Nominees for Vice President and Treasurer
Vice President Nominees
(In submission order)
Miles Denny
Miles Denny is the current director of band at Basha High School and AMS Middle School in Chandler, Arizona. Prior to this, Miles Denny was the director of band and guitar at Smith Jr. High in Mesa, Arizona. Miles is a graduate of Arizona State with a Bachelors in Music Education. During his time at Arizona State, Miles studied under notable professors such as, JB Smith, Mark Sunkett, and Simone Mancuso.
During his past four years at Basha High, Miles has helped lead the program to a 2nd place championship in PSA in 2018 WGAZ, 1st place WGAZ PSA 2019, 1st Place WGI PSA Temecula Regional 2019, 1st Place WGI PSA Phoenix Region 2019, 1st Place WGI PSO Phoenix Regional 2020, and 1st Place WGAZ Championship WSA 2019.
In the Arizona music community, Miles has served as a judge and clinician, including WGAZ 2018-present, PAS 2017-2018 clinician, Mesa Honor Band 2017, and PAZ Music Camp 2017-2019. He was also honored to receive the WGAZ 2020 Percussion Directior of the Year award. In addition, Miles runs a private percussion studio ranging from elementary to high school students.
Miles Denny has a true passion for expanding students musical knowledge and appreciation beyond the mainstream band class. Hr strives to build a lifelong love of the arts in all of his students. Whether their focus be concert band, jazz band, percussion, or winterguard, Miles continually encourages his students to grow beyond the walls of his program and work to pursue the success of the arts in the community for a lifetime.
Bryan Scheidecker
Bryan Scheidecker First got involved with music playing the saxophone in 4th grade at Jellick Elementary in Rowland Heights, CA on a big blue hollowed out school bus called the “Note Boat”. Little did he know that by walking onto that bus, his life would be changed forever.
Since 1999, Bryan has instructed at various schools and Drum Corps in Southern California and the Boston area in Massachusetts. In addition to instructing, Bryan is also a T&P adjudicator for the Southern California Percussion Alliance (SCPA), Winter Guard Arizona (WGAZ), and Winter Guard International (WGI) indoor percussion circuits, as well as serving as a Contest Director for SCPA and WGAZ. Bryan was formerly the Assistant Director of Education for the Vic Firth Company and is currently the team lead for the Customer Service department at Fender Musical Instrument. Bryan also serves as co-chair for the Black Employee Resource Group helping grow diversity and inclusion at Fender.
As a performer, Bryan spent his four years at Ruben S. Ayala High School heavily involved in the instrumental music department, three of them in leadership roles. As and adult, he has played with artists such as Steve Wilkerson, Jeff Hamilton, the Jazz on the Latin Side All-stars, Poncho Sanchez, and as a soloist for Grammy Award winner Celine Dion.
Salvatore J. Boenzi
Entering his 12th year as a music educator, Salvatore J. Boenzi is the Director of Bands at Anza Trail School in Sahuarita, AZ. Salvatore’s background in theatre, music, dance, color guard, and design has afforded him a unique skillset that allows him a wide perspective of the Arts. From the 5 middle school bands he teaches at Anza Trail to the state champion winter guards he coached and designed for while at Walden Grove HS, he consistently fosters the growth of well-trained young performers who value themselves as much as their craft.
It is Salvatore’s philosophy that Art should move you and through Art we can better know ourselves and our community. With that in mind, he has a students-first approach towards music education and pageantry. A former performer with Fenix Independent World and Rhapsody World, he uses the lessons he learned from his mentors in those ensembles to develop and grow the color guard and band culture in Sahuarita, AZ. Music & Arts Education is about teaching young performers about life using Art as the medium. Currently, Salvatore freelances as a designer, choreographer, & judge in Southern Arizona and consults for groups around the western United States.
Keith Casey
My name is Keith Casey, and I have been involved in the pageantry arts for over 37 years. I started performing with my high school marching band at the age of 12. From there, I marched trumpet (soprano) for the Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps (1987-1988) and mellophone for the Star of Indiana Drum and Bugle Corps (1989-1992) which was named DCI World Champions in 1991. During those years, I also performed with the Jacksonville State University Marching Southerners where I served as drum major (1990, 1991, and 1993) in addition to playing cymbals in the winter to compete with our university percussion line at PASIC. I was also fortunate enough to march the last year of the State Street Review Winterguard in 1993 where we received the Bronze Medal in Independent World at WGI. After aging out, I transitioned to instructing and spent 13 years working with various high schools in Cobb County, Georgia. I served as the Assistant Guard Director at Lassiter HS (1996-2000). While at Lassiter HS, our programs achieved recognition as the 1996 WGI Scholastic A Class Champions, the 1997 WGI Scholastic Open Class Champions, and 1998 Bands of America Grand Nationals Champions. I also served as Guard Director at Wheeler HS (2000-2002), and at Alan C. Pope HS (2002-2007). From there, I moved to Arizona and served as Guard Director at Mesquite HS (2007-2012) and Desert Vista HS (2012-now).
