Joe Miller

jmiller1@ggusd.us
BA CSULB, Credential CSUDH
PHS Since 2005
Mr. Miller attended Poway High School in the greater San Diego area, and was very active in music. Mr. Miller attended Long Beach State, and majored in Music, with an emphasis on Education and Euphonium Performance. He received his BA in 2002. He has been the Director at PHS since 2005, leading the marching band to numerous appearances in the State Championships and consistent Superior ratings for the String Orchestra. Mr. Miller has also conducted the GATE Orchestra, the GGUSD Honor Orchestra, and is an active clinician in the local area schools. Mr Miller was a member of the Velvet Knights Drum & Bugle Corps for 6 years while in high school and college, and also taught various Drum Corps in the SoCal area. He lives… near Pacifica with his wife, Emily, and son Liam.

Ezekiel Lanser "EZ"
BM, Percussion Performance, University of North Texas

He has been coordinating the PHS Marching Band fall show design and overseeing the music production since fall 2013, and also composes the indoor drumline shows during the spring indoor drumline season.

Ezekiel is currently a prominent member of the Southern California percussion scene, working with a number of ensembles as an educator and consultant. Most notable of these are his time as Ensemble Coordinator for POW Percussion (WGI PIW Finalist), Percussion Caption Head and Percussion Arranger at Pacifica High School (WGI PSO Finalist), and battery technician with Los Alamitos High School (WGI PSO Finalist). He has been on staff with the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps, Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps, and is currently working with the Santa Clara Vanguard. Ezekiel is also a sought after marching band and indoor drumline show designer, arranger, and composer and has been fortunate enough to see his shows and compositions take the floor in WGI World Finals in both scholastic and independent divisions.

Ezekiel has performed with a number of ensembles in the marching activity and received many accolades. Highlights from his marching and musical career include winning multiple high school snare solo competitions, winning the Fred Sanford drum title in 2006 with the Phantom Regiment, winning first place at the 2008 PASIC World Championships with the University of North Texas A-line, and being awarded the bronze medal at the 2011 WGI World Championships with Pulse Percussion. He graduated Cum Laude earning his Percussion Performance degree from the University of North Texas.

Akira Torrijos

Akira was born in Modesto, California, and holds a degree in Computer Science from UC San Diego.

After performing Fever Drum and Bugle corps in 2006 through 2007, Akira went on to perform with the Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps in 2008 and then the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps in 2009, where he was recognized as Rookie of the Year. He continued as a euphonium player with Bluecoats until aging out in 2011. Akira has also performed as a cymbal player with a number of WGI Indoor Percussion groups, including Propel Percussion, Freelancers, Pulse Open, and Pulse Percussion.

Akira served as a visual instructor for the 2013 Bluecoats, and is currently on staff at Pulse Percussion. In addition, he has worked as a consultant for groups in the Northern California area such as Monte Vista High School and Impact Percussion. Akira has worked as visual instructor and movement specialist for the fall marching band and winter percussion programs at Pacifica High School since 2012. He is currently working as a visual instructor for the Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps.

Bobby Vega

Bobby grew up in Orange, CA where he started his marching arts career at Villa Park High School. Originally starting as a percussionist, Bobby joined the colorguard his junior year. While in high school, Bobby was introduced to drum corps by being a member of the first two seasons of Gold Drum Corps, followed by Mystikal Drum and Bugle Corps.

Bobby marched Diamante World in the seasons of 2008, 2009, and 2010. Bobby Vega can be seen in multiple appearances on Fox’s Glee, as well as other work with FX Networks.

Bobby’s teaching experience began in 2008, and currently is working with Anaheim HS and Pacifica HS.

After graduating James Logan High School in the Bay Area, Connie moved to Southern California to pursue her music performance degree at Cal State Long Beach. She continued to be very active in the marching arts and has performed for various groups including Pulse Percussion (2015-2017), Blue Devils B (2012) and the Santa Clara Vanguard (2016). Upon aging out of both WGI and DCI, she also finished her Bachelor’s of Music in Percussion Performance.

She has worked with the Sacramento Mandarins (2019-DCI Finalist) and the Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets (2018-2020, Open Class Champion-2018).

Currently, Connie is the Percussion Caption Head at Pacifica High School and the front ensemble manager at Etiwanda High School.

Connie is a part of the Innovative Percussion artist family.

Allie grew up in Arcadia, California, and graduated from Arcadia High School. While in high school, she was a member of the percussion and band programs. After graduating high school, Allie marched DCI, with the Sacramento Mandarins in 2019, and WGI, with Broken City Percussion in 2020. She currently attends Cal State Long Beach, where she is pursuing a degree in Speech-Language Pathology.