Jamar Dumas

Director of Bands

Jamar Dumas is currently the Director of Bands at Daphne High School in Daphne, Alabama.  He attended Jacksonville State University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education in 2005.  While at JSU he played alto saxophone and mellophone in the Marching Southerners, tenor saxophone in the Jazz Band and HardCorps Pep Band, and oboe in the Chamber Winds.

Mr. Dumas is in his nineteenth year of teaching as a high school director.   Prior to serving at Daphne, he was the Associate Director at Oak Grove High School in Oak Grove, Alabama from 2005-2008.  While at Oak Grove he helped lead the program to such accomplishments as Bands of America Super Regional Class Champion and performing at the Alabama Music Educators Association Conference.  Following his time at OGHS, Mr. Dumas served as Director of Bands at Satsuma High School in Satsuma, Alabama from 2008-2011.  Under his leadership, the band program grew from 30 members to over 100 members in three years.  Mr. Dumas has also worked with the Southwind Drum and Bugle Corps, serving as Program Coordinator/Manager and Assistant Director.

While serving as Director of Bands at Daphne High School for the past thirteen years, the band program has received superior ratings consistently and the program has grown to over 200 members.  Under his direction, the Daphne High School Wind Ensemble was invited to perform at the 2023 Alabama Music Educators Association Conference.   Mr. Dumas teaches Marching Band, Wind Ensemble, AP/IB Music Theory, Band Techniques, Guitar and Jazz Band.   He also serves as the Fine Arts Department Chair.

Mr. Dumas has served on the Alabama Bandmasters Association Executive Board as District VII Chairman.  His professional affiliations include the National Association for Music Education, Alabama Music Educators Association, Alabama Bandmasters Association, American School Band Directors Association and Phi Mu Alpha Professional Music Fraternity.

Mr. Dumas lives in Daphne with his beautiful wife Shelly and daughter Madison.

Chris LeBatard

Associate Director of Bands

Chris LeBatard is in his fourth year of teaching as the Associate Director of Bands at Daphne High School. He attended Pascagoula High School in Pascagoula, Mississippi where John Taylor and Greg Puckett were his band directors. Mr. LeBatard attended the University of South Alabama where he was a member of the South Alabama Jaguar Marching Band, principal euphonium player in the South Alabama Wind Ensemble and other group ensembles such as the tuba/euphonium ensemble, brass quintet, choir, and clarinet choir. Mr. LeBatard is a member of the National Educators Association (NEA), Alabama Education Association (AEA), National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and the Alabama Music Educators Association (AMEA). Mr. LeBatard lives in Daphne with his wife, Amber-Lynn LeBatard. His teaching duties include Marching Band, Concert Band, and Music Production Engineering.

Ryan Pippin

Associate Director of Bands/DHS, DMS

Ryan Pippin is in his 11th year of teaching and his first year with the Daphne Band Programs.

Mr. Pippin grew up in Fairhope, Alabama where he was a part of the award winning Buccaneer Band and was under the direction of Steve Sims, Sidney Dideaux, Will Duncan and Robert Allen. After graduating high school, he pursued a passion for Music Education at the University of Mobile. During his time at Mobile, Mr Pippin held the position of Principal Horn in the Wind Ensemble, Chamber Ensemble, and Opera Workshop, and was also a member of the traveling Brass and Percussion Ensemble, Ramcorps. While attending University of Mobile, he was selected to march Mellophone for the Glassmen Drum and Bugle Corps, in which they place top ten at the DCI World Championships. After graduating from Mobile with his B.A. in Music Education, Mr. Pippin went on to pursue his Masters in Music Education at William Carey University, graduating in 2014.

Mr. Pippin started his teaching career at Lamar Christian followed by becoming the Director of Bands at West Marion High School. He spent four years as their director where we saw success both on the marching band field and the concert stage. Following his time at West Marion, Mr. Pippin became an associate director of bands at Petal High School and Middle School. He was head of all Middle School activities as well as served on the staff of the Petal Indoor Percussion Theater and helped assist with High School Band.

Mr. Pippin just recently moved to the City fo Spanish Fort where he and is lovely wife Anna will reside. His teaching duties will involve directing all Middle School Band Activities, as well as assisting Mr. Dumas and the High School band.

