Judges

Jay Kennedy is Vice President for Academic Affairs and Vice Provost at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

He has been an active adjudicator for marching band, drum corps, and indoor percussion competitions for over 35 years, has written for several drum and bugle corps, and composed the theme for the Drum Corps International contest broadcasts.  He was elected to the DCI Hall of Fame in 2007 for longtime contributions as an adjudicator, judge administrator, arranger, and composer.

Kennedy has composed music for hundreds of television commercials and his music has been heard in feature films, including Wayne’s World, Electric Horseman, and Lethal Weapon 2.  His published compositions include works for concert band, percussion ensemble, and marching band.

He received the Ph.D. from Boston College and Master of Music and Bachelor of Music Education degrees from Northwestern University.

David Aydelott, a Middle Tennessee State University graduate, is the conductor of the Ethos Wind Symphony, a part of Ethos Youth Ensembles based in Middle Tennessee. Before he retired from teaching in May of 2023, Aydelott taught high school band for 29 years in Tennessee and was the Director of Fine Arts in the Williamson County School District for two years.

Bands under Aydelott’s direction received recognition on state and national levels, including the Grammy Signature School Award and the John Philip Sousa Association Sudler Shield. His ensembles were also invited to perform at the Annual Tennessee Music Education Association Conference, the Music for All National Concert Band Festival, and the Music for All Chamber Music Festival.A recipient of the NBA’s Certificate of Merit and the Citation of Excellence, Aydelott is an active band clinician and music arranger and has served as an adjudicator for Drum Corps International and Bands of America. Music for All named David Aydelott to the “Forty for Forty,” a list of teachers that impacted its first forty years. In December 2014, the John Philip Sousa Foundation named Aydelott a Laureate of the Bandworld Legion of Honor. TnMEA’s Rural Schools Chair, Aydelott has held leadership positions in professional music education associations and is a Past-President of the Tennessee Eta Chapter of Phi Beta Mu. For two years, he was a member of the Education Council for the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, and currently serves on the board of ArtsEd Tennessee. In April of 2026, Aydelott will be inducted into the Tennessee Bandmasters Hall of Fame. He and his wife Renee have two children, Katherine and Meredith.

Lee Carlson has been involved in the pagentry arts for over 45 years. He has spent the last 39 years as the drill designer and color guard instructor for the University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band. His High School teaching experience includes 18 years at Indio High, Indio, CA. He has taught and written drill for many high schools including four years with Kamehameha Hight School in Honolulu, HI. He has instructed the Denver Blue Knights, Great Bend Argonne Rebels, and the Hutchinson Sky Ryders.

He has been a judge for Drum Corps International, Bands of America, Winter Guard International and many Winter Guard and Marching Band Circuits across the United States. With Drum Corps International he has served 21 years as a judge, four years as Visual Caption Head, five years as Judges Training Coordinator and for the past 5 years has served in the position of Artistic Coordinator and Director of Competition. He has judged in Europe and Asia and has adjudicated the Drum Corps Japan Championships nine times.

He has written for and taught many mass bands including the opening and closing of the Los Angles Olympics (1984), Centennial of the Statue of Liberty (1986), and the Bicentennial of the French Revolution and the Centennial of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (1989). Lee owns and operates a successful pottery studio in Palm Springs, CA., where has have been an active member of the community for the past 39 years.

Julie Davila is a renowned percussionist, performer, music educator and clinician specializing in concert and marching percussion. She was inducted in to the WGI Percussion Hall of Fame in 2014, in recognition of over 25 years contributing to the marching arts activity as a leader, teacher, designer and adjudicator. Julie is a member of the chamber percussion ensemble the CAIXA TRIO, winner of a 2011 “Drummie” award by Drum Magazine. In addition to her membership in the CAIXA TRIO, she currently serves as President-Elect for the Percussive Arts Society. She is the arranger and instructor for the Middle Tennessee State University Band of Blue Drumline, and additionally an adjunct professor of percussion at MTSU. Prior to her work at MTSU, she was the percussion specialist at several high schools in Nashville, Tennessee. Many of her groups have medaled in all divisions of the WGI activity and the John Overton High School Indoor drum line, under her direction won a National Championship. Julie is a member of the WGI and DCI nationally recognized adjudication teams. As an active clinician specializing in contemporary and marching percussion, she has performed in Poland, China, Peru, South Korea, Paris, France, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Brazil and extensively throughout the United States. Julie is a proud alumni of the University of North Texas. She is the author of the Modern Multi-Tenor Techniques and Solos, Impressions on Wood and Inspirations 4 Mallets and is a co-author of Aptitude an innovative solo snare book published by Row-Loff Productions. Julie is an endorser and clinician for the Pearl Corporation, Innovative Percussion, the Avedis Zildjian Company, Grover Pro Percussion, and Evans Drum Heads.

