BHS Band Staff

Darin Graber - Director of Bands / Fine Arts Department Chair

Darin Graber is the Director of Bands and Fine Arts Department Chair at Bingham High School, a position he has held since 2000. He holds a Masters Degree in Instrumental Conducting from Washington State University, Pullman WA studying under the baton of the late Dr. L. Keating Johnson, a Bachelors of Music Education Degree with an emphasis in Secondary Instrumental Music from the University of Kansas, Lawrence KS performing under the direction of Robert E. Foster & James Barnes, and an Associates Degree in Education from Hutchinson Community College, Hutchinson KS while on a full jazz scholarship. He is a current or past member of the Utah Music Educators Association, Music Educators National Conference, Washington Music Educators Association, Kansas Music Educators Association, Kansas Bandmasters Association, and National Bandmasters Association. He is a past President of the Utah Bandmasters Association and has also been a member of such music associations as SPEBSQSA, Kappa Kappa Psi, and the American Federation of Musicians, local #110. He is also currently serving, or has served on the UMEA Band Committee, the Utah All-State Band committee, and the UMEA Marching Band Committee.

Originally from and teaching in the Midwest, Mr. Graber taught middle school and high school band, orchestra and choir for 6 years in Kansas, spent two years at Washington State University as a graduate teaching assistant with the WSU Bands, and is in his 21st year teaching in the Jordan School District, 20 of which have been at Bingham High School. He was a member of the Idaho/Washington Symphony Orchestra and has performed on trumpet with groups backing up such musical and jazz greats as John Faddis, James Moody, David Steinmeyer, Clark Terry, David Foster, Frank Mantooth, and Aaron Neville and the Neville Brothers. He also has credits on several independent albums, received a Downbeat magazine student musician award, has done some studio work in the Kansas City area, and occasionally freelances on trumpet in the Salt Lake valley with different semi-professional jazz big bands and other ensembles. He enjoys restoring british sports cars in his spare time, and currently lives in South Jordan UT.

Dane Peterson - Battery Caption Head / Feeder System Percussion Specialist

Dane Peterson was first introduced to the marching arts under duress his freshman year of high school in 2005, but immediately came to love it and has been involved ever since. Introduced to drum corps for the first time that year, he joined the Blue Devils B corps in 2007 and played with them for two years before moving to Utah. His indoor experience includes 3 years in the CCGC (Now NCPA) with Amador Valley High School, and 3 years as quad section leader/tech for South County Percussion in Utah. After playing for BYU in 2009 and 2010, he taught at Provo High, Maple Mountain High, Juan Diego Catholic High, West Jordan High, and Copper Hills High. Dane is an active clinician and private teacher for the marching arts, and is currently pursuing a degree in Cell & Molecular Biology at the University of Utah.

Heather Davidson has been the color guard director at Bingham High School since 2020. Some of Heather’s earliest memories are watching her older brothers perform in their high school marching band, which is where her love of color guard began. She started performing in 8th grade with the American Fork High School Marching Band and the American Fork High School Winter Guard. As a performer, Heather was able to compete in multiple state, regional, and national competitions, including the 2012 Rose Parade and 2009 and 2013 Grand National Championships. After graduating, Heather attended Utah State University and completed a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Psychology. While attending USU, Heather directed the Ridgeline High School Color Guard for 4 years. As director, she helped to start their competitive winter guard program, eventually placing 2nd in the 2020 state championships. Heather also teaches Language Arts at Bingham High School and loves being able to interact with her students on the field and in the classroom.

Andrea Pischnotte - Visual Director

Growing up in Mesquite, Nevada, Luke Durbin’s musical journey started in 5th grade when he asked for a saxophone for Christmas. His parents did their research and got him a clarinet instead. When he went into high school years later, he was excited for the higher level of music, but not for his school’s requirement that all advanced students participate in marching band. He didn’t expect that by the time he would graduate Virgin Valley High School in 2016, he would fall in love with the sport.

Originally going to school for nursing, Luke later enrolled in Utah Tech University’s music education program. This is when he discovered his passion for music on the elementary level. Wanting a change, he moved to Salt Lake and was assigned to student teach at West Jordan High School. He graduated in 2022 with a BA in music education, holding a state certification to teach both elementary and secondary music.

Luke is currently the full-time BTS music teacher at South Jordan Elementary. He enjoys playing bass clarinet for the West Jordan community band and plays some mean recorder in his free time. More than anything else, he can’t wait to work with the students at Bingham High!

