Director of Bands
Matthew Bo Sodders is the Director of Bands at Alan C. Pope High School in Marietta, Georgia. The Pope Wind Symphony was a featured ensemble at the 2023 University of Georgia "JanFest", 2021 University of Tennessee Chattanooga Honor Band Festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee and the 2020 Georgia Music Educators In-Service Conference in Athens, Georgia. Prior to his engagement at Pope High School, Mr. Sodders was the Director of Bands at John McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Georgia.
Originally from Lima, Ohio, Mr. Sodders graduated cum laude from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio with an instrumental and elementary specialist degree in Music Education. While at BGSU, Bo Sodders studied with trumpet professor Mr. George Novak and conducting with Dr. Emily Freeman Brown.
Mr. Sodders is active in the drum and bugle corps activity, currently serving as the Brass Caption Head of the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps from Madison, Wisconsin. Sodders previously has worked with with Phantom Regiment, Blue Knights, Troopers, Spirit of Atlanta, Southwind, Teal Sound Drum and Bugle Corps. Mr. Sodders is a five-year veteran of the Glassmen Drum and Bugle corps from Toledo, Ohio, where he served for two seasons as drum major.
Mr. Sodders is a staff member of the 2016 and 2017 United States Army All-American Marching Band. Sodders’ professional affiliations include membership in the National Association for Music Education, Georgia Music Educator Association, MENC, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, National Band Association, and Phi Beta Mu 'International Bandmasters Association'.
Associate Director of Bands
Mr. Josh Rudolph is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated from Alan C. Pope High School and went on to earn a Bachelors of Music degree from the University of South Carolina. As a senior in High School, Mr. Rudolph was the inaugural recipient of The Revelli Award, a national award given to a single graduating senior going on to pursue music education as a career.
Mr. Rudolph spent six years as Director of Bands at Carolina Forest High School. Prior to that, he was the Director of Middle School Bands at Carolina Forest for two years. While in Myrtle Beach, Mr. Rudolph was the founder and conductor of the Carolina Youth Wind Symphony, an organization for advanced musicians of the greater Grand Strand area. He has been selected for inclusion in the 2002 and 2004 editions of "Who's Who Among American Teachers". The 2006 the Carolina Forest Symphonic Band was selected to perform for the South Carolina Governor's Inauguration.
Mr. Rudolph has served as a guest clinician, conductor, and adjudicator in several states throughout the Southeast and also remains active as a trumpet player. His professional affiliations include GMEA, MENC, Kappa Kappa Psi, and NBA.
Director of Percussion
Claire Smith Kenney is a percussion educator, clinician, and performer in the Greater-Atlanta area and is currently the Percussion Director at Pope High School and Hightower Trail Middle School. She is originally from Cumming, Georgia and attended Jacksonville State University in Alabama for her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education. Claire then continued her education at Texas Christian University, where she earned her Master’s degree in Percussion Performance.
Since 2004, Claire has been involved with many performing ensembles, including Spirit Drum and Bugle Corps (2005, 2006), Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps (2007, 2009), Music City Mystique (2007-2010), Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps (2017) and is currently the Front Ensemble Coordinator at Atlanta Quest. She has most recently performed with The Atlanta Percussion Ensemble and Atlanta Steel Collective and is a conductor for the Atlanta Youth Percussion Ensemble. She is a member of the Percussive Arts Society, Georgia Music Educators Association and an educational artist for Innovative Percussion. Other than percussion, Claire enjoys running, being outdoors and spending time with her husband Kevin and their two dogs.
Patrick Wright
Director of Marching/Visual Program
Patrick Wright has served as the Visual Coordinator at Alan C. Pope High School in Marietta, GA since 2007. His responsibilities include teaching marching technique and choreography to both the marching band and indoor drum line. Prior to coming to Pope, Patrick worked with high school bands in Gwinnett and Hall Counties. He was also a member of the DCI finalist Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps for three years (’01, ’02, ’04). He received his bachelor's degree in Music Education from Georgia State University and will complete his master's at the University of Hawaii in May 2016. He currently teaches music with Paula Williams at High Meadows School in Roswell, GA. He lives in Powder Springs, GA with his wife Autumn, 4 year-old son Ryan, and 2 year-old daughter Brooklyn.
