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Marques Eckhoff - Bellevue West High School Co-Director of Bands
Marques Eckhoff is currently the Co-Director of Bands at Bellevue West High School in Bellevue, Nebraska and has served in that role since 2017. Marques has been associated with the Bellevue West High School band program in various roles for 14 years. In that time, Bellevue West’s band program has performed and achieved
success at Nebraska State Bandmasters Association and Nebraska Music Educators Association conventions, local and regional jazz competitions, regional and national marching band, indoor percussion and winds, and winter guard competitions. The marching band is a consistent finalist at Music for All regionals and super regionals, including a second place finish at the Midland, Texas Bands of America Regional.
Marques received his Master's of Music Education from Central Washington University, Master’s of Music degree in Percussion Performance from the University of Oklahoma and his Music Education degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Currently Marques serves as the Marching Chair on the board of Nebraska State Bandmasters Association. He has served as the President and Vice President of Heartland Winter Arts Association. He is an active arranger, clinician, and adjudicator in the area. Marques is an active member of NMEA, NSBA, and Percussive Arts Society. He proudly endorses Vic Firth sticks and mallets, Remo drum heads, and Ziljdian cymbals.
Marques resides in Bellevue, Nebraska with his wife, Krista, and 5 year old twins, Cadence and Alexander.
Jeremy Krug - Director of Bands, Bellevue East High School
Jeremy Krug has served as the director of bands for Bellevue East 2022. He came to Bellevue Public Schools in 2019 from Maryville R-II School District, where he served as middle school band director and high school assistant director from 2015 to 2019 and Lansing School District from 2013 to 2015.
Krug served in the United States Marine Corps from 2002 to 2008 as machine gunner in the infantry and serve a combat deployment to Iraq in 2004. He received his Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Memphis in 2010 and his Master of Music in 2024 from the American Band College of Central Washington University. Krug marched with the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps of La Crosse, and taught with Music City Drum and Bugle Corps of Nashville, TN from 2010-2013. Jeremy resides in Bellevue, NE with his wife, Kylie, and their children, Eleanor and Madilyn.
Jason Pentico - Co-Director of Bands, Bellevue West High School
Jason Pentico is entering his fifth year in the Bellevue Public Schools and his 28th year of teaching overall. His first year in BPS (2020-21) was at Mission Middle School teaching 7th and 8th Grade Bands as well as directing the Jazz Club ensemble.
Prior to teaching in Bellevue, Mr. Pentico spent twenty-three years teaching in the communities of Pella, Iowa, Saratoga, California, Pebble Beach, California, Spirit Lake, Iowa, and Hartford, South Dakota. Programs under his direction have been consistent winners in their classification in concert, jazz, and marching band at both state and regional festivals. He has been a faculty member for several festivals and music camps and is in demand as a clinician and adjudicator. He has been a consultant and designer for many high school jazz and marching programs in the upper Midwest and Canada.
Mr. Pentico is a former member and featured soloist for ten-time world champion The Cadets drum and bugle corps. He has served as chairman for the Iowa Bandmasters Association Marching Band Affairs committee, Past-President of the South Central Iowa Bandmasters Association and was a co-chair for the Iowa Jazz Championships committee. His professional affiliations include(d) Nebraska State Bandmasters Association, Iowa Bandmasters Association, MENC, South Central Iowa Bandmasters Association, Jazz Education Network, and Jazz Educators of Iowa.
Mr. Pentico is a 1992 graduate of Wayne High School in Wayne, Nebraska and a 1996 cum laude graduate of Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. His wife, Anne, is a school counselor at Logan Middle School in Bellevue and they have one son, Kellen and one daughter, Corynn.
Kaitlyn Keck - Associate Director of Bands, Bellevue East High School
Kaitlyn Keck became the Associate Band Director at Bellevue East in 2022. Kaitlyn previously spent seven years as an assistant band director for the Webb City R-7 School District, where her responsibilities included leading junior high band courses and assisting the high school band program. Prior to teaching in Webb City, Keck graduated magna cum laude from the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Conservatory in 2015 with a degree in music education. She is currently a member of the Missouri Music Educators Association and the National Association for Music Education. Keck has also performed with the Four State Symphonic Winds and the Crossroads Jazz Orchestra as a saxophonist.