Melissa White

Beginning Band Director

Melissa White is a Daphne native and graduated from Daphne High School in 2002. She was a member of The Sound of the Eastern Shore, playing both oboe in concert band and percussion in the front ensemble. Mrs. White graduated from the University of Mobile and began her teaching career in Baldwin County. She has over 15 years of teaching experience at the elementary and middle school level, but her passion is teaching beginning band. Professionally, she has served as a guest clinician and judged several events in Mobile and Baldwin County. Mrs. White resides in Daphne with her husband Michael, daughters Kaylee and Katherine. She expressed how excited she is to share her love of all things band with the Daphne community.

Ashley Johnson

Assistant Color Guard Director

Ashley Johnson is a native of Fort Walton Beach, FL where she graduated from Choctawhatchee High School in 2004. She has a strong background in movement/dance that initially led her to perform with the Choctawhatchee Color Guard from 2000 to 2004. After graduation, Ashley continued to perform with multiple independent programs over the next few years. She spent one year competing in the GCGPC with W3(IA Class) in 2005 and one year in the FFCC with Paradigm (IW Class) in 2007. From 2005-2009, she began her teaching career instructing at Choctawhatchee High school where she served as one of the technicians and choreographers for the field, Scholastic Regional A, and Scholastic World Guard programs. Throughout her years at Choctaw, Ashley has contributed to multiple successes for the program. Best in class awards, superior ratings, 5A FMBC State Champions, WGI Power Regional Finalist, WGI Regional Scholastic World Champions, consecutive WGI World Championships Scholastic World Finalist. She attended Florida State University where she continued her love for Colorguard while studying at the University. She performed five seasons with the World-Renowned Marching Chiefs Colorguard while finishing her BS degree in Recreation and Leisure Management in 2010.  Throughout the past decade she has served as a director, choreographer, technician, consultant, and show designer for numerous programs, clinics, and camps. The schools include, Fort Walton Beach High School, Crestview High School, Melbourne High School, Tavares High School, Lincoln High School, Liza Jackson Preparatory, and Okaloosa Winter Guard.

Josh Harper

Percussion Instructor

Mr. Josh Harper grew up in Spanish Fort, AL and graduated from Daphne High School with Honors/Top 25 in his class in May 1999. Mr. Harper is a former percussion captain for the Daphne HS Band, and was a charter member of the Daphne HS Indoor Percussion Ensemble in 1998. He marched bass drum in 8^th grade and marched snare drum all 4 years of high school. His band directors at Daphne were Rick Faison and Mark Foster. Mr. Harper went on to attend The University of Alabama where he marched snare drum for the Million Dollar Band 1999-2003. His college band director at UA was the legendary Kathryn Scott. His percussion instructors in college included Jason Dyhouse and Neal Flum. Mr. Harper received his BS in Education from The University of Alabama in May 2003. Mr. Harper has been a high school math teacher for the past 21 years (19 years at Daphne HS) and a percussion instructor in some capacity for more than 20 years. He has worked with percussion groups at Alma Bryant HS, Robertsdale HS, Satsuma HS, Baldwin County HS, and Daphne HS. Mr. Harper has composed multiple cadences for the Daphne HS marching percussion section over the past 20+ years. Mr. Harper and his wife Erica live in Daphne with their beautiful daughter, Annalee Grace Harper.