My passion for the arts also crosses over into my daily life and profession as a 22-year veteran English teacher. I hold a BA in English from Jacksonville State University (1994) and a BS in Secondary English Education from Kennesaw State University (1997). I am currently the Senior English Level Chair at Desert Vista HS where I am responsible for creating all of the course content and curriculum for that level.
Prior to moving to Arizona, I was very active in the Southeastern Color Guard Circuit and was an inaugural member of the Southern Association of Performing Arts which is comprised of scholastic and independent color guard units from Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. While living in Arizona, and I have been a very active member in the circuit. I have served as the Colorguard Liaison and worked to consistently push my programs to compete on the regional and national stage.
Given my varied and extensive background in numerous aspects of the pageantry arts, I feel that I can offer an extremely unique perspective since I have marched and instructed winterguard, winter percussion, and winds. As a result of my varied experiences, I feel that I can understand the needs and concerns of all performing groups within our WGAZ community. I want to be someone who is here for the entire membership and not just one particular group. I have been a part of this activity for quite a long time and seen major paradigm shifts over the years; however, the one thing that never changes is the goal of giving young performers the best possible experience in this activity, so I want to help cultivate them in any way I can by making certain the instructors are getting what they need for success from the executive board. I am also one who realizes the limits to my knowledge and would openly seek advice and counsel from the membership which carries a wealth of information from the newest to the oldest instructor.
The one thing I want you all to understand is that I will make it my mission to listen to each and every concern or worry that you might have as a member. Your voice deserves to be heard and that is what I want to do for you. My ultimate goal is to serve the membership; therefore, I would consider it an honor to serve our WGAZ community as your next vice-president.
Treasurer Nominee
(In submission order)
Hapie Denfeld
Hapie Denfeld became a fan and supporter of the Arizona marching arts in 2009 when her niece began participating with her high school marching band and winterguard. Since then, both of her sons and now her daughter have all participated on the scholastic and independent levels. In 2014, Hapie began volunteering with the Academy Drum & Bugle Corps and then the Colt Cadet Drum & Bugle Corps in 2015 through the 2016 season. In December of 2016 she became the Assistant Business Manager for the Academy DBC through the 2019 season. During her time at the Academy she worked with the Business Manager to enter member fees and receive payments, tour expenses were tracked and entered, and accounts were reconciled. In 2018 Hapie was given the opportunity to support two local independent groups. She joined Oasis Ensembles as a Board Advisor and Flux Indoor Percussion as the Business Manager. For the last 14 years, Hapie has also run her own business and has over 14 years of QuickBooks and financial experience.
Cari Eng
Cari Eng, originally from Indianapolis Indiana, started out in the marching arts as a clarinet player turned color guard member. She was a member of the band and guard at Franklin Central High School where she had the honor of being a member of the WGI Open Class World Champion team in 2000. After high school, Cari joined the staff with the Franklin Central HS World Guard until she moved to Phoenix in 2003 after graduating from Indiana University with a BS in Computer Science.
In 2003, Cari joined Teach For America and began teaching and coaching here in Arizona. She currently works as a math teacher at Boulder Creek HS. Cari has been actively involved in the WGAZ circuit since 2005. She served as the Mountain Ridge HS Colorguard Director from 2005-2019 where she was responsible for managing both the Regional A JV Guard and the Open Varsity Guard including all of the finances in and out of the program. Cari is now the Colorguard Director at Boulder Creek HS.
In addition to being a member of the circuit, Cari has served previously on the Executive Board as Secretary for multiple terms before stepping down after the birth of her daughter in 2013. Since stepping away from the Executive Board, Cari has served on multiple committees for WGAZ including the Promotions, Bylaw Revisions, and Show Selection Committees as well as being a member of the Advisory Board each year.
Cari believes in the importance of the marching arts and is eager to once again serve the entire community by approaching each decision through the lens of supporting the performer experience because they are why we exist.