During his time with Vision he helped them grow from Independent A to Independent Open, and became WGI San Bernadino regional Finalists in both the A and Open. During his time with Vision, they also took Winter Guard Arizona (WGAZ) gold in A class 2016, Open class ’17, ’19 and silver in Open ’18. Justin has also been a visual analysis judge for the WGAZ circuit from 2018-2020 and MPA from 2021-2024
During the fall Justin has worked with multiple medalist and championship groups in Arizona, Minnesota, and the Houston/Katy Texas areas. These groups include Corona Del Sol HS (Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association (ABODA)) medalists and BOA regional Finalist), Basha HS (ABODA Finalist and WGAZ medalist), Millennium HS (ABODA finalist), Vista Grande HS (WGAZ medalist), and Gilbert HS (ABODA state champions). James E. Taylor and Clear Creek High Schools in TX, and Hutchinson and Eastview High Schools in MN.
Justin will soon be completing his BA in Organizational Leadership (Project Management) from Arizona State University. In his off time he enjoys attending Twins and Vikings games, musicals, and any theater production his partner Mandy Rae is directing. He is thrilled to start his journey with MBI Indoor!
Ian Ko
Visual Instructor
Ian started his marching career during his time at the University of Minnesota on the drumline, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Management Information Systems. During that period, he marched various local groups including RCR DBC (2021), RCR Indoor Percussion (2022), and MBI Indoor Percussion (2023). Most recently, he finished his marching career, aging out with Matrix World (2024).
Aside from band, Ian grew up as a competitive dancer for 10 years at Summit Dance Shoppe in Plymouth, MN. Ian is very excited for the season and the opportunity to give back to a program that meant a lot to him when he marched.
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Jared Olson
Audio Engineer
Jared (he/him) is excited to serve his fourth year as Audio Engineer for MBI Indoor Percussion. He also serves as Director of the Eden Prairie HS Winter Drumline program as well as Percussion Caption Head/Front Ensemble Arranger for the EPHS Eagle Band. Past programs he has worked with include Champlin Park HS (MN) and Valley HS (IA).
Jared’s marching percussion experience as a performer includes time with MBI Indoor and Drum and Bugle Corps, the Madison Scouts, and Twin Cities Area Independent indoor drumline.
Jared is an information technology professional by trade in the Twin Cities area and resides in Minneapolis with his partner Cristina and their 2 cats, Daisy and Kirby.