Glenn Fugett is a retired music educator. His career spanned 37 years in both Texas and Tennessee. From 2019 to 2022, he worked in Instructional Support for Metro Nashville Public Schools which was a position initially funded by the Grammy Education Coalition. From 2015 to 2019, he was the Director of Bands and Orchestras at the Nashville School of the Arts (NSA). In 2019, the NSA Wind Ensemble received the Award of Distinction in Concert Performance from the American School Band Directors Association. His Chamber Orchestra and Wind Ensemble were both selected to the Music for All National Festival in 2017.

From 2007 to 2015, Fugett was the Director of Bands at Legacy High School in Mansfield, Texas. The group was a finalist at numerous Bands of America Regional Championships and UIL State Marching Contest. They were the 3A Class Champions at the 2011 Arlington and 2013 Allen BOA Regional Championships. The Legacy Wind Ensemble performed at the MFA National Festival in 2014. He was also the Associate Director of Bands at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, from 1991 to 2007. The Westlake Band performed at The Midwest Clinic in 2002, the Tournament of Roses Parade in 2003, and was a consistent finalist at the Bands of America San Antonio Super Regional and the UIL State Marching Contest. From 1986 to 1991, Fugett was the head middle school band director at Calallen Middle School in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Fugett is currently the Chief Judge for the Winds Division of WGI. He has been an adjudicator for Bands of America since 1995 and Drum Corps International since 1992. He was the DCI Percussion Judge Caption Head from 2003 through 2008. Fugett served as DCI Judge Liaison from 2012 through 2015. Fugett now resides in San Antonio with his wife, Robin. They celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary in August 2025.

Austin Greene is a professional visual designer and educator from Raleigh, North Carolina. He is a member of the instructional staff for the Bluecoats Drum & Bugle Corps. Previously, Greene instructed The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps from 2012 to 2015 and served as Visual Caption Head from 2014 to 2015. He has also served as Assistant Caption Head for The Cavaliers, Education Director for the Blue Knights, and as a Drum Corps International adjudicator.

Before committing to a career exclusively in the pageantry arts, Greene was Director of Bands at Concord High School in Concord, North Carolina, and Director of Bands and Performing Arts Department Chair at Durham School of the Arts. In 2010, he was hired as an adjunct instructor at the Dublin Institute of Technology’s National Conservatory of Music in Dublin, Ireland. He has served for 15 years as a program consultant and clinician for the BOA Grand National Championships Finalist Kennesaw Mountain High School Marching Band. Greene attended Western Carolina University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education in 2003. He went on to earn his Master of Music in Conducting from the University of Connecticut in 2006. Greene is in regular demand as an adjudicator for Bands of America, Winter Guard International, and numerous local circuits.

Tim Pierce has a broad range of experience in design for the visual and performing arts. His degrees include a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from The University of Southern Mississippi and a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from Mississippi College. An alumnus of The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps, his professional career began as a band director and continues as teacher, designer, consultant, and adjudicator. Pierce has served on adjudication panels for Bands of America (BOA), Drum Corps International (DCI), and numerous state and local judging associations. Additionally, he worked for Winter Guard International (WGI) adjudicating the Movement and Design Analysis captions as well as sitting on the WGI Task Force as Movement Caption Facilitator. Pierce is the owner of Signature Designs, Inc., a full-scale interior design business for residential and executive spaces. Signature Design Associates, his pageantry company, is under the same umbrella and offers program and visual design to competitive marching bands, drum corps, and color guards. His groups have accumulated state titles, finals placement in BOA Regional Championships, semi-finalist at BOA Grand National Championships, finalist at DCI World Championships, state indoor color guard titles, as well as finals and championship placements in both the Scholastic and Independent classes at WGI Regionals and World Championships. Pierce was program coordinator for The U.S. Army All-American Marching Band in 2010 and 2011. His clients have performed in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Rose Parade. Pierce resides in Memphis, Tennessee with his husband Brandt Edwards, a 20-year veteran of the Broadway stage, and their feline child, Swede.

Michael Stone resides in West Hills, California and has been adjudicating various pageantry competitions since 1997. He attributes his interest in pageantry to his high school music and marching band program. Mr. Stone has studied, performed and taught in several music programs in California. He is recognized at the highest level of adjudicators for Drum Corps International, Winter Guard International and Bands of America.

Currently Mr. Stone serves as part of the judge Liaison team for DCI. He also is the Executive Director for the WGASC.

As a nationally recognized adjudicator, Mr. Stone is proud to be affiliated with the following organizations:

♦ Drum Corps International (DCI)
♦ Winter Guard International (WGI)
♦ Music For All – Bands of America (BOA)
♦ Winter Guard Association of Southern California (WGASC/MBOS)
♦ Western Band Association (WBA)
♦ USBands
♦ Florida Federation of Colorguards Circuit (FFCC)