Band Department Staff

Eric Thornbury has been directing bands since 1992.  He is the Music Department Chair and Director of Bands for Noblesville Schools.  He holds a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Indiana State University and a Master’s of Education from Indiana Wesleyan University.  

 

Mr. Thornbury’s current responsibilities include directing three concert bands, a marching band, a pep band, and chamber ensembles as well as overseeing the band, orchestra, choir, piano, guitar, recording and lab classes in Noblesville Schools.  Mr. Thornbury was an adjunct Professor of Music at Indiana University Kokomo for 9 years and was the president of the Howard County Arts League.  He is a member of the Indiana Bandmasters Association, The National Association for Music Education, and the Indiana Music Educators Conference.  He served as the vice-president for the Noblesville Cultural Arts Commission for 5 years and represents music and education on the Noblesville Fine Arts Council.  Mr. Thornbury has been a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator for middle school and high school bands throughout the State of Indiana.  

 

In his tenure at Noblesville the band program has more than doubled in size, the Marching Band won the Indiana State Fair Band Day Championship in 2017 and 2018, were an ISSMA Class A Semi-Finalist in 2019 and ISSMA Class A State Finalists in 2021.  Eric is a trumpet player who plays as often as time allows.  He resides in Noblesville Indiana with his wife and five children.  

Originally from Hagerstown, Indiana, Jacob earned a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Indiana State University. During his time at ISU, he was an active member of the Bro’s Bros Saxophone Quartet and served as Drum Major for the Marching Sycamores.

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Jacob began his teaching career in 2013 as the Band Director at North Decatur High School, a role he held for six years. Under his leadership, the North Decatur High School band achieved significant milestones, including four consecutive gold ratings at the ISSMA Concert Band Contest, the school’s first students to earn gold ratings at the State Solo & Ensemble competition, and its first student selected for the Indiana All-State Band. Jacob also co-founded and co-directed the Decatur County Greensburg Marching Band, a collaborative ensemble with South Decatur and Greensburg High Schools. This group competed successfully in the CITSA circuit, earning finalist placements every year during his tenure. In 2017, Jacob was recognized as Decatur County Teacher of the Year for his contributions to music education.

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In 2019, Jacob joined Noblesville Schools as the Associate Director of Bands. He currently directs the Wind Symphony and two freshmen concert bands while co-directing the Wind Ensemble, Symphony Band, and the Marching Millers. From 2019 to 2021, he also co-directed the Noblesville Percussion Ensemble, leading the group to its first Class A bronze medal. As the leader of music instruction for the Marching Millers, his work has contributed to three ISSMA State Finals appearances (2021, 2023, 2024), two BOA Indy Super Regional Finalist finishes (2023, 2024), and an invitation to perform in the 2024 St. Patrick’s Parade in Dublin, Ireland.

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Jacob is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Music Education at Ball State University. He resides in Fishers, Indiana, with his wife, Allison, and their two dogs, Loki and Willow.

Peter Luttrull is an Indianapolis based saxophonist, educator, and arranger with diverse musical and educational experience.  

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Peter received his Bachelor’s degree in Classical Saxophone Performance from Indiana Wesleyan University.  He furthered his education earning his Masters degree in Jazz Studies from the world-renown Jazz program at Michigan State University.  Peter studied with, and was mentored by: Diego Rivera, Rodney Whitaker, Etienne Charles, Randy Gillespie, Randy Napoleon, and Xavier Davis.

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While at Michigan State, Peter performed with Christian McBride, Peter Bernstein, Brian Lynch, Kenny Barron, and Louis Hayes.  Peter has performed throughout the United States and can currently be seen playing in the Indianapolis area.   

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In 2016, Peter began his role as Assistant Jazz Band Director at Noblesville under Bethany Robinson.  He helped lead NHS Jazz to be two time Essentially Ellington finalist, ISSMA honor band, Purdue Jazz Festival Honor band, and other accolades.  

Peter lives in Fishers with his wife Lindsay and their children Eleanor, Louie, and Oscar.

Lennon is a graduate of Lawrence Central High School, where he was a percussionist, and a graduate of Indiana University. He has taught and directed both competitive percussion ensembles and marching bands, mostly in Indiana, but across the United States, for the past seven or eight years and has won four championships at three separate high schools in Indiana during this time.

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Typically, he would trade his time and efforts across multiple schools during a single season or semester, whereas, at NHS, it’s his first time giving almost all of his effort and time to one school. “Due to this, I feel a special connection with the Noblesville students and each and every accomplishment….”

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Throughout the school year, Noblesville percussionists end up being a part of many balanced ensembles where percussion is just a cog in the machine, such as marching bands, jazz bands, pep bands, concert bands and more,

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One of Lennon’s grandfathers was a lifelong percussionist and the other was a lifelong leader and coach at the University of Notre Dame. “Along with my father and my older brother, and a couple other phenomenal directors, I know I am blessed and fortunate to have their presence be a part of me as I journey through teaching and creating relationships,” he said.

NHS director of bands Eric Thornbury said Lennon “is knowledgeable and has an outstanding and unique approach to teaching percussion. He is a director immersed in the activity, both musically and visually. He is able to communicate to students in a way that teaches students and inspires them to want to achieve more,” Thornbury said.

Jeff Welsh began his career in pageantry after playing saxophone in the marching band from middle through high school.  He then became a marching member of the University of Florida’s color guard rifle line.   While serving as drum major of the UF Gator Band he marched with the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps Color Guard and wrote drill for the UF Band and South Fork HS in Florida.  After graduation he became the color guard director and designer for the Florida Visual Ensemble and XPOZ-A winter guard.  Since that time, he has written marching band drill and directed/designed for many programs across the state of Florida.  Mr. Welsh took the Sebastian River High School Color Guard program from a local unit to a WGI Finalist in Scholastic A!  

 

Jeff has designed for all three WGI Scholastic classes and the Independent A and Open classes, with his units reaching the WGI finals 23 times.  Jeff has also served in various judging roles. He took a few years off to enjoy watching his children Jarrod and Carli march in their own units.

 

He is currently proud to serve as Color Guard Director here at Noblesville High School (returning to his Midwest roots).  He has elevated the Winter Guard from a local SRA team to a 2021 WGI Scholastic Open national virtual finalist group!