Irish Guard Marching Band & Colorguard Staff
Click a staff member's name to read more.
Elliot Polot
Director
polotelliot@dublinusd.org Elliot Polot has been Director of Bands and Director of Orchestra at Dublin High School since 2018. Under Mr. Polot’s direction, the DHS Bands and Orchestra have grown in size and have set several school records, including the Irish Guard Marching Band and Colorguard’s record high WBA and NCBA scores in 2019 and first ever WBA Championship Finalist status. Mr. Polot graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan with degrees in Euphonium Performance and Instrumental Music Education. In his time at Michigan, Mr. Polot was a member of the internationally renowned University of Michigan Symphony Band and the Michigan Marching Band, which performed for over 100,000 people at each home football game and was broadcast several times on national television. Additionally, Mr. Polot has performed with the brass section of the New York Philharmonic, the United States Navy Band, and more, under such directors as Jason Fettig, Alan Gilbert, Michael Haithcock, Kevin Sedatole, and H. Robert Reynolds, in places such as Prague, Vienna, Budapest, and Carnegie Hall in New York City. In 2018, Mr. Polot had the honor of performing an unaccompanied euphonium solo for over 3,000 people at the University of Michigan Collage Concert in Hill Auditorium. Mr. Polot played euphonium in the Equilibrium Records' CD Bolcom & Friends which featured the world premiere of William Bolcom's Trombone Concerto, performed by Joseph Alessi, the Principal Trombonist of the New York Philharmonic. Mr. Polot has taught private euphonium lessons since 2013. Mr. Polot coached the euphonium section of Amador Valley HS Wind Ensemble One in preparation for their performance at the 73rd annual Midwest Clinic in Chicago. Before moving to California, Mr. Polot served on the board of the Michigan Music Education Association, advocating for music education multiple times at the state capitol and presenting at the Michigan Music Conference. Mr. Polot was conductor of the University of Michigan Fanfare Band and Vice President of the Epsilon Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. Mr. Polot is a proud graduate of Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, a National Grammy Signature School. Aside from music, Mr. Polot enjoys discovering new TV shows, movies, books, and most of all enjoys spending time with his girlfriend, Anna, his dog, Leo, and his friends and family. |
Chris Cyr
Program Coordinator,
Staff coordinator Percussion Oversight/Writer Drill Design & Choreography 4erojas@gmail.com With over 20 years experience in the various marching activities performing and teaching, Chris has equipped various skills from all over the world. Starting his musical journey with the Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets in 1997-1998, he continued on to perform with the Santa Clara Vanguard from 1999-2001. After a career ending injury he was offered a teaching position his age-out year with the Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets in 2002 and would eventually move on to work with the Santa Clara Vanguard Percussion staff from 2005-2009. Chris was also a Percussion/Ensemble Visual instructor at the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps from 2010-2013 as well as an Ensemble Music Specialist/Percussion Caption-Manager for the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps from 2014-2017. Since 2005, he can also be seen performing with the San Francisco 49ers and the Golden State Warriors with the Blue Devils Entertainment group. Over the years Chris has been a educator, composer, choreographer, and clinician for dozens of schools and independent units and continues his efforts to raise the bar of talent and education in the Northern California music scene. |
Nicholas Garcia
Brass Caption Head
garcianicholas@dublinusd.org Mr. Garcia currently serves as Director of Bands at Fallon Middle School. Nicholas Garcia has performed and taught in a variety of musical programs both in northern and southern California. Since moving to the Los Angeles area, he has had the pleasure of performing several UCLA ensembles as well as extra-curricular performances. School ensembles include the UCLA Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Latin Jazz Big Band, and Brass Ensemble. He has also participated the Herb Alpert School of Music Dobrow Donor Concert, the UCLA Undergraduate Composers Concert, and has performed at La Crescenta Presbyterian Church and a recording session at Capitol Records. Prior to transferring to UCLA, Mr. Garcia attended University of California, Davis for two years. Though he was an aerospace engineering major at the time, he participated in the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra, Concert Band, Jazz Band, and Percussion Ensemble. He also was a regular member of the St. Dominic’s Catholic Youth Choir. Mr. Garcia has a strong background in the drum and bugle corps activity. For six years, he was a strong member of the Blue Devils Performing Arts organization as a tubist in the ‘B’ and ‘A’ corps. During his time with The Blue Devils, he earned two Drum Corps International Open Class Championships as a member of the Blue Devils ‘B’ Corps and three Drum Corps International World Class Championships with The Blue Devils ‘A’ Corps. In addition to winning the championship, The Blue Devils also set a record high score of 99.65 out of 100 points during the 2014 season. This score is unmatched by any drum and bugle corps in the 44 year history of DCI. Mr. Garcia, himself, also earned the ‘Rookie of the Year’ award in 2010 as a member of the ‘B’ corps, as well as the ‘Sweet Feet’ award for best visually