Staff
Dana Hire
Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Marching Band, Pep Band
______________________________________________________________________________
Dana Hire has taught for twenty-five years with the last eighteen for Wadsworth City Schools. At Wadsworth, she directs the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic and Concert Band, Marching and Pep Bands. Dana assists with the Middle School 7th and 8th Grade bands and teaches 5th and 6th grade clarinet and saxophone. Prior to her appointment at Wadsworth, Dana was the Director of Bands for Massillon City Schools, adjunct faculty member at Adrian College in Adrian, Michigan, and band director for Dundee Community Schools located in Dundee, Michigan.
Dana graduated from Perry High School in Massillon, Ohio. She earned her Bachelor of Music Degree from Bowling Green State University in 1998 and Master of Music in Music Education in 2002 from the University of Michigan. Dana has completed additional course work from The College of William and Mary for a Gifted Endorsement. Dana resides in Wadsworth with her husband Andrew and two children, Ethan and Meredith.
Sam Piehl
7th Grade, 8th Grade, Symphonic Band, Marching Band, High School Jazz Ensemble, Middle School Big Band, Middle School Lab Combo
_________________________________________________________________________________
Sam is in his sixth year of teaching and third at Wadsworth City Schools. At Wadsworth, he directs the 7th and 8th Grade Bands, Symphonic Band, oversees the Jazz Program, and assists with Marching Band and Concert Band. Previous to his appointment at Wadsworth, Sam was the Director of Bands and Choir and Fort Recovery Local Schools for grades 5-12 and also taught grades 3-4 general music.
Sam graduated from Medina Senior High School in Medina Ohio in 2009, and earned his Bachelor of Music Education Degree from The Ohio State University in 2013. Sam resides in West Akron with his wife, Teresa.
Matt Hastings
CIS bands (5th and 6th grade)
mhastings@wadsworthschools.org
_________________________________________________________________________________
Matt is in his ninth year of teaching at the Wadsworth City Schools. At Wadsworth, he oversees the 5th and 6th grade band programs and assists with the marching band during band camp. Previous to his appointment at Wadsworth, Matt completed his student teaching experience at Donnell Middle School in Findlay, Ohio, teaching grades 6-8 band and grades 6-7 general music. He also regularly plays tuba in the Northeast Ohio Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble (NOTE) and in the Medina Community Band, where he serves as an assistant conductor.
Matt graduated from Green High School in Green, Ohio, in 2011. He earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Ohio Northern University in 2015 and is working on a Master of Music in Music Education at Kent State University. Matt resides in Medina with his wife, Lindsay, and their dog, O'Malley.
Ryun Louie
Ryun E. Louie has delighted audiences on the stages of the Montreux Jazz Festival, Breintz Jazz Festival, Salt Lake City International Jazz Festival, Park City Jazz Festival, the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival and the Art and Edison Farmer Memorial Jazz Festival. He has recorded 3 albums under his name. Says You, Trio Louie Live and his last album named What You See Is What You Hear. Ryun has also recorded 3 albums with the Greg Floor Quintet. Ryun has performed with jazz greats Curtis Fuller, Dick Oates, Greg Gizbert, Clark Terry, Eddie Daniels, Chuck Findley, Tom Garvin, Ira Nepus, Matt Walis, Rosemary Clooney, Lou Rawls and comedian/ actor Dudley Moore.
Among his influences and teachers, Ryun names some of the best percussionists in the world: Peter Erskine, Dave Jette, Doug Wolf, George Brown, Jay Lawrence, Steve Houghton, Paul Samuels, Jamey Haddad, Dwight Thomas, Guy Romanco, Kelly Wallis, Bill Hill, Cloyd Duff, Timothy Adams Jr., Tom Freer and Rick Sebastian.
