Misty olmstead
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Executive Director and co-founder of Northern Lights Drum and Bugle Corps, Misty has an HR and music background with experience on clarinet, bass clarinet, and as drum major. She performed with the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Orchestra from 2003-2005, joined Western Michigan University Marching Band annually from 2002-2007, competed in the Western Michigan University Jazz Festival in 2003, and attended Drum Major Camp at Michigan State University in 2004, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in 2005, and has sat in with several chamber music ensembles over the years. Misty has a strong background in Human Relations and sits at the helm of our Board of Directors as President; managing corps relations, as well as overseeing all business operations and strategic planning for the corps. Misty actively plays bass clarinet in the community with the Coopersville Community Band, Beer City Winds, and Forest Hills Adult Community Band. In the corps' every-day operations, Misty is the Northern Lights' Executive Director. Misty is a band mom through and through with students in both the Rockford Schools and Comstock Park Schools band programs, and has expertly guided the corps through tremendous growth in its formative seasons, overseeing business planning and development of our Board of Directors to cover all aspects of our membership needs. |
DOUG OLMSTEAD
CORPS DIRECTOR
Corps Director Doug Olmstead provides logistics and education pedagogy direction for the corps. He brings with him a solid foundational band experience, having studied tuba performance at Grand Valley State University and music education at Aquinas College. As an educator, Doug has held various positions from section coach to assistant band director with numerous local schools, notably with the GVSU Laker Marching Band, Newaygo HS, Godwin Heights HS, Spring Lake HS, St. Xavier HS, Allendale HS, and Kent City HS where he was Winds Caption Head helping to spark their first ever MCBA State Finals qualifying season. Doug performs as a semi-pro freelance tubist and bass trombonist, and has performs regularly with the Holland Symphony Orchestra, HSO Brass Quintet, and Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra. He was drum major for DCI Open Class Finalist Dutch Boy Drum & Bugle Corps in 2008, marched contra for the Kilties Drum & Bugle Corps in 2012, tuba for Cincinnati Tradition Drum & Bugle Corps in 2022, and has marched with Northern Lights in the low brass section since our founding in 2023. He played sousaphone as section leader and a featured soloist for the GVSU Laker Marching Band from 2011-2015, where he was also a member of the Rho Xi chapter of the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity, seated as treasurer and music director. Doug is now seated as Rho Xi's Alumni Relations Officer. Additionally, Doug served for 7 years as a corporal, team leader, staff arranger/conductor, and career counselor for the 126th Army Band playing low brass and percussion. He sits on the Northern Lights board of directors as our Vice President. |
Jordan roberts
PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Jordan Roberts studied at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Davenport University, and is currently studying at Grand Valley State University where he also works as an arranger for GVSU Athletic Bands, and serves as the Vice President and Treasurer for the Rho Xi chapter of the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity. Jordan has served in the United States Army since 2006 (Active Duty 2006-2017, Michigan National Guard 2017-present). As a performer, he has played with Grammy winning artists Tom “Bones” Malone, Ellis Marsallis, and Rebirth Brass Band as well as performing with the Seoul (Korea) Philharmonic, the Battle Creek (MI) Symphony Orchestra, Huntsville (AL) Symphony Orchestra, and the United States Army Band where he is a staff arranger, regular soloist, and guest conductor. Most recently he was hired by Muskegon Community College to conduct and resurrect the Muskegon Honors Orchestra program. Jordan sits on the Northern Lights Board of Directors as our Program Chair. |
albert "Aj" olmstead
SUPPORT DIRECTOR
Albert (AJ) is a Muskegon Community College Alumni with a love for community music. Currently he plays with MCC’s Student Winds, Northern Lights, and Bells Of Glory. AJ is an alumni of Dutch Boy Drum & Bugle Corps (2008), Kilties Drum & Bugle Corps (2012), and the GVSU Laker Marching Band (2012-2014). As a performer, he's played at Carnegie Hall with the West Michigan Concert WINDS, and has served as a low brass coach for local high school programs such as at Allegan HS and Allendale HS. It’s been his dream to start a drum corps with his brother, and Northern Lights has been a massive blessing for him and the community. He considers himself a "forever student", enjoys both learning and teaching, and will probably be taking classes here and there for the rest of his life. AJ sits on the NLDBC Board of Directors as our Secretary, and serves the corps in a Support Director role working with our volunteers overseeing special project efforts. |
Caleb Salame