performing member of the corps and the Directors’ Award as a member of the ‘A’ corps in 2015. Mr. Garcia has also expanded his horizons as an instructor and teacher. Currently, he holds positions at Westlake High School of Westlake Village, California and Newbury Park High School of Newbury Park, California as a visual and music instructor for the marching band at both schools. This fall will be his third marching band season with both programs. He also began teaching indoor drumline this past winter with Élan Percussion from Covina, California as a visual instructor. Mr. Garcia graduated from the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music majoring in Music with concentrations in Education and Bass Trombone Performance, as well as a minor in Music Industry. He studied under the instruction of James Miller on bass trombone. His previous trombone teachers include Bruce Chrisp and Don Howe. |
Fou Saelee
Colorguard Caption Head
saeleefou24@gmail.com Fou Saelee was raised in Fairfield, Ca. He first found his passion for color guard in 2007 when he joined his high school’s winter guard program at Armijo High School (Fairfield, Ca). At the age of 16, Fou auditioned for the Blue Devils A Corps Color Guard (Concord, Ca) and was lucky to receive a spot for the 2009 summer tour. He continued to march the following year in 2010. In both years at the Blue Devils, Fou helped win two DCI World Championships. In 2011, Fou joined the Santa Clara Vanguard Winter Guard (Santa Clara, CA), and won the WGI Independent World Championship. After taking a year off, Fou returned to Santa Clara Vanguard and received the bronze medal at the 2013 WGI Independent World Championships. Most recently, Fou has shifted his focus on teaching and being a full time student. Fou is currently working with schools such as Dublin HS (Dublin, Ca) and Fremont HS (Sunnyvale, Ca). Aside from teaching, Fou goes to school at San Francisco State University (San Francisco, Ca) and is working towards earning his Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology with a concentration in Movement and Exercise Science as well as a Minor in Coaching. Fou is extremely excited to embark on this new journey with the 2020 Troopers Drum & Bugle Corps and is looking forward to a fantastic season! |
Charles Cachero
Battery Manager
charles.cachero@gmail.com Charles Cachero began his marching percussion journey in high school with private guidance from Roger Carter as he went to march San Francisco Renegades in 2011 and 2012, playing both tenors and snare drum respectively. He began working with schools across the Bay Area which include Los Altos High School, Monta Vista High School, and Saint Francis High School. From 2013-2016, Charles continued his endeavors in WGI with Team Percussion USA, giving him the privilege to march and instruct under Ralph Hardimon, Mike Jackson, Chris Cyr, Daniel Recoder, Brandon Hussey, and Casey Brohard. In his most recent years, Charles has had the privilege to instruct at many successful programs in the Bay Area, such as Lynbrook High School, Oak Grove High School, Irvington High School, and Fremont High School. He is currently continuing his career as a percussion educator, designer, and clinician working primarily with Foothill High School, Dublin High School, Irvington High School, and Tri-City Percussion while working towards a Bachelors of Science in Nursing at San Francisco State University. |
Connor Carroll
Front Ensemble Caption Head
ccarrolldur@gmail.com Connor Carroll is a Bay Area Native from Pleasanton, CA who brings almost a decade’s worth of experience to his work as an educator. Connor got his start during high school as a private guitar teacher which thereafter led to a career in the marching activity. During his time as a marching performer, Connor traveled with the Blue Devils Drum Bugle Corps, where his experiences taught him to play as a professional percussionist and to be a stronger leader which would encompass an understanding of confidence, empathy, and self-awareness that would bring him where he is today. Beyond his service with the drum corps scene, Connor is also a former music education student from San Jose State University where he studied concert percussion under the renowned Galen Lemmon, serving as member to the university's concert and jazz ensembles. Presently, he serves a multitude of high schools & independent groups where his services includes technical coaching, sound design, schedule coordinating, & inventory assessment. |
Paraskevi Constantinides
Colorguard Tech
paraskevic2@icloud.com Paraskevi Constantinides is an alumna of Dublin High School. She recently finished her undergraduate studies at Regis University in Denver, Colorado to earn her B.S. in Health and Exercise Science with a minor in Neuroscience. With this, she hopes to build a career working with kids with disabilities to be able to adapt to their prosthetics. When she isn’t studying, she is working for a non-profit organization or sipping tea and reading an action or mystery novel. She enjoys friendly competition in both physical and mental challenges as well as the outdoors, from the beach to the snow and anything in between. |
Justin Shebert
Front Ensemble Tech
jnks5697@gmail.com Justin is a recent graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy. His experience includes fourteen years of music performance, four of which were with competitive percussion units in Winter Guard International (WGI), six years of leadership in organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America, marching and concert band section leader, and officer of the UC Berkeley Philosophy Forum. With his experience in music he currently teaches the front ensemble at Dublin High School and Vanden High School. |