Introducing … our newest EEU Members
Colorguard Head Coach, Mitchell Hautea
To give you a brief introduction of myself, I have been in the colorguard industry ever since I was a young lad. Growing up in the Bay Area, I had the privilege to be a part of the World-Winning James Logan Color Guard and went onto marching for five years with The Blue Devils Drum & Bugle Corps, aging out as Captain in 2010. Throughout my performing years, my roots have had a great influence on my outlook upon colorguard thanks to Scott Chandler, Dave Meikle, and George Oliviero. I continued to teach and develop skills as a young instructor and technician for Mark Metzger and TJ Doucette, where a keen eye for technique, work ethic, and style led me to explore my curiosity for design.
My creative style enabled my career in retail starting from Bloomingdales and then I catapulted my way into Neiman Marcus, both in Palo Alto, CA. There I developed my skills with building relationships with clients and with a great team, as well as further developing confidence in my own fashion flair. Being different is always the goal.
With the change of Covid, my life has truly taken a turn, leaving the Bay Area and moving to Southern California in a new light. Only in this past year, I was sought out to be part of organizations such as Downey HS, Palm Desert HS, Royale Cavaliers Organization in each branch of colorguard (Zoetic) and percussion (Meraki).
With these new doors and opportunities, I observed how much education and technique is needed for creating and building a program and bringing style to the colorguard realm. Great skill and leadership can show the way to striving for more and becoming the best version of oneself. With the responsibility of director, I am proud to lead by pushing for more education practices and putting the students first to guide the organization to achieve. I am grateful, thankful and excited to announce that I will be directing the Esperanza High School Colorguard into the Fall of 2022.
Assistant Director, Nathan King
Nathan King is a highly sought-after woodwind performer, jazz saxophonist, recording artist and music educator in Southern California. He has studied under some of the most well-regarded teachers in the business including Gary Foster, Jeff Ellwood, Katisse Buckingham, Sal Lozano, Dan St. Marseille and Damon Zick and has shared the stage with great musicians such as Bob Mintzer, Bill Cunliffe, Bob Sheppard, Doc Severinsen, Nick Mancini, Wayne Bergeron, John Clayton, Gregg Field, Steve Houghton, Eric Marienthal, Walt Weiskopf, Joe LaBarbara and many others. He performs in a variety of groups including The Mercy Stone, a multi-genre chamber ensemble, Bill Cunliffe’s big band, “Bachanalia,” Phat Cat Swingers and his own group, The King Quartet.
In 2015, Nathan was selected to participate in the Disneyland All-American College Band. More recently, he was honored with the award of Best Saxophonist at the 2016 Reno Jazz Festival. As an educator, Nathan maintains a private teaching studio, conducts masterclasses throughout the area, coaches at many public schools and holds a conservatory teacher position in the Jazz Studies Program at Orange County School of the Arts. Nathan earned a Bachelor of Music in Saxophone Performance with an emphasis in Jazz and Commercial Music from California State University, Fullerton and a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach.