Faculty and Staff
Faculty and Staff
With a style and format that borrows to a large degree from military traditions, it's no surprise that success begins from the band's leadership. Our professional staff arrange music, write drill, conduct rehearsals, and ensure the students receive the highest level of music and performance education.
Chris Moore
Director of Undergraduate Programs
Benjamin "BJ" Diden
Senior Lecturer
Cameron "Chip" Crotts
Professor of Practice
Alexa Ramirez
Maddie Jones
Marcus Hawkins
Chris Moore
Christopher Moore currently serves as director of athletic bands and percussion studies, as well as serves as the coordinator for undergraduate music technology studies. He served as assistant director and staff arranger of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Band and director of instrumental music at Marist School in Atlanta. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Jacksonville State University and a Master of Music degree from East Carolina University. Moore is an active freelance performer, clinician, arranger, composer, and film scorer. His compositions and arrangements have been performed nationally and internationally. He has served as percussion and arranging consultant to Wynton Marsalis on three large works for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. Moore also is director of the Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps.
Benjamin "BJ" Diden
Benjamin J. Diden is the assistant director of bands at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He serves as conductor of the symphonic band and assistant director of athletic bands. Diden received the Bachelor of Music in Music Education degree and the Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting degree from the University of Tennessee. He has served as a graduate assistant for the Pride of the Southland Marching Band at UT and the Mighty Sound of the Southeast Marching Band at USC, where he worked extensively with the entire band program of each university. He taught for several years in the public schools of Tennessee, most recently at Cumberland County High School in Crossville, Tennessee. Diden is a member of MENC, the College Band Directors National Association, and the National Band Association. He is also an honorary member of Tau Beta Sigma and Kappa Kappa Psi.
Cameron "Chip" Crotts
Dr. Chip Crotts is Director of Jazz Studies and Assistant Director of Bands at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA. Highly active as a professional trumpet player, Chip has performed and recorded for the Disney Company in Europe and the United States, and as a first call player, maintains an active career of national touring shows, regional symphony dates and local performances throughout the year. A Grammy nominated performer, Dr. Crotts has recorded and worked with hundreds of artists over the years, including Boston Brass, the Manhattan Transfer, Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, The Temptations and Maynard Ferguson, among others.
Colorguard Staff
Alexa Ramirez
Alexa Ramirez has served as the director of the Georgia Tech Colorguard since 2015. An Atlanta area native, she started her colorguard journey in 2001 at Pope High School (Marietta, GA). She continued as a performer with several organizations including the Georgia Tech Colorguard and Carolina Crown Drum & Bugle Corps, as well as Lulablel Independent, Aureus Independent, and CrownGUARD winterguards. She also taught and choregraphed for several high school programs in the Atlanta area over the years, including Pope, Norcross, Centennial, and Union Grove High Schools. Alexa has a Bachelor of Science in International Affairs from Georgia Tech and a Master of Arts in History from Georgia State University. She currently works at the Georgia Tech Research Institute as a project manager for the Center for Health Analytics & Informatics (CHAI).
Maddie Jones
Maddie Jones joined the staff of the Georgia Tech Colorguard in the 2022 Winterguard season and is excited to be back in Bobby Dodd stadium. Originally from Marietta, she began her colorguard career in 2009 with the Wheeler HS Wildcat Pride Marching Band and has since marched with the Georgia Tech Colorguard, Georgia Tech Winterguard and Aureus Independent. She also taught at St. Pius X High School for two years. Maddie graduated from Georgia Tech in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and is currently working on her master’s through the Georgia Tech Online Master of Science in Computer Science program. She currently works at DataScan in Alpharetta as a Senior Software Engineer. In her free time she enjoys collecting houseplants and spending time with her husband, two dogs, and three cats.
Percussion Staff
Marcus Hawkins
Marcus Hawkins Is a native of Milledgeville Ga where he went to Baldwin High School. Upon graduation he attended Jacksonville State University on a music scholarship. He participated in many music groups and marched extracurricular activities such as Spirit (2004), PASIC (2004), Music City Mystique (2005,2006). Marcus has a long time passion for education which he discovered while teaching at a neighboring high school when he was in the 12th grade. Marcus is in high demand as a performer and teacher, with many people sighting his upbeat, positive, yet demanding style. He has worked with over 50 programs as a writer, consultant, teacher, and visual instructor. Marcus has taught and written for all levels and ages from pre school to senior centers, from general music classes to DCI. As a performer he has done corporate shows internationally for many fortune 500 companies including BMW, Cracker Barrel, Coke-a- Cola, AARP, Kaiser Permanente, Atlanta Falcons, USAA, Mary Kay, Avon and many more. He has performed many times along side members of STOMP and Cirque Du Soleil. He has toured internationally with legendary blues singer Sandra Hall spreading the love of blues and jazz to many universities and festivals. As a writer and music producer he has written for NASCAR, BMW, Picture This podcast, Toyota , and many local commercials . Marcus currently lives in the Greater Atlanta area and is entering in his first year as the Percussion coordinator at Kell High School. Marcus teaches at the Blue Knights Drum Corps over the summers. Away from his band life he is the owner of Marcus Hawkins Music , Marcus Hawkins Media, and Soulful Baby.
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