Jen Worthen is the Low Woodwind Instructor for the Bingham High School Marching “Miner” Band. She is currently working as the Performing Arts Secretary for Bingham High School helping to make sure everything keeps running smoothly behind the scenes. Jen is the former director of bands at Jordan Ridge Elementary School where she also worked as a Beverly Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program Music Educator. She is currently the West Jordan Concert Band board president and is the founding director of the West Jordan Jazz Band with the Cultural Arts Society of West Jordan where she also serves as the Chairperson over Bands. Mrs. Worthen graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Westminster College of Salt Lake City. She is also a current and past member of the Utah Music Educators Association. Jen began her musical journey in Southern Utah at Snow Canyon High School and has performed at the inaugural Celebration of Tuacahn Center for the Arts along with the Utah Symphony and as a member of the inaugural group of the Utah Ambassadors of Music.

Mrs. Worthen currently resides in South Jordan with her husband and children - two of whom are veteran members of the Marching “Miner” Band. In her free time, she is continuously working on her “To Be Read” list that never seems to get smaller and enjoying the time she finally has to practice bari saxophone and any other instrument she happens to find laying around the house.

Lance Tran is a trombonist at the University of Utah currently studying music education. Lance graduated in 2021 from Bingham and marched with the band for two years in addition to being closely involved with the music program, and now works with the low brass section. Lance is excited to help students grow and discover their musical selves, giving guidance, instruction, and inspiration to young musicians.

Having studied closely with Dr. Donn Schaefer as well as Utah Symphony members Mark Davidson and Samuel Elliot, Lance has had several performance opportunities around the country, including the 2023 International Trombone Festival, the 2023 National Trumpet Competition and the S.E. Shires Trombone Competition at the Southeast Trombone Symposium in 2024. Following Lance’s graduation in 2025, he plans to pursue a masters degree in music and continue to teach.

Outside of music, Lance loves to run marathons, care for plants, travel, and explore the outdoors.

Jordan McMillan is a Bingham alum who graduated in 2022 with a huge affiliation in the music department, participating in all three band, orchestra, and choir branches simultaneously by his senior year. Starting his musical experience on piano from a very young age, his percussion career began when he was 12 years old. He participated in Bingham's drumline from 2018 to 2022 as part of both the front ensemble and battery percussion during that time. Jordan would later be accepted to The University of Utah, joining the Utah Drumline playing snare drum under the direction of Dr. Michael Sammons. He would go on to participate in the university's football games and championships in 2022 and 2023, traveling and playing at events such as the 2023 Parade of Roses in California. He built his interests as a clinician and private instructor, and in 2023, he became the Front Ensemble Director for Bingham High School's Marching Band and Winter Drumline programs.

Jordan is currently continuing his undergraduate education through the University of Utah School of Music, studying percussion and composition. He enjoys his time composing works and participating in ensembles at the U of U, such as the Utah Percussion Studio, Wind Ensemble, Pep Band, and Drumline-- of which he is excited to be the snare captain for in his junior year. Playing in the pep, orchestral, soloist, and jazz settings as a student and freelance musician, Jordan is constantly looking for ways to explore the world of performing, writing, and coaching music. Between attending classes, rehearsals, and performances, he enjoys working with the high school students and helping expand their experiences as developing musicians and team players.

Dawn Dudley - Color Guard Assistant

I started out my performer career in both gymnastics and dance, as well as participating in team sports since I was little. In 2016 I started my competitive dance career, and enjoyed the near constant strive for improvement. Eventually in 2019, after I had been doing color guard for one winter season, I decided to make color guard my full focus and moved on from my competitive dancing career. I have been apart of the color guard world since my first year at Westlake High School in 2018. I started out doing junior guard my 8th grade year and didn’t stop, continuing every year and participating in both marching band and winter guard. I’ve been to San Antonio Super Regional 2019, St. George Regional 2019-2022 and was awarded the visual caption year 2022, the San Diego WGI Regional 2022, and the 2023 WGI World Championships. I interned with the Westlake junior guard both 2022 and 2023 gaining experience in show design, technical expertise, and leadership with middle school age students. Currently I participate in as many local color guard opportunities as I can, and I hope to continue with color guard for as long as I possibly can. My goal is to gain year after year of experience with veterans in the sport, and work with like minded people working to improve the color guard environment in our community as a whole.