PRESS RELEASE – October, 2025
Arizona Academy of the Performing Arts announces new Board Officers
Exciting news from the Arizona Academy of the Performing Arts (AAPA / The Academy)! At the recent annual meeting, members elected a new slate of officers to guide AAPA into its next chapter — including our new Board President, Matt Chamberlin.
Newly elected officers:
- Matt Chamberlin, MBA, President — Strategy Director from Orlando, FL. Matt is originally from Boston, MA and brings more than 20 years of experience of the activity as a marcher, longtime volunteer and leader with USBands, and many years of experience with The Cadets, as a volunteer, and long time board member including serving in leadership capacities on the Cadets Arts and Entertainment board.
- Valerie Richards, PharmD, Vice President — Director of Clinical Services at Strive Compounding Pharmacy in Gilbert, AZ. Valerie was an original member of The Academy Drum Corps, has taught with the corps, and served in various leadership roles on the AAPA board.
- Dwight Farris, PhD, Secretary — Faculty member at Grand Canyon University with deep cybersecurity expertise. Dwight resides in Phoenix and is a longtime volunteer of The Academy.
- Kent White, Treasurer — CPA and retired Vice President of Finance at Ecolab. Kent has more than 50 years of drum corps experience as a performer, volunteer, and leader, and was most recently honored as 2025 DCI ‘Volunteer of the Year’ for his outstanding work guiding AAPA through the COVID years.
- Brandon Wilson, Compliance Officer — Attorney at JP Morgan Chase with extensive drum corps background, including recent service on the BDPA Board before joining AAPA.
Board of Directors – Arizona Academy of the Performing Arts (2026)
We also want to honor Rich Frazier for seven years of dedicated service as Board President. Under Rich’s leadership the Academy developed and executed a strategic plan, navigated the challenges of COVID, and completed a successful executive director’s search. Rich will now serve as AAPA’s Past President; we are grateful for his steady leadership and continued support.
“I’m honored to be elected and excited to work with this extremely talented group of people, and our Executive Director, Josh Thye we will work together to take the torch passed on to us and continue to push to bring AAPA’s mission to the next level,” said Matt Chamberlin, AAPA Board President.
“Having been around The Academy since its early days, I’m delighted to work with Josh and the board to further the Academy and ensure our members have a high quality drum corps experience” said Valerie Richards, PharmD, AAPA Board Vice President.
“We’re thrilled to welcome this experienced and passionate board leadership,” said Josh Thye, Executive Director. “I look forward to working together to strengthen AAPA’s programs and expand opportunities for young performers across Arizona and beyond.”
Please join us in congratulating our new officers and thanking Rich Frazier for his remarkable service. We look forward to sharing upcoming initiatives, and updates around the next edition of The Academy Drum Corps. For more information or if you would like to get involved, please visit our website.
Auditions for the 2026 Corps are coming in December!
