Connie Truong
CONNIE TRUONG: FRONT ENSEMBLE CAPTION HEAD
After graduating James Logan High School in the Bay Area, Connie moved to Southern California to pursue her music performance degree at Cal State Long Beach. She continued to be very active in the marching arts performing with various groups including Pulse Percussion (2015-2017), Blue Devils B (2012) and the Santa Clara Vanguard (2016). Upon aging out of both WGI and DCI, she also finished her Bachelor’s of Music in Percussion Performance.
She has worked with the Sacramento Mandarins (2019-DCI Finalist) and the Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets (2018-2020, Open Class Champion-2018 & 2022).
Currently, Connie is the Percussion Caption Head at Pacifica High School and the front ensemble instructor at the PCC Lancer Marching Band.
2024 is Connie’s 3rd season with Dark Sky and 1st as our Caption Head.
Kevin Tran
KEVIN TRAN: FRONT ENSEMBLE INSTRUCTOR
Kevin Tran studied at UCLA under the direction of Raynor Carroll, former principal percussionist of the LA Phil, and Theresa Dimond, principal percussionist of the LA Opera, where he received his BA in Music Performance in 2017. During his marching career, he performed with Hanford High School from 2009-2013, Blue Devils “B” in 2011 & 2012 and taught at Elan Percussion in 2016.
In recent years, Tran has worked with many schools and organizations throughout Southern California and Northern Alabama, and has been the percussion director at Mira Costa High School since 2021. Currently he is an active performer, composer, arranger, and educator. He is working on many new projects for solo percussion and composing classical & contemporary wind, strings, and percussion literature. Tran is currently signed with Innovative Percussion Inc. as an artist & percussion educator.
This is Kevin’s first year instructing at Dark Sky.
Andrew Kolbe
ANDREW KOLBE: FRONT ENSEMBLE INSTRUCTOR
Andrew is an alumni of Dark Sky Percussion as well as the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps. He has worked with El Camino HS, Carlsbad HS, Vista HS, and Mission Hills HS as a front ensemble educator. Andrew is a lifelong resident of Oceanside, CA and has his BS in structural engineering from UCSD.
This is Andrew’s second season as a Dark Sky instructor.
Taylor Smith
TAYLOR SMITH: FRONT ENSEMBLE INSTRUCTOR
Taylor Smith is a percussion performer and music educator based out of the Central Valley currently finishing a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from California State University, Fresno.
They have marched with various local independent groups including Bakersfield College Drumline, Golden Empire Drum and Bugle Corps, and Redwave Indoor, as well as teaching at several groups such as Mathilda Torres High School, Redwave Indoor, as well as the Fresno State Marching Band.
Taylor is very excited for their first season at Dark Sky!
Grant Bubar
GRANT BUBAR: FRONT ENSEMBLE CONSULTANT
Grant Bubar is a freelance percussionist and educator based out of Tarzana, CA and joined the DSP staff for the 2020 season. As an advocate for the education of percussion as a complete art form, Grant has enjoyed performing in, and teaching a wide range of ensembles of varying styles.
Besides competing in WGI with Dark Sky Percussion (2017, 2019), Grant has performed with orchestras, wind ensembles, and chamber groups, including the West Coast Symphony and the TEMPO new music ensemble. He also works as the percussion director for Canyon High School (Santa Clarita), where he instructs both marching and concert percussionists.
Grant is currently living in Thousand Oaks, has completed his undergraduate degree in music education from Cal State Northridge and plans to pursue a Graduate degree in Percussion Performance, but FIRST - his band, Sad Park has been signed to a record deal and will be on tour for the next few years!