DIRECTOR OF FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Caleb Salame comes to Northern Lights with a marketing and accounting background from Acrisure. He has been playing clarinet since the 6th grade, and continued playing throughout the rest of his time in school for the Plymouth-Canton band program on the east side of the state. After high school, Caleb attended Grand Valley State University and graduated with a degree in marketing. Currently, he lives in Grand Rapids with his fiancée, Phoenix. Some of Caleb's hobbies include photography, PC gaming, reading, and 4k Blu-ray collecting. Caleb is very excited to be joining the Northern Lights admin team with seated on the Board of Directors as our Director of Financial Development and Treasurer, and looking for ways to make this activity even more affordable for our members. He also helps out on our media team with photography and videography skills! |
bRANDEN LISTH
ASSISTANT CORPS DIRECTOR
Mr. Listh is the Director of Bands at Newaygo Public Schools, and serves Northern Lights as our Assistant Corps Director. Branden also sits on the Northern Lights Board of Directors in an interim capacity, filling a Director of Community Partnerships role. He received his Bachelors in Music Education at Alma College, and is currently preparing for the American Band College Masters of Music Education program at Central Washington University. As a member of the corps, Branden was a featured soloist and a charter member of the corps' first competitive season in 2023. In 2024, he began the season on staff with the corps as a low brass coach, before being promoted to Assistant Corps Director. |
Marisa Romano
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANTMarisa studied Music Education at Alma College and has experience as a public school band director. She considers herself to be a “Professional Band Nerd”. She is primarily a flute player, but has experience at a competitive level in percussion on cymbals and as a drum major. She received her training at Smith-Walbridge Drum Major Academy in 2014 and has been working as a drum major and teaching drum majors around the state for the past ten years. She has worked with high school bands in a variety of roles instructing in woodwind technique, drum major technique, battery percussion technique, and marching technique. At Alma she was a proud drum major of the Kiltie Marching Band and played tenor drum in the Alma College Pipe Band. She also taught marching technique while she was there and wrote the handbook that the college uses to teach marching. She is currently a certified Farmers Market Manager and adores spending her Thursdays at the markets and helping bring vibrancy to her community. Her role as a Market Manager includes organizing special events, processing and documenting payments and funds, making sure all parts of the market adhere to various laws, and being a friendly face to brighten people’s day. She is looking forward to bringing these skills into her role as the Interim Executive Assistant for Northern Lights. She is also preparing to apply to graduate school to fulfill her dream of being a musicologist. |
Brittany ward
OPERATIONS CHAIROperation Chair Brittany Ward comes to Northern Lights with a background in geology, community coordination, and music with experience playing french horn and mellophone. Brittany marched with the Grand Valley State University Laker Marching Band for four years, and with Troopers Drum & Bugle Corps in 2012. Brittany has performed with concert bands at Aquinas College and GVSU in Michigan and even played with a concert band during her time living in New Zealand. Brittany graduated with an MSc in Geology from Boston College and is currently the Geology Lab Supervisor at Grand Valley State University. Her position includes managing research lab spaces and scientific instruments, maintaining rock, fossil, and minerals collections, supervising student workers, coordinating field trips, and running social media. Brittany also brings years of experience in event management, from an international scientific conference in Romania to art markets in Grand Rapids. She is excited to bring her unique background to the Northern Lights board! |
Rich Ball
QUALITY ASSURANCE CHAIR
Rich has had a passion for music since he began band in the 5th Grade. For the last 26 years he has served as volunteer assistant director for his high school alma mater, Concord High School Band, where he also continues to play with the high school band at Homecoming, football and basketball games with the pep band and the occasional concert. In addition, on multiple occasions he ran the band's summer marching band camp when a band director was not available. Over the years, Rich has performed in several ensembles including the Concord Community Band, Albion Community Band, Spring Arbor College concert/community band, Refiner's Fire brass quintet, pit orchestras for Concord High School, Hillsdale High School and Hillsdale county's Sauk community theater musical productions. He is a regular member of the Hillsdale Wind Symphony, regularly attends adult sessions at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in the summer and has performed with Albion College ensembles as a stand-in.
Marching with Northern Lights Drum & Bugle Corps in each of its first two seasons gave him the chance to fill the void that missing marching band in college left. He plans to march with Northern Lights for the 2025 season as well as sits on the Board of Directors as Quality Assurance Chair. Rich continues to learn about various aspects of music and is currently learning to play the drum set.
