NMBC Board
Carl Baker is in his sixth year of teaching band at Arbor View High School. Previous to Arbor View he was at Chaparral High School for three years and begin his career at CCSD with seven years at Bonanza High School.
Jeffrey Lacoff is starting his 33rd year teaching band. He began teaching at Clark HS in August of 1998.
Under his direction, the band has grown to consistently over 100 members, receiving consistent superior ratings at Marching events, Concert events, and Jazz events.
Mr. Lacoff was named the NMEA Music Educator of the Year in 2011.
He was the NMEA Solo & Ensemble chair for Clark County for 14 years, and has been a co-chair of the CCSD HS Honor Bands for the past 20 years.
Trevor Stojanovich is currently assistant director of bands at Silverado High School as well as director of sage V Percussion in Las Vegas, Nevada. Some of his prior teaching experiences include the Sacramento Mandarins, Gold Drum & Bugle Corps, Foothill High School, and Liberty High School. He is currently on the visual staff with Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps. His performance experience includes being a mellophone player for Gold Drum & Bugle Corps in 2012 & 2013, The Academy in 2014 & 2015, and the Blue Devils in 2016 & 2017, aging out as a Drum Corps International world champion. In 2015 he performed with Vegas Vanguard and also aged out of WGI with Vessel Percussion in 2019 on the cymbal line. Trevor holds a bachelors degree in music education from the University of Las Vegas, Nevada and is an alumni of Chaparral High School.
Paul Beuning is currently in his 20th year of teaching and is a band director at Arbor view High School in Las Vegas. During his time in the Clark County School District he has also served as the director of bands at Chaparral High School. Paul serves on the NMEA Executive Board as Past President. The Chaparral Music Department was recognized in 2014 by the GRAMMY Foundation for excellence in Music Education. Paul was recognized as the NMEA Teacher of the Year and the Heart of Education Award Winner in 2016. He is in constant demand as an adjudicator and clinician. Prior to his current position Paul worked as a freelance musician and performed on several army band and commercial recording. Paul has served as principal trumpet of the Maui Symphony and Sierra Vista Symphony Orchestras and has been a member of the Sweet Thunder Jazztet and La Orquestra Essencia Salsa Band. Paul is a retired military musician who served in the US Army Band for twenty-one years.
Cara Froelich is currently serving as the Director of Bands at Green Valley High School in Henderson, Nevada and is in her 18th year as a teacher in the Clark County School District. Her teaching responsibilities at Green Valley High School include the Symphonic Wind Orchestra, Jazz Bands, Marching Band, Percussion Ensembles, and Band Student Leadership Groups. Ms. Froelich received her Bachelor’s degree, Cum Laude, in Music Education from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2003 and her Master’s Degree in instrumental conducting from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2014. Ms. Froelich was recognized as “New Teacher of the Year” through the Nevada Music Educators Association and currently serves as the Clark County School District Jazz Festival Chairperson and the Southern Nevada Band Associations Honor Jazz Chairperson. Ms. Froelich’s groups have traveled extensively including performances in Rome, London, Vancouver, Ireland, New York, Chicago, Orlando, Colorado, California, and Washington D.C. Her Jazz Band’s have won two Downbeat Student Awards and have been invited to perform at the prestigious Monterey Next Generations Jazz Festival.
Travis Pardee is the Director of Bands and Chair of the Performing Arts Department at Foothill High School in Henderson, NV where he conducts the Wind Symphony, Jazz Ensembles, Marching Band and guides all aspects of the Foothill Band program. Originally from Ponca City, Oklahoma, Mr. Pardee has been teaching at Foothill since 2002. Mr. Pardee holds degrees from the Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas where he received the Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education (BME) as well as the Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance (BM – Saxophone). In 2002, Mr. Pardee completed the Master’s Degree in Instrumental Conducting (MM) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Mr. Pardee is the Past President of the Southern Nevada Band Association (SNBA), served as Professional Development Coordinator for the Nevada Music Educators Association (NMEA), is Chair of the CCSD Honor Band Committee, and served as the Director of Operations for the Southern Nevada Indoor Percussion and Guard Association (SNIPGA). In 2015 Travis Pardee was the recipient of the Myra Greenspun Award for Teaching Excellence and was named Music Educator of the Year by the Nevada Music Educators Association. His professional affiliations include the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and Nevada Music Educators Association (NMEA). Additionally, Mr. Pardee is an adjunct faculty member of the College of Southern Nevada and for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Mr. Pardee has served as an adjudicator and clinician for Music In The Parks and World Strides’ Heritage Performance Programs as well as universities, and school districts, throughout the United States.
Mac Purdy, Pinecrest Academy Cadence
Mac Purdy enters his seventh year and is the founding director with Pinecrest Academy Cadence. Purdy was tasked with building the Pinecrest Cadence band program which started with 32 students and has now grown to over 130. In his time at Pinecrest Cadence he has built multiple ensembles and developed a color guard program, indoor percussion, and indoor winds program to complement the growing concert percussion ensemble, concert band, and symphonic band. Mr. Purdy was a member of the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps as a percussionist touring the United States, Canada, and Japan. Mr. Purdy was awarded the placement of World Champion and High Percussion awards at the Drum Corps International Championship during his time with the Cavaliers. As a professional musician Purdy has released many albums and has over 90 musical works registered with the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). His music has been featured on television shows for MTV and Nickelodeon and played on radio stations around the world. As an educator Mr. Purdy has taught many highly awarded music groups at the middle school. high school, collegiate level as well as independent drumlines and wind groups from around the United States in Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, and Nevada.
Joining the Green Valley band program in 2022 Stacy Toal has been a band director in CCSD for four years after teaching in Arizona and Louisiana. Ms. Toal holds a Bachelor's in Music Ed from LSU studying with Frank B Wickes and a Masters in Oboe Performance from Arizona State University under Martin Schuring. She has performed in ensembles at the ABA, MENC, and Midwest conventions, in several professional orchestras, and is a proud LSU Tiger Band Alumna. Under her direction the Destrehan High School Band received consistent superior ratings at marching and concert events, performed in Washington DC and was voted Best Marching Band in New Orleans by Times Picayune Readers. Under her direction Destrehan was featured in a Golf Channel NCAA commercial and won the Carnival Cruise Line $10,000 "Best Band" in Louisiana competition. With a successful Indoor Percussion program and Winerguard the Destrehan Winterguard medaled at a WGI Regional and was WGI Semi-Finalist in Scholastic A. She is Past President of the District VII Band Director's Association and a founding member of the LMBC and NMBC.
Mr Vargas was born in Jiquilpan in Michoan Mexico. In 1999, he moved to the United States and in 2013 begin studying Music Education at UNLV. During his time at UNLV he was drum major and studied trumpet with Dr. Barbara Hull and conducting with Thomas G. Leslie. Mr. Vargas was also a board member of the National Association for Music Education collegiate chapter at UNLV. Since 2013 Mr. Vargas worked with over 8 different band programs in Clark County and is a band chair for NMEA. He is also Mr. Vargas is an alumni of Clark High School and has worked with the Clark band program including private trumpet, brass, chamber groups, marching band, jazz band and concert bands. Mr. Vargas continues to work with many students around the Clark Country School district at both the middle school and high school levels. His goal is to expose students to as many music opportunities as possible, and instill an appreciation for the art.