Who is Nathan Picard?
Early Life
Born September 24, 2001, in Biloxi, MS, Nathan Picard always had a fascination with rhythm. He would always tap on anything he came by. Whether it be hands on his lap or pencils on his desk, he was always experimenting with beats and rhythms. His loving parents Cindy and Ricky Picard and his brothers Jason Hockaday and Jeremy Picard would frequently be annoyed by the constant noise, but Nathan persisted anyways.
Upon reaching the 6th grade, Nathan followed in his mother’s footsteps and joined the middle school band. Along with Nathan, one of his friends joined as well, but he happened to blind. Both Nathan and his friend were placed in the percussion section, and Nathan quickly came to be the best of the beginner percussionists. Due to his disability, Nathan‘s friend struggled to learn as quickly as his peers, so the band director assigned Nathan to assist him. Despite having no training in assisting those with disabilities or music education, Nathan continued to aid his friend through all three years of middle school band. He would regularly choose to aid his friend over performing in a piece to allow his friend to perform more often. While his friend did not choose to continue with the band going into high school, he does play piano to this day. Nathan attributes this period in his life to where he discovered his love for concert percussion and music education.
Nathan continued on to participate with the high school band. He played various percussion instruments in the marching band, pep band, jazz band, concert band, symphonic band, and indoor percussion ensemble ranging from marching snare drum as the drum captain to marimba as the principal percussionist. He studied under Casey Caviness, Michael Brown, and John Dunlap during his time in high school.
During high school, Nathan fell in love with the marching arts and vowed to participate in world-class DCI and WGI ensembles. He began preparing to audition for the nearest drum corps, the Louisiana Stars, for the summer after his senior year, 2020. In the meantime, he participated in multiple regional honor bands and the Gulf Coast Symphony Youth Orchestra. He also participated in the University of Southern Mississippi’s Summer Drummin’ in 2018 and 2019, receiving the Marty Hurley Leadership Award both times. After many months of preparing, Nathan auditioned for marching bass drum and received multiple call-backs. However, the DCI season was cancelled due to COVID-19 that year.
Education
After graduating from D’Iberville High School, Nathan attended the University of Southern Mississippi, majoring in Music Education. During his time there, he significantly developed his skills in mallet percussion, studying under Dr. John Wooton, Roberto Palomeque, Matthew Keegan, and Nathan Sanders. After one year at the university performing in percussion ensembles, the concert band, SoMiSPO, Panissimo, and the Pride of Mississippi Drumline, Nathan decided to take a break from education to pursue his dreams of DCI and WGI. He plans to continue his education in the fall of 2024.
Nathan attended the YAMAHA Music for All Summer Symposium Director Academly under the Percussion Specialist path in 2023, where he learned from world-renowned clinicians such as Ray Ulibarri, Clif Walker, Matt Black, Richard Saucedo, and more. He plans to attend again next year and receive his Percussion Specialist Certification.
Marching Experience
Nathan has marched with St. Martin Independent (2022 & 2023), the Louisiana Stars (2022), and the Memphis Blues Drum Corps (2023) in the front ensemble. He has earned a bronze and silver medal in Percussion Independent A at WGI World Championships with SMI. He also was the section leader for both SMI and the Memphis Blues in 2023. Nathan was able to study under Gunner Vowell, John Dunlap, Neil Landini, Alex Braud, Adam Chasteen, Dane Castillo, Tyler Hawk, and Perry Santrell during this time.
Nathan auditioned for Music City Drum Corps and Infinity III (PIO), being contracted for the front ensemble in both ensembles. However, he was unable to pay and was cut, leading him to pursue other activities during those seasons, such as marching with the Memphis Blues.
Teaching Experience
After high school, Nathan immediately began teaching across the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Since 2020, he has been teaching high school percussion ensembles on the field, on the court, and in the classroom. Nathan taught at first as Percussion Instructor and then the Percussion Coordinator at his alma mater D’Iberville High School and its subsidiary middle schools from 2020-2023, leading the percussion section to superior ratings in state evaluation every year. Nathan also taught with West Harrison High School as Front Ensemble Instructor from 2022-2023, continuing the streak of all-superior ratings. Now since 2023, he has been the Percussion Coordinator at Pascagoula High School, where he aims to continue his success.
Nathan has been giving private lessons to students of all ages since 2021. Students have went on to participate in regional orchestras, college programs, competitive drum corps, and more. He continues to provide affordable, quality music education to people across the Southeast.