Marching with Northern Lights Drum & Bugle Corps in each of its first two seasons gave him the chance to fill the void that missing marching band in college left. He plans to march with Northern Lights for the 2025 season as well as sits on the Board of Directors as Quality Assurance Chair. Rich continues to learn about various aspects of music and is currently learning to play the drum set.
Amy fett
BRASS COORDINATORAmy is very excited to join Northern Lights for the 2025 season as Brass Coordinator. She brings a vast, lifelong experience on and off the field, motivated in her new position to bring the corps’ hornline to the next level! In her current life, Amy is an assistant to the Grand Haven Bands, as a Brass Specialist and wind band clinician. She works daily at Lakeshore Middle School with the 7th and 8th grade bands, under the direction of Brian Ambrose. Thanks to her colleague, Amy found her niche in teaching utilizing her performance education with the next generation of upcoming musicians, adept with meeting the students at varied levels of experience, instilling confidence and beyond. Amy brings her vast education in horn performance and conducting; former mentors and professors include Michelle Baker, (retired) Metropolitan Opera 2nd Horn, Jack Scandrett (retired) NJ Symphony, Benedum Opera and Ballet in Pittsburgh, and Dr. Jack Stamp. She is currently an active freelance horn in the west Michigan region, frequently with Muskegon Civic Theatre, Boardwalk Brass of Grand Haven, and various HS musical productions throughout west Michigan. Amy is an Italian Jersey girl by birth, born into a drum corps family. Her earliest memories include watching her father in the powerhouse hornlines of the Hawthorne Caballeros in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Inspired by seeing the iconic Garfield Cadets threepeat (83-85) live, she later realized her dream of being a Cadet, having marched with the two iconoclast corps of the 90’s. Amy marched mellophone with the 1997 Cadets of Bergen County, 1998 Blue Devils, and the DCI World Champion 1999 Blue Devils (#10), having won the Jim Ott Brass Award with BD in both 98 and 99, aging out as an upper lead. She was the third generation of her family to march in drum corps. Her brother, Kyle, a 5-year Cadet, 97-01 and is also two-time DCI World Champion 98, 00. Amy is humbled and grateful to all who taught her to believe anything is possible with relentlessness, grit, refinement and grace. Teachers like Wayne, Gino, John, Travis, Marc, Larry, Bill, Shorty, all paved the way for her iconic style in teaching, a passion she found later in life. She is proud to “pay it forward” by giving back in the activity that shaped her musical life. Amy lives in Grand Haven with her husband Mike and their three amazing brass musician children. Her oldest, Vincent, 18, is the 4th generation of the family to march in drum corps, with the DCI World Class Semifinalists, Music City Drum Corps from Nashville, TN in 2024, 3 year Principal Horn of Grand Haven HS Wind Ensemble. Her son Domenick, 16, is Principal Tuba of the Grand Haven HS Wind Ensemble. Amy’s daughter Philomena, 13, hornist, is in the 8th Grade Lakeshore Middle School Band. Amy has two adorable and bullish Basset Hounds, Zarathustra and Mahler Pickles. 
natalie brady
DRILL WRITERNatalie (she/her) is thrilled to join the team at Northern Lights Drum & Bugle Corps as the Drill Writer for the upcoming 2025 season. Natalie is a visual designer, choreographer, and educator in the Greater Cincinnati/Dayton areas, and studied visual design and choreography as a 2023 Bluecoats Fellow with mentor Jim Moore. She has been teaching in the marching arts since 2015, working with a variety of high school and independent ensembles. Currently, Natalie is the Director, Drill Writer, and Choreographer for the Oak Hills Indoor Percussion Ensemble (PSA); Visual Caption Head/Choreographer for the Oak Hills High School Marching Band; and works on the visual teams for the Lakota East High School Marching Band, Miamisburg High School Marching Band, and Miamisburg Winds (WSO). In addition to her work with these high schools, Natalie is on the visual teams at Cap City Percussion (PIW & PIO) and Valhalla Winds (WIO). She also served as the Movement Coordinator at 7th Regiment Drum & Bugle Corps and was on the visual team for Pacific Crest Drum & Bugle Corps during the 2024 season. |
Jacob Kamradt
PERCUSSION COORDINATORJacob Kamradt recently graduated from Grand Valley State University with a degree in Information Technology. He has been involved in the marching arts since 2015, starting with auxiliary percussion and timpani for his first two years at Belding High School. Then, he switched to bass drum for his last two years. After high school, he spent 4 years at G2, playing Synth, Auxiliary Percussion, and finally Bass Drum. He competed as G2's Bass Drum Section Leader in 2020, and aged-out of WGI with Ascension in 2024. During college, Jacob was heavily involved in the GVSU Laker Marching Band's drumline from 2019 - 2021 and served as section leader from 2020 - 2021. He came back from a brief hiatus for the 2023-2024 season where he switched to snare drum. He's also an active member of the Grand Rapids Gold drumline, playing Snare, Tenors, or Bass Drum. Beyond marching, Jacob started teaching in 2019 at Belding High School, his alma mater. He was a bass drum technician there until recently and now instructs at Hudsonville High School for the Fall and Winter percussion season. Jacob's love for marching arts also extends to arranging percussion music. He's arranged percussion parts for Belding High School, GVSU Athletic Bands, and Hudsonville High School. Excitingly, Jacob is using his experience in all areas of marching percussion to step up as the Percussion Coordinator for the 2023-2024 Northern Lights season. With his enthusiasm, years of experience, and passion, he aims to elevate the percussion section at Northern Lights Drum & Bugle Corps. 
