ARMADA CORPS - Key Persons
Christopher Torres has been involved in the world of dance since the age of 6. Eventually in 2009, he found his true passion: Color Guard. A self taught spinner at first, Chris marched two successful seasons of drum corps and since then has worked with multiple programs along with his home program Fruitland high school. At Fruitland High School, Chris has helped the color guard program grow and established fruitland's first competitive winter guard.
Job Titles:
- Instructor
- Visual Designer
Evan started his marching band experience at Timberline HS in Boise in 2009. In 2011 he marched his first season of drum corps with the Cascades. Then Evan marched three more seasons with the Blue Knights from 2013-2015.
Evan started teaching the marching activity at 19 years of age for Century High School in 2013. Evan has been a visual instructor, clinician, and designer for programs all over the state including Century HS, Highland HS, Blackfoot HS, Hillcrest HS, Timberline HS, The Idaho State University Marching Band, and The ISU Summer Marching Band Camp. Currently he is as the lead visual designer and instructor for Timberline HS. When not teaching marching arts he is a general music teacher at Desert Sage Elementary.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Founder of Rhythm Armada Drumline
Frank Mastropaolo has a wide breadth of experience in teaching and performing drums and a degree in Music with a Percussion Performance emphasis. Frank maintains a full private lesson studio and has taught at several local high schools.
Frank Mastropaolo is the founder of Rhythm Armada Drumline which has been expanded to include many different performance groups and is now a registered non-profit youth education company, Armada Corps, Inc.
Frank is sponsored by Remo, Vic Firth and Zildjian.
Joaquin Gomez is from Union City, California, and has over 30 years' experience as a performer and staff member at James Logan High School, San Jose State University, The Concord Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps., The Sacramento Freelancers Percussion Ensemble, The United States Army 91st Division Band, Oakland Military Institute, Blue Devils Entertainment, and the 191 st United States Army Band. He has been instructed by, performed with, and instructed with some of the best in the world of marching percussion. He has been with Rhythm Armada since 2020
Prior to his move to the Treasure Valley in 2019, most notably Joaquin was on Percussion Staff from 2004 to 2018 with The Concord Blue Devils "B" and "C" Drums and Bugle Corps. The two-primary feeder corps for the twenty-time DCI World Champion Concord Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps. During this time Blue Devils "B" was awarded the Drum Corps. International Open Class Champion 5 times ('09,'10,'11,'14,'16) The Blue Devils "B" was also awarded the Drum Corps International Open Class Best Percussion Performance in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2016. As well as 2 nd place Percussion Performance finishes in 2008, 2015,2017 and 2018. In the history of Drum Corps. International the Concord Blue Devils "B" holds the unprecedented record for six consecutive Best Percussion Awards at the DCI World Championships.
Percussion Instructor at Kuna High School 2019-2021. Fall 2022 he became the Percussion Instructor at Owyhee High School. During the day he is the Property Administrator for the Army National Guard Mission Command Training Support Program at Gowen Field. A 25-year United States Army Veteran now in the Army Reserves, he is a Railroad Operations Specialist with the 757 th Expeditionary Railroad Center in Fort Sheridan, Illinois
Job Titles:
- Guard Instructor
- Instructor of Armada Guard
Karen Renberg is an Idaho native currently residing in Meridian with her husband TC and their two daughters. Karen earned her Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Boise State University and currently works as a registered nurse at a local hospital.
Karen's passion for color guard began during the summer of 1995 when she watched one of her siblings perform as a member of the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps. She immediately fell in love with the art form and it's a passion that is still with her to this day.
Karen has been an instructor of Armada Guard since its introductory season in 2017.
She brings with her nearly 20 years of experience teaching flag, rifle, and sabre technique to award winning teams throughout the Treasure Valley. Over the course of her career she has been a coach to hundreds of teens and young adults with both marching and winter guard seasons. She is very excited to continue being a part of the Armada team!
Melanie Nelson has been a part of marching band and color guard as both a performer and a coach in the Treasure Valley area since 1998. She has taught gymnastics, jazz dance, ballet, and equipment technique to youth and color guard teams across the valley.
As a performer, she has competed with gymnastics, dance, and color guard teams that won several awards including a WGI regional medal. In addition to her movement and colorguard experience, Melanie has a background in music, participating in choirs and vocal performance groups through high school and college. She attended Boise State University where she majored in Athletic Training, Health Promotion and Exercise Science.
Currently, she lives in Caldwell with her husband and 3 children. Melanie is excited to continue with Armada Corps.
Melissa's percussion career began in 2014 when she decided to try something new in her music career. After discovering a passion for it, she auditioned for Seattle Cascades and went on to participate in two DCI tours in 2016 and 2017. Melissa has also taught front ensemble locally and is amongst the original members of Rhythm Armada.
Melissa has a passion for seeing music programs grow which means she's always been willing and able to volunteer time and energy into helping band programs succeed in their activities and helping members have a great experience.
Mike Apodaca is a professional musician and educator with years of experience performing and teaching throughout the northwest. Mike is a sought-after instructor for high schools, indoor groups and drum corps. In addition to teaching several high schools fall marching drum lines in Oregon, he has instructed Tigard High, Century High and Lincoln High Schools indoor drum lines.
His WGI experience includes being on staff with Affinity Independent. Mike provided clinics for DCI groups Madison Scouts and Blue Knights and has been on staff with the following drum corps: Columbians, Seattle Cascades, Spirit of Atlanta (JSU), Colts, Vanguard Cadets, and Santa Clara Vanguard. Mike is endorsed by Vic Firth.
Rachel Loyd has been involved in Color Guard as both a performer and educator for twelve years and is excited to join the Armada family. Her performance experience includes Troopers Drum and Bugle Corp, Fiero Winter Guard, Idaho State Color Guard, and ISU Dance. She began teaching color guard in 2011, and has worked with several high school programs in both Idaho and Texas.
Rachel graduated in 2019 with a B.A. in Anthropology from Idaho State University where she was Captain of the ISU Color Guard for four years, a founding member of the Nu Epsilon chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity, and Program Coordinator for the Fiero Independent Winter Guard. She has training in ballet, jazz, and modern dance, as well as aerial and acro yoga.
Sage has been involved with color guard as a performer and instructor for 9 years and has trained dance in modern, jazz, and ballet. She graduated from Kuna High School, where she was part of the Kuna Gold Color Guard all four years of high school. She spent four seasons performing with Seattle Cascades Drum Corps, two as color guard captain. She also marched one season with Troopers Drum Corps. Sage is an Armada Guard alumni, spending four seasons with the group as a performer. She has instructed at schools in the Treasure Valley since graduation and instructed one year of Armada Minis. Outside of color guard Sage is a full time college student and likes to spend time with her cat, dog, friends and family. She is excited to continue with Armada as part of staff!
Sage has been involved with color guard as a performer and instructor for 9 years and has trained dance in modern, jazz, and ballet. She graduated from Kuna High School, where she was part of the Kuna Gold Color Guard all four years of high school. She spent four seasons performing with Seattle Cascades Drum Corps, two as color guard captain. She also marched one season with Troopers Drum Corps. Sage is an Armada Guard alumni, spending four seasons with the group as a performer. She has instructed at schools in the Treasure Valley since graduation and instructed one year of Armada Minis. Outside of color guard Sage is a full time college student and likes to spend time with her cat, dog, friends and family. She is excited to continue with Armada as part of staff!