About US

Aaron Hines (he, him) (ASCAP) is originally from the Sacramento area where his dedication to the percussive arts began. For over 25 years Aaron has taught, arranged, and designed for numerous programs, ranging from the middle school to collegiate level while keeping an active adjudication schedule.

Aaron’s ensembles have earned circuit and state titles as well as Medals, Fans’ Favorite Awards, and Finalist appearances at the WGI World Championships. In addition, Aaron designs independently for programs across the country and serves many clients annually for Visual Choreography, Indoor & Outdoor Drill, Percussion Music, Program Coordination, and Sound Design. He has published works through Dave Glyde Show Designs, GPG Music, Key Poulan Music, Creative Solutions, Jair Klarfeld Music, and JW Pepper.

During the COVID shutdowns, Aaron edited over 20,000 individual performance videos into hundreds of virtual productions in the hopes of keeping musicians involved with music while they could not be together. Some of these included the NAfME All National Honor Ensembles 2020 & 2021, CBDNA Intercollegiate Marching Band, NAMM Foundation World of Pianos, and the James Logan High School Band.

Aaron is an Endorsed Artist with Evans Drumheads, Innovative Percussion Sticks/Mallets, Sabian Cymbals, & the Yamaha Corporation.

He enjoys spending his free time with his wife Kimberly, daughter Sonya, and son Vincent.

Aaron Hines

Kimberly Hines is from Reno, NV where she attended Sparks High School and graduated from Spanish Springs High School. Kim was a part of the Guard for 4 years and was the Guard Captain Fall 2000 & Winter 2003. Kim then attended the University of Nevada, Reno and was a part of their Fall Guard program from 2003-2005 and was the Captain in 2004.
Kim was also a part of the UNR Winter Guard in 2004 and 2005, followed by the Summit Winter Guard in 2006 and 2007 where she spun Flag, Rifle, and Saber. Kim has also taken Dance classes at TMCC and UNR and performed in the Fall and Spring Dance Concerts.

In 2003, Kim started teaching at Spanish Springs High School where she was the Rifle Tech. Kim then helped choreograph their Winter Guard show in 2004 and eventually became the Color Guard Caption Head, Choreographer, and Designer from fall 2005 through winter 2008. Under Kim’s leadership, the Fall 2007 Guard became the Nevada State Champions and the Winter 2008 Guard won the Governor’s Cup and Color Guard Sweepstakes! She was also the Movement Tech & Choreographer for eNVision in 2008, was the color guard caption head at Robert McQueen High School from 2009-2012, and has choreographed for groups all over the United States.

 
In 2012, Kim returned to the University of Nevada, Reno as the color guard caption head. Under her direction, the color guard program has flourished. In 2017, the UNR winter guard began competing in the Independent A class of WGI and has achieved multiple regional championships over the years.

Shealley Lee is a percussion educator based out of Northern California residing in Sacramento. She has worked with numerous high schools, independent ensembles, and college groups as a percussion
technician or clinician in the last 22 years, and takes pride in helping to grow the Northern California
percussion scene. She is currently the percussion director and arranger at Fairfield High School (2017
NCPA PSO Champions). She joined the staff for Sacramento State Indoor for their inaugural season in
2019 and served as the Front Ensemble coordinator.

Currently she is a music arranger for GPG Music and composes custom published work with Aaron
Hines, GPG Music, JW Pepper, and for schools across the country. She also works as a Production
Technician for GPG’s Our Virtual Ensemble where she has helped produce hundreds of performances
including the NAfME All National Honor Ensembles.

Previously, Shealley worked with the Oregon Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps from 2017 – 2018, where she served as a front ensemble technician and was appointed the front ensemble manager in 2019. She also worked with the Seattle Cascades intermittently from 2007-2016 as a front ensemble technician. She is a founding staff member for NorCal Indoor, where she served as front ensemble caption manager for the 2017-2018 seasons, and helped the ensemble become an open class finalist in their inaugural season. Other teaching experience includes front ensemble technician for eNVision
Indoor from 2014-2016 (WGI PIA & PIO), percussion director and arranger at Elk Grove High School (2007 -2018), and front ensemble technician at both Amador Valley HS and American Canyon HS.

In 2017 she became a clinician for the Yamaha Sounds of Summer camps in Reno. She also coordinated the Yamaha Sounds of Summer camps in Northern California held at Fairfield High School. Shealley was a member of the Seattle Cascades in 2000 – 2002 (DCI Finalists). She was also a member of the WGI PIW Medalists, the Sacramento Freelancers winter percussion from 2000-2002.
A proud Percussion Educator Artist with Innovative Percussion mallets and sticks, she is also an
Etymotic Ear Plug Signature ETY Head Artist and was featured on the Etymotic Audio File in June of
2016.

In her spare time Shealley enjoys getting outdoors with her husband, newly born daughter, and dog.
They enjoy traveling to Hawaii and can’t wait to take their daughter to Disneyland.

