Spirit is pleased to welcome, Mr. Mark Riel as Assistant Director for Logisitcal Operations. Mark will be working with the corps in the areas of tour management and communications during the 2008 season as well as pre-tour planning during the winter months.

Mark is a native of Erie, Pennsylvania. He received both his Bachelor of Arts in Music and Bachelor of Science in Music Education degrees from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. He is currently Director of Bands at North Brunswick High School in Leland, North Carolina. He is active in the marching music idiom as a performer, arranger, and instructor for many marching bands and drum corps throughout the United States and Canada.  Mark most recently served as tour director for Drum Corps International's Boston Crusaders.

In addition to being a published percussion arranger, Mark has been named to the prestigious Who's Who Among America's Teachers three times since 2002.  He is a member of the North Carolina Association of Educators, North Carolina Music Educators Association, North Carolina Band Master's Association, Percussive Arts Society and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. Mark is an educational  clinician for Dynasty USA Musical Instruments and Innovative Percussion.

Mark currently resides in Leland, NC with his wife Meagan, and son Cameron.