Issa Lewis
COLOR GUARD COORDINATORIssa Lewis has been a member of the marching arts community for almost 30 years as a performer and instructor/designer. As a performer, she was a member of the Coachmen Drum and Bugle Corps, the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps, Capital Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps, and Crescendo Winter Guard. As an instructor, she currently serves as the color guard caption head at Otsego High School and directs the Allegan County Ensemble (ACE) Winter Guard. Additionally, she serves on the Board of Directors of the Michigan Color Guard Circuit and is a member of the Evoke Performance Collective, which assists other instructors and designers to grow in their craft. Wherever she teaches, her goal is to create a space that is welcoming to all, regardless of experience or skill, where anyone can learn and grow to love this activity! She aims to help her performers find confidence, joy, and creativity while instilling a strong work ethic, healthy competitiveness, and attention to detail. When not writing and teaching fun twirls, Issa is an Associate Professor of English and Communications at Davenport University, a loving wife, and the proud (and tired) mama of two boys. We're extremely excited to have Issa as #NLCG's Color Guard Coordinator to help build our guard program! |
Anthony candelario
BRASS MANAGERAnthony Candelario’s musical career blends performance, leadership, and teaching. He studied Music Education at Central Michigan University, where he served as section leader for both the Marching Chips trumpet section and the six-man band trumpet section. While at CMU, he began his teaching career, working with five high school high brass sections. After college, Anthony served as a trumpet player with the “Division’s Own” Marine Band from 2016 to 2020, performing across the U.S., Canada, and France, and appearing as a soloist on French national television. Following his Marine Corps service. Currently, Anthony performs and leads ensembles with the 126th Army Band in Belmont, Michigan, as part of the Minutemen Brass. The Minutment Brass perform the National anthem at MCBA State Finals. In 2024, he joined Northern Lights Drum and Bugle Corps as their high brass coach and now assumes the role as Brass Manager. He is also pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Leadership to further develop his leadership skills in music and beyond. |
Jon Wilson
BATTERY MANAGERJon Wilson serves as the Battery Manager for Northern Lights, having spent the past two summers as a High Battery Coach. Jon comes from a well-rounded percussion background studying at Grand Valley State University where he marched snare on the Laker Marching Band drumline for four seasons, marched a season of drum corps on bass drum with Dutch Boy in 2009, and a season of WGI with Genesis on snare in 2012. He holds an associates degree from Grand Rapids Community College, and works professionally as the Business Resource Manager at Metal Plus and as a CPR/First Aid/Basic Life Support training instructor for the American Heart Association. When not working or volunteering with Northern Lights, Jon likes to spend time with his nieces and nephews, work on cars, stay fit through exercise, and drumming in the local music community on drum set with pop/punk/rock groups, as well as keeping up to date on current WGI trends by attending World Finals in Dayton, OH. |
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- Standards Committee
- Marisa Romano
- Kevin Harvey
- Finance Committee
- Jacey Boisclair Nichols
- Programming Committee
- Chase Kapteyn
- Alex Harvey
- Communications Management
- Brooklyn Chaffee
- Meal Volunteers
- Brian and Carole Olmstead
- Uniform Fitting
- Kim Ball
- Uniform Design
- Adam Cummins
- Medical Professional
- Daphne Fitzpatrick