Nick Gilroy received his percussion performance degree from California State University, Long Beach. While attending CSULB, Nick studied orchestral percussion under Los Angeles Philharmonic Co-Principal Percussionist/Timpanist, Raynor Caroll. Jazz Vibraphone, Steel Pan Brazilian percussion, and West African percussion under Dr. Michael Carney, Dr. Dave Gerhart and Nick Mancini. As well as performed in ensembles directed by John Carnahan and Dr. Joan DeAlbuquerque. 

After college Nick worked as a freelance percussionist in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas. He has recorded for Hanz Zimmer, performed in groups sharing the stage with Cake, and performed at the Midwest Convention with the Wind Symphony of Clovis as well as True Brass Choir. In addition to performing Nick has taught percussion and jazz bands at many schools including Long Beach Polytechnic, Westminster, and Orange Lutheran High Schools.

Robert Strong is a percussionist, composer, and adjudicator based out of Reno, NV. Robert studied music performance under Dr. Matthew Darling at California State University, Fresno. During his time at Fresno State, Mr. Strong was featured as a soloist in several ensembles, including the Fresno State Wind Orchestra, Chamber Singers, and Percussion Ensemble. In November 2014 and April 2015, Robert was featured as a guest artist with the Phoenix Symphony performing Avner Dorman’s duo concerto Uzu and Muzu from Kakaruzu. In 2018, Robert was a section percussionist with the Clovis Wind Symphony, which was the featured adult band at the Midwest Clinic. Passionate about chamber music, Robert has commissioned and performed over a dozen new works as a member of the Impetus Percussion Quartet and Orphic Percussion Group. Currently, Robert is part of the Reno based percussion duo Penguin Box, which is dedicated to crafting unique musical experiences for the lovely people of Northern Nevada.

From 2014-2017, Mr. Strong served as the Director of Percussion Studies at the Regan Educational Center in Clovis, CA  Under his direction, the Clovis East Percussion Ensemble received unanimous superiors at Percussive Arts Society festivals, was the featured percussion ensemble for the California Music Educators Association – Music for All festival in Sacramento, CA, and won 3rd place at the California Chapter Percussive Arts Society State Competition in 2017. Robert was also the front ensemble coordinator and designer for the marching percussion units at REC, which were the winners of the Western Band Association’s 3A and 1-3A Grand Championship percussion captions in 2015.

Since moving to Nevada in 2018, Robert has spent his time smoking meat, performing with the Sierra Highlanders Pipe Band, climbing mountains with his wife, Hannah, drinking Scotch, and hanging out with his adorable kitties, Pickle and Mr. Lumpy.

Sponsors

Testimonials

The Bemidji High School Marching Band has been working exclusively with AHDesigns for the past 4 seasons. His ideas and creativity along with his experience in the marching arts have helped to move our marching band in a more competitive direction. Aaron is knowledgeable and willing to listen to ideas presented by myself and our directing team. We enjoy working with Aaron to help develop our ideas and highly recommend AHDesigns to help you with your marching show.

Derek Wickum

Bemidji, MN

2017 was the first year that I decided to choose AHDesigns for our needs in regards to Wind Music, Percussion Music, and Visual Design. The level of detail that the designers took into consideration far exceeded any previous experience we had with other companies. All of my concerns with original compositions and visual challenges were met with multiple solutions and opportunities for growth. With each year working with AHDesigns we have been able to learn from the experienced writers and composers. This has allowed us to find a product that has been very successful for the ability level of my students while still challenging them to bring our program to the next level. I always highly recommend AHDesigns to my colleagues new and old, sometimes we can get stuck in our ways as Educators and it isn’t until we try something new we discover there is much more out there. I highly endorse anyone and everyone to use AHDesigns for your music and visual needs.

Ron Eichestedt

Sparks, NV

In the three years we have won championships in our division we used Aaron Hines written shows. His writing challenges the students and is fun for them to play. His creativity in visual design allowed us to present unique shows that were tailored specifically for our students. I highly recommend Aaron as a percussion writer and visual designer. The results are spectacular.

Ken Carter

Grass Valley, CA

AHDesigns helped guide and develop our vision for our marching show. As a young director, Aaron was knowledgeable about the activity and helpful with ideas. We use them for marching and indoor percussion. I am extremely pleased with the product.

Greg Canfield

Reno/Sparks, NV

AHDesigns has been writing for the Roosevelt High School Marching Band for over 10 years. Aaron and his team have a real compositional skill of making our percussion sections sound great, despite their level of experience coming into the Fall Marching Band Season. Aaron's professionalism and eagerness to help our kids succeed is what keeps us coming back year after year!

Mark D’Angelo

Wyandotte, MI

This was our band's most successful season in school history! I cannot thank you enough for all of your help throughout the summer and the marching season. Your drill was incredibly achievable for our ensemble and the design worked perfectly with my vision.

Caitlin Lennox

East Rutherford, NJ

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