Ms. Patricia Hurtado is a distinguished music educator currently teaching band, orchestra, and piano at both Tennyson High School and Cesar Chavez Middle School in Hayward, California. Ms. Hurtado began her career as Associate Band Director at James Logan High School in Union City, CA, where she conducted the Concert Band, String Orchestra, Jazz Band, and Marching Band. Under her leadership, the Marching Band earned six Western Band Association (WBA) Championship titles. She is a former member of the WBA Executive Board and a founding member of the Northern California Percussion Alliance (NCPA), where she played a key role as Event Coordinator.

In addition to her school commitments, she serves as a woodwind coach for the California Youth Symphony Wind Ensembles, provides private flute instruction in Albany, and has taught at renowned music programs such as La Honda and Cazadero music camps.

Ms. Hurtado studied flute and bass guitar at CSU, Fresno. Originally from the Central Valley, she is a graduate of Madera High School and a proud former participant of the FMCMEA Honor Bands.

Richard L. Saucedo retired in 2013 as the Director of Bands and Chairman of the Performing Arts Department at the William H. Duke Center for the Performing Arts at Carmel High School in Carmel, Indiana. During his 31-year tenure, the Carmel bands earned numerous state, regional, and national honors in concert band, jazz band, and marching band categories. Under his leadership, Carmel’s Wind Symphony I performed three times at the Music for All National Concert Band Festival (1992, 1999, and 2004) and was named the Indiana State Champion Concert Band most recently in 2013. The group also showcased its talents at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago in December 2005. The Carmel Marching Greyhounds finished in the top ten at the Bands of America Grand National Championship for 17 years under Saucedo's leadership. They were crowned BOA National Champions in the fall of 2005 and 2012. In 2005, Carmel became one of the few schools to win a BOA National Championship while performing at the Midwest Clinic in the same year. The Marching Band was named the Indiana Class A State Champion four times. The Indiana Bandmasters Association honored Mr. Saucedo as Indiana’s “Bandmaster of the Year” for 1998-99, and he was recognized as the “Outstanding Music Educator” in Indiana for 2010 by the Indiana Music Educators Association. Mr. Saucedo’s achievements have been highlighted in articles by HALFTIME and SCHOOL BAND AND ORCHESTRA Magazines. He was inducted into the Music for All “Hall of Fame” in 2015 and most recently joined the Drum Corps International “Hall of Fame” in 2022. 

Mr. Saucedo is a freelance arranger and composer who produces numerous arrangements for marching bands, choral works, concert band pieces, and orchestral works. He also serves as the music ensemble coordinator for the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps in Concord, California. From 1999 to 2008, he was the Brass Arranger and Composer for the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps in Rosemont, Illinois, during which time the Cavaliers won five DCI world championships with Saucedo’s compositions and arrangements. Currently, he is the Brass Arranger for The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps in Tempe, Arizona. Mr. Saucedo also works as a Senior Educational Consultant for “Music for All” and “Bands of America” and serves as a Senior Clinician for the Conn-Selmer Division of Education. Additionally, he is the Chief Judge Team Leader for Bands of America marching band competitions. He is married to Sarah, an interior design blogger. His daughter, Carmen, teaches elementary school in Indianapolis, and his son, Ethan, is an arranger and composer who is currently pursuing an architecture degree at Ball State University.