Dr. Zachary Webb

Percussion Instructor

Dr. Zachary Webb is a freelance percussionist who currently resides in Lower Alabama. Although classically trained, Dr. Webb’s musical interests fall over a vast spectrum including contemporary art music, popular music, and numerous world drumming styles. Dr. Webb is currently a member of the percussion trio Three by Radio, and has also performed with the new music group Bent Frequency, Freeform Percussion, and as a member of The Hartt School’s Performance 20/20. Some of his most recent projects have included performances and recordings of works by Giorgio Battistelli, Morton Feldman, and Vinko Globokar. As an artist, Dr. Webb has performed in a large variety of settings including the Atlantic Music Festival (Atlantic Music Festival Contemporary Ensemble), the Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice, the Percussive Arts Society’s International Convention, the McCormick Marimba Festival, the Panama Day of Percussion, the Cincinnati Percussion Festival, and as a finalist for Ensemble Connect in New York, NY. In addition, Dr. Webb currently performs with orchestras throughout the Gulf Coast including the Mobile Symphony, the Mobile Opera, The Pensacola Symphony Orchestra, and the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, having previously performed with the Gulf Coast Symphony Orchestra, the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, and the Cincinnati Chamber Opera. As an educator, Dr. Webb currently teaches as an Adjunct Instructor in Percussion at the University of North Alabama and as a percussion instructor at Daphne High School. In addition to these positions, Dr. Webb is the program director for the Baldwin County Percussion Seminar, which he founded in the Fall of 2019. Prior to his relocation to Alabama, he taught as a percussion coordinator/lessons instructor with the College-Conservatory of Music’s Cincinnati Youth Symphonic Band (University of Cincinnati), at West Chester Academy (West Chester, OH), and at the Performing Arts Academy (Middletown, OH). Dr. Webb holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music, an Artist’s Certificate from Georgia State University, a Master of Music from The Hartt School, and a Bachelor of Music from the University of South Alabama. His primary percussion teachers have included Jim Culley, Allen Otte, Stuart Gerber, Charles Settle, Ben Toth, and Micheal Sammons. Dr. Webb has also studied a wide variety of world percussion instruments with Stefan Fiol (Himalayan Music), James Feist (Tabla), Russell Burge (Jazz Vibraphone/Steel Pans), Joe Galeota (Ghanaian Drumming), John Amira (Cuban/Haitian Drumming), Rogerio Boccatto (Brazilian Drumming), and Ben Toth (Steel Pan).

Tyler Entelisano

Percussion Instructor

Tyler Entelisano (b. 1994) is a composer, educator, and performer residing in Daphne, Alabama. In 2017, Entelisano was awarded the Bachelor of Music degree in Music Composition while studying with C. P. First and Amir Zaheri. While at the University of Alabama, Entelisano studied classical percussion with Dr. Tim Feeney and drumset with Mark Lanter.

Entelisano grew up listening to more Led Zeppelin and Journey than Ligeti and J.S. Bach. But after hearing Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite in high school, Entelisano began to consume contemporary classical music voraciously. The rest, as they say, is history. 

To find out more about Tyler Entelisano, please visit www.tylerentelisano.com

Justin Williams

Music Arranger/Designer

Justin received a Bachelor of Arts degree with special honors in Political Science and a minor in music from Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, AL. He also received the Master of Arts in History from JSU and the Master of Arts in Religion from Liberty University. Justin serves as arranger and program consultant for many high school and college band programs and across the country. Justin has written for the Daphne High School “The Sound of the Eastern Shore” since 2012.  Since 2017, Justin has served as brass arranger for Southwind Drum and Bugle Corps. When not arranging and composing, he teaches history, political science, music, and religion at Central Alabama Community College in Talladega, AL. He lives in Oxford, AL with his wife, Alicia, and their two children, Jack and Anna.

John Dunlap

Percussion Arranger

John Dunlap has 35 years of experience arranging, composing, and teaching in the percussion realm and proudly serves as an Educational Artist for Innovative Percussion Inc., Evans Drumheads, Mapex/Majestic and Zildjian.

John has functioned in a number of capacities with many successful scholastic and independent educational youth organizations around the United States and South America. Many of these organizations are finalist and medalist in SoundSport, Drum Corps International, Drum Corps Associates, Bands of America, Winterguard International, as well as in numerous local marching band and indoor circuits including the Bushwackers, Jersey Surf, Medellin Gran Banda, and Blue Devils.

Inducted into the Gulf Coast Circuit Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Louisiana Color Guard and Percussion Circuit in 2012, John currently resides along the Gulf Coast where he currently serves as Director of SM Independent, Percussion Representative and Judging Coordinator for the LMCGPC, and Assistant Director at St. Martin HS.

Email Address: info@stmartinindependent.org

Brittany Danford

Majorette Instructor

 Brittany Danford is an accomplished and experienced baton twirler and teacher.  She has 31 years of twirling experience and 20 years of teaching baton.  At the age of 5 she began her quest of becoming a Crimsonette in the University of Alabama Million Dollar Band.  Brittany danced and twirled her way through various competitions at the local, state, regional and national level.  She recieved gold medals and numerous trophies for her achievements.  She is also published in the Who’s Who of Baton Twirling.  She has judged band competitions, baton competitions, majorette auditions, guest instructor at studios and numerous summer camps.  She has worked with various high school and collegiate majorette lines.  Brittany’s groups have participated in various competitions, University of Alabama Homecoming Parade and several Mardi Gras Parades.  She specializes in multiple forms of baton twirling such as – ribbon, hoop, multiple batons, knives, fire, flag baton and competitive baton twirling.