Directors

Mr Brian C. Wilson, Director of Bands

Brian C. Wilson is the Director of Bands at Summit Academy in Chandler, Arizona, since 2006. He holds both a Bachelor of Music Education and a Master of Music in Performance from Arizona State University. During his graduate studies, he served as a Graduate Assistant in Tuba/Euphonium from 1998 to 2001 and in Trombone from 2001 to 2002.

Mr. Wilson has been a dedicated music educator since 1999. Prior to joining Summit Academy, he taught in the Kyrene School District. Over the course of his career, he has been an active clinician and adjudicator throughout the Southwest and beyond. He has directed a wide range of honor bands and participated in numerous camps and festivals, including the Tempe Junior High Honor Band, the Mesa Public Schools Elementary Honor Band, NAU's Curry Summer Music Camp, the Yuma High School Honor Band, the Arizona All-State 6th Grade Band, and the AZTEC Tuba Euphonium Camp held in Flagstaff, Mesa, Tucson, and San Diego. He has also worked with students and educators at Benjamin Franklin Charter School, Idaho State University’s Marching Band Camp, and the International Euphonium Festival in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, he has served as a judge and clinician for the Arizona Music Educators Association (AMEA), the Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association (ABODA), Gilbert Public Schools, and Scottsdale Public Schools.

Mr Wilson is an Eastman Music Company Artist.

Ms Angelita Ponce, Percussion Coach

Angelita Ponce has been with Summit Academy as Percussion Coach since the 23-24 school year. Ms Ponce is a Phoenix based percussionist, educator, and arranger. She will be completing her Bachelor’s of Music Education Degree at Arizona State University in Spring 2020. Here she has studied under the direction of J.B. Smith, Shaun Tilburg, Simone Mancuso, Dom Moio, and Jason Caslor. She has participated in a multitude of ensembles and organizations at ASU including being the Principle Percussionist for the Wind Ensemble and being a co-president for the National Association for Music Educator’s Collegiate Chapter at ASU. Ms Ponce is an experienced educator. She has served as the Front Ensemble Coordinator at several programs across the valley including Gilbert HS, Desert Mountain HS, and Phoenix Union Indoor Percussion. She was a front ensemble tech for Breakthrough Indoor Percussion during their inaugural year in World Class. She has also taught percussion methods at Greenfield Middle School and at the 2018 ASU/MEF Band Camp. Currently, she is the Front Ensemble Coordinator for both the Arizona State University Sun Devil Marching Band and for the Corona del Sol High School percussion ensembles. As a performer, Ms Ponce has a diverse background. She has competed in WGI with the Corona del Sol High School Open and World Class Concert Percussion groups from 2012-2016. She continued her WGI career with Breakthrough Indoor Percussion in 2017. As a freelance musician, she has worked with the Phoenix Metropolitan Men’s Chorus, The Nash and several local churches.

Danielle Peterson, Flute/Woodwind Coach

Danielle Peterson is a graduate of ASU, graduating with a Masters in Music in December 2024. During her time at NAU and ASU, she has performed in the top ensembles as principal, second flute, and piccolo, performed with various chamber ensembles, premiered various new works with the Arizona Contemporary Music Ensemble, held four solo recitals, performed in several Area Recitals, and appeared as a guest performer for her colleagues’ recitals. Now that she has graduated, Dani fills her time through performances with the Musical Theater Alliance of Arizona as principal flute and piccolo, participating and performing with the Desert Echoes Flute Project Flute Choir at the National Flute Association Conventions, working with contemporary student composers at ASU (featuring works in concert like Deanna Rusnock’s Flying Colors, and Edouardo Orea’s solo flute piece featuring VR headset), and serving as a sub for the Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra. Knowing that there is always room for growth and learning, Dani shows her ambition to continue growing as a musician by performing in as many professional masterclasses as she can, including masterclasses with Marina Piccinini, Viviana Cumplido-Wilson, Robert Dick, Dr. Jennifer Grimm, Sarah Jackson, Dr. Lisa Garner Santa, Viviana Guzman, Professor Richard Sherman, April Clayton, and Sgt. Ellen Dooley. In addition to performing gigs around the valley, Dani works as an assistant stage manager for the Phoenix Symphony and is also a private flute instructor at Music Makers in Ahwatukee, where she has had students perform in the Regional and All-State Band and Orchestra and the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra, earn first chair in their school ensembles, perform in studio recitals, and win first place, second place, and honorable mention in the 2024-2026 Arizona Flute Society Competition. Along with private instruction, Dani has also coached sectionals for the Phoenix Youth Symphony Orchestra woodwind section, and led several masterclasses through Arizona Flute Society and Mesa Community College events.

Mr. John Burton, Reed/Woodwind Coach

John Burton is a freelance clarinetist in the Phoenix area with a Master of Musical Performance from Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Music in Woodwind Performance from Brigham Young University. At ASU, he served as principal clarinet of both the Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble, and was featured as a soloist after winning the 2024 ASU Concerto Competition, performing Navarro’s Clarinet Concerto No. 2 with the ASU Wind Symphony. His playing is also showcased on several ASU recordings, including Nicole Piunno’s Sunflower Studies and Steven Bryant’s Ecstatic Waters.

While at BYU, John was principal clarinet on the Chamber Orchestra’s European tour to Czechia, Austria, and Italy, and on the Wind Symphony’s tour to Spain and Portugal. He has been a finalist in the International Clarinet Association Orchestral Excerpt Competition, earned 2nd place in both the American Single Reed Summit International Clarinet Competition and the ICA Young Artist Competition, and won 3rd place in the Silverstein Global Clarinet Contest.

Based in Phoenix, John is an active freelance artist, performing with ensembles such as the West Valley Symphony, Symphony of the Southwest, Musicfest Orchestra, and the Phoenix Symphony. He is also a Silverstein Artist and performs on Moe-Bleichner Custom Clarinets.

Ms. Samanda Engels, French Horn/Brass Coach

Samanda Engels, horn, is a versatile freelance musician performing with the Phoenix Symphony, Arizona Broadway Theatre, Wichita Grand Opera, Shrine Circus, and many musical theatre productions. She has also performed regularly with Grammy award winning artist Sandi Patty as well as Caroline Campbell since 2019. Prior to that, she performed in Prague with the Filarmonietta Praga and received her MM in Horn Performance from the University of Oklahoma.

Samanda loves playing for musicals and operas and spends her summers performing with the Ohio Light Opera and Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre. She is currently a part of the Phoenix Brass Collective. Samanda enjoys teaching students of all ages and recently returned from her position as the interim instructor of horn at Kansas State University.