The Executive Board includes the following positions: President, Vice-President and Treasurer. These positions carry full-time responsibilities for the ongoing daily operation of the association. The Manager positions consist of the following: Ways & Means, Membership/Tour and Marketing. These positions also carry full-time responsibilities. The General Board of Directors will also consist of the Executive Board, Managers, Members-At-Large (voting) and non-voting members.
Michael has a long and distinguished history in the marching arts. He began his journey in 1973 as a member of the Chevaliers of Waterloo, Iowa, which became the Royal Chevaliers in 1975. In 1976, he joined the Osage Precisionaires of Osage, Iowa. After relocating to the West Coast, Michael found a new home with the South San Francisco Conquistadors, performing with the corps during the 1979 and 1980 seasons.
After an extended hiatus from the activity, Michael returned to the field in 1998 with the San Francisco Renegades Senior Corps, where he performed for three years. He later served on the management teams of Impulse Drum and Bugle Corps (2000–2003), SoCal Dream (2003–2013), and Watchmen Drum and Bugle Corps (2015–2017). Throughout these years, Michael contributed in numerous leadership, instructional, and performance roles, including President of the Board, Corps Director, Visual Technician, Program Coordinator, Tour Manager, and member of the horn line.
Michael has taught visual performance at every level, from high school programs to drum corps. His instructional experience includes the St. Paul Scouts (1979), Logan High School (1984–1985), the San Francisco Renegades (1998), Impulse (2000–2001), SoCal Dream (2005–2006), Gabrielino High School (2006–2007), Norco High School (2010–2011), and Los Amigos High School (2014). From 2015 to 2017, he served as Visual Caption Head for the highly successful Dynasty Marching Band at Ramona High School in Riverside, California. He currently serves as Visual Caption Head at Bellflower High School.
Kyle was born in Butte, Montana, homeof the Anaconda Copper Mining Company and daredevil Robert “Evel” Knievel. From an early age, Kyle developed two lifelong passions: music and automobiles. He could identify nearly every car on the road and began playing harmonica and piano around the fourth grade. In fifth grade, while watching The Lawrence Welk Show with his family, he saw Barney Liddell perform on trombone in the style of Jimmy Dorsey. Inspired, Kyle convinced his grandmother to purchase his first instrument, an Olds Ambassador trombone, and joined the band program at Taft Elementary School. By eighth grade, he had volunteered to play sousaphone because no one else would. Weighing only 78 pounds and standing just over four feet tall, he transported the instrument between home and school on his skateboard.
In high school, Kyle played sousaphone in the marching band and trombone in the jazz ensemble. He also regularly gathered with friends to play along with recordings by musicians such as Jack Teagarden, Doc Severinsen, Bill Chase, and Maynard Ferguson. A move to Portland, Oregon, during his senior year gave him the opportunity to join the Royal Lancers Drum & Bugle Corps. In 1973, the corps competed at the DCI Championships in Lynn, Massachusetts, and finished 15th, while the Santa Clara Vanguard captured the championship.
After graduating from John Marshall High School in Portland and aging out ofthe Royal Lancers, Kyle pursued his other passion by building and racing several cars, including his personal favorite, a 1967 Pontiac GTO. During this period, he worked in restaurants, the automotive industry, and residential construction while continuing to perform as a sideman with several Top 40 coverbands.
Following a near-fatal motorcycle accident, Kyle decided to pursue music professionally. He began studying music therapy at Montana State University Billings and later earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music from California Lutheran University. During this time, he met his wife of more than 30 years and became stepfather to her two teenage children. He later earned a teaching credential from California State University and went on to teach music throughout Los Angeles and Ventura counties. His 32-year career included elementary, middle school, and private instruction. Kyle retired in 2020 after14 years at Hueneme High School in Oxnard, California, where he served as band director, jazz band director, choir director, and mariachi director.
Today, Kyle enjoys spending time with his family, including his two teenage grandchildren; traveling the highways and backroads of the country withhis wife in their modified 1956 Ford pickup; and performing whenever opportunities arise. For Kyle, the most rewarding part of this work is helping the organization provide young people with opportunities to transform their passion for music into positive, lifelong experiences—just as he did as a Royal Lancer.
Greg is an alumnus of the original Royal Cavaliers Youth Band. A euphonium player, he marched with the Royal Cavaliers from late 1969 until aging out after the 1976 season. Upon returning home from the 1976 summer tour, Greg enlisted in the United States Navy. He served until retiring as a lieutenant in January 1999. Following his active-duty service, Greg continued his career with the Navy as a civilian employee in Port Hueneme, California. He retired in December 2019 as the Navy’s trackage subject matter expert, responsible for railroad and crane tracks at Navy facilities around the world.
Greg and his wife, Yvonne, were actively involved in their children’s school music programs, particularly at Oxnard High School. As their children advanced in the marching arts, Greg and Yvonne continued supporting their participation with Mystikal, VK, and the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps. Greg was a founder of Royal Cavaliers Performing Arts and remains an active supporter of the organization, operating and maintaining its equipment truck and much of its equipment. He is also the president and owner of Roundhouse Track Services, LLC, which provides track inspector training to the Navy and Navy contractors, as well as railroad track inspection services.
Greg and Yvonne reside in Las Vegas, Nevada, and regularly travel to Southern California to support the Royal Cavaliers.
Philip is the current director of bands at Diamond Ranch High School, in Pomona, CA, where he teaches jazz, guitar, marching band, wind ensemble, concert band, string orchestra, symphony orchestra, and colorguard. He has also held the position of department chair for the visual and performing arts department since 2014.
In addition to his teaching duties, he adjudicates for the School Band and Orchestra Association and has presented to the school board on numerous occasions regarding the different concepts and issues surrounding music education. Previous positions include adjunct professor at Cal Poly Pomona teaching Secondary Instrumental Techniques and director of bands at Servite High School in Anaheim, California. He is currently in his twentieth year of teaching in the secondary classroom where his groups continue to earn numerous awards in marching contests and superior ratings at both district and state festivals.
Mr. Ruiz earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Music from California Polytechnic University, Pomona, and a Masters in Musicology from Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California. He is currently attending Claremont Graduate University, where he is ABD and in the final stages of completing his doctorate of music with a focus in musicology. His dissertation focuses on the social development of the new instrumental music director and is the recipient of the prestigious Walker/Parker Memorial Endowment Fellowship.
Mr. Ruiz has been honored by Who's Who Among American Teachers, as Diamond Ranch High School's Teacher of the Month and a nominee for Disney's Music Educator of the Year. He is a current member of the Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association, National Association for Music Education, California Band Director Association, California Teacher Association, and National Education Association.