Ravan I. Durr
Jazz Band Director
Born and raised in Marietta Georgia, Ravan Durr graduated from Marietta High School and attended Jacksonville State University in Alabama to earn the Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education. Ravan continued on to The University of Georgia and earned his Master of Music degree in Saxophone Performance. He has extensive teaching/performing experience in concert band, jazz ensemble and chamber ensemble. He retired from the Cobb School System after 24 years of service as a band director for middle and high school. Ravan and his wife Sheila have four grown children and reside in Marietta Georgia. Three of his children attended Pope High School and were members of the Pope Band.
Aaron Kava & Patrick Nolen Kava
Color Guard Directors
Aaron Kava began his color guard career as a Freshman at Georgia State University for the 2016 Winter, Fall 2016, and Winter 2017 seasons. Immediately following, Aaron became a member of the Atlanta CV Drum and Bugle Corps in 2017, 2019 and 2021, where he was a part of the color guard when they won the High Color Guard award in his first two seasons. The winter of 2018 was his first season as a part of Divenire Youth Performing Arts family as a staff member, then as a member for 2019, and on staff again for 2020. Aaron has now been the Co-Director of Divenire’s Independent A Winter Guard for 2 years. He has been the director of the Thompson High School Color Guard for 2 years and worked with them for 5. Under his direction, Thompson was a 3-time WGI Virtual Finalist, 5 time SCGC Champion and 4 time Alabama State Champion, along with one appearance in WGI World Championship Finals in Scholastic A. He is excited to step into this new role at Pope and is ready to join the Greyhound family!
Patrick Nolen Kava began his color guard career in 2011 as a performer in the UAB Marching Blazers Color Guard and Amor Winter Guard. Since, he has gained over 10 years of experience directing, teaching, and performing in the color guard and marching band community. Currently, he is the Founder and Executive Director of Divenire Winter Guard, earning 2 WGI finalist rankings (2019 and 2022) and one in WGI Virtual Finals during the 2021 season. Patrick has also co-directed Thompson High School Winter Guard (2021 WGI Virtual Finalist and 2022 WGI SA Finalist). He has played a crucial role in Winter Guard International and local circuits, working with programs across the southeast. Patrick has performed with Atlanta CV Drum and Bugle Corps for 5 seasons (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021) – winning two high color guard awards. Patrick continues to design and stage programs across the South while serving on the Board of Directors for the Southeastern Color Guard Circuit.
Kennedy Riles
Color Guard Staff
Kennedy Riles, born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama, graduated from Sparkman High School where she performed competitively with the Sparkman High School Winter Guard both locally and on the national WGI circuit. She marched the independent program, Divenire Winter Guard, during the time she attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and served as their captain in two out of the five years in her tenure with the group (2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022). Kennedy is an alumna of the Atlanta CV Color Guard (2020), and instructed for the 2021-2022 Thompson High School Color Guard.
Kennedy is the inaugural recipient of the WGI Emerging Leaders Award and a member of the inaugural class of the WGI Future Leaders Program. An active member of the Southeastern Color Guard Circuit Diversity & Inclusion Committee, Kennedy is using her position to create a minority mentorship program for members across her circuit. She is passionate about diversity & inclusion education, and co-creates workshops to provide awareness and understanding across the performing arts community. As a member of the Future Leaders Program, Kennedy jointly created an Inclusive Costuming Resource to be utilized for minority performers and directors throughout the community.
Laurn Nguyen
Color Guard Staff
Lauren Nguyen started her color guard career as a freshman at Alpharetta High School in the Fall of 2014 and continued till she graduated in 2018. Soon after she marched with the Phantom Regiment color guard in 2018. Lauren became a member of Divenire Independent A’s Winter Guard in 2021 and 2022. During this time she also was the Assistant Director of Tuscaloosa County High School’s Color Guard. They won the SRAA Class in SCGC at the end of the 2022 season. Lauren has loved teaching color guard and can’t wait be part of Pope High School’s program.