"Ryun Louie is the good rare breed of musician who is equally comfortable and adept in both the legit and popular music worlds. His musical enthusiasm is contagious. He is an excellent percussionist and drummer.” ~ Peter Erskine
Most recently, Ryun has taken the helm of the percussion programs at the Medina and Wadsworth School Districts in Ohio, and recently served as Artist-in-Residence for Cleveland Heights High School in northeast Ohio. Ryun in one of the founding members of the percussion group Pana Percussion. Additionally, he has taught at Bingham, West Jordan and Davis High Schools in Utah, Southside High School in Pennsylvania, Belleview East High School in Nebraska, Weber State College, University of Omaha-Nebraska, Iowa Western Community College, Duquesne University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Dort College, College of Southern Nevada, University of Nevada Las Vegas.
He works as an active clinician for the Percussion Arts Society (PAS) and is endorsed by Evans Drumheads, Sabian Cymbals, Black Swamp Percussion, Eire Drums and Shells and Promark Drumsticks.
A native of Salt Lake City, Ryun started his professional career at the age of 15. He attended the University of Utah where he studied with Doug Wolf, Professor of Percussion, and George Brown, principal timpanist of the Utah Symphony. During this time, he also studied with Cloyd Duff, principal timpanist of the Cleveland Orchestra. He furthered his education at Carnegie Mellon University where he studied under Timothy Adams, Jr., principal timpanist of the Pittsburgh Symphony.
Ryun and his family live in Medina, Ohio, where he freelances as a percussionist and maintains a full teaching studio.
Jessica Courson
Jessica is in her tenth year of teaching color guard and sixth year of winter guard at Wadsworth City Schools. She started spinning in 2000 at her high school and immediately went into teaching after graduating. She has previously taught color guard at Tallmadge HS, Cloverleaf HS, Field HS, Firestone HS, and Kenmore HS. She also was a member of Collage Winter Guard, an Independent group out of Akron, for 8 seasons. After aging out of the program at 23, she became a member of Collage's staff until 2014 when the program folded for the season.
Jessica graduated from Kenmore High School in Akron Ohio in 2004, and earned her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from The University of Akron in 2015. She is a first grade teacher at Wooster City Schools. Jessica resides in Norton with her husband, Michael and daughter, Maisy.
Vanessa Lloyd
Vanessa Lloyd is a high school graduate of North Royalton High School where she spun in the marching band for 4 years and in their winter program for 2 years. She joined Collage Winter Guard after graduation and spun there for an additional 4 years. She has been on staff at Collage WG since then. Vanessa has also taught at Medina HS, Firestone HS, Cloverleaf HS and Norton HS. She, along with Jessica Courson, started working with Wadsworth Band in 2009. They are excited to be celebrating their 10th year with this group. They also started a Winter Guard program at Wadsworth 5 years ago and have enjoyed great success with that group.
Vanessa graduated from Baldwin Wallace College in 2005 with a BA in Business Administration and currently works full time in Real Estate at Coldwell Banker Schmidt Family of Companies as the Executive Assistant to the President of the Ohio Region.
David Selzer
David is a percussion tech with the Wadsworth High School Marching Band. He has been on staff for five years, where he assists in the coordination of the drumline and composes music/cadences for the section. David previously studied under Ryun Louie for 5 years and studied with Nick Angelis at the University of Cincinnati for another 5 years. He has given clinics at Wadsworth High School, Medina High School, and the Pana Percussion Institute. He has performed with groups such as the Wadsworth Community Band, Stow Symphony Orchestra and the Akron Pops Orchestra.
David graduated from Wadsworth High School in Wadsworth, Ohio in 2016. During his time as a student at Wadsworth, David was a section leader in the Marching Band and Wind Ensemble. He was also active in Jazz Band, Pep Band, Pit Band for musicals, and OMEA Solo & Ensemble. David is a 2021 graduate of the University of Cincinnati where he received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. During his time at the University of Cincinnati, he was a section leader for the UC Bearcat Marching Band. As a performer with the UC Bearcat Marching Band, David performed at very notable events, such as the 2018 Military Bowl, 2019 Birmingham Bowl, Cincinnati Bengals games, 2021 Drum Corps International Finals at Lucas Oil Stadium, and many more.
David currently works for the Ohio Department of Transportation as a Project Engineer for major highway projects in Cleveland, Ohio and resides in Copley, Ohio.