GUARD

Ashwin Mundra

Ashwin has been a part of the Apex Friendship Color Guard staff since 2019 and has been in color guard for 8 years. He marched with Millbrook High School in addition to independent groups, such as CVP in 2017, First Flight between 2018-2020, Madison Scouts in 2019, and most recently NCSU’s Power Sound of the South from 2018-2021 where he graduated in the spring of 2022. He is attending NCSU for graduate school in the fall and enjoys fishing, cooking, watching movies, and spending time with family in his free time. 

Madison Reese

Madison has been on staff with the Apex Friendship High School Color Guard as a tech and choreographer since 2019. Madison started performing when she was in middle school and quickly found passion in the performing arts. She spun with the Northwest Guilford Viking Marching Band and Varsity Winter Guard in Greensboro, NC from 2011-2015 and went on to perform with NC State’s marching band and winter guard from 2015-2019 while she attended Meredith College for undergrad. In addition to being on staff at AFHS, Madison works as a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor in Raleigh full time. When she’s not working or at rehearsal, she enjoys spending time with her husband and their dog, going to local coffee shops, and baking"

PERCUSSION

Stephen Downing

Dr. Stephen Downing is a North Carolina-based teacher, composer, and performer.

He earned his PhD in Music Composition and Master of Arts in Music from Duke University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance from the University of Tennessee-Martin. Currently, he is the percussion director at Apex Friendship High School, and serves as a percussion teacher at multiple other schools.

He also composes and arranges music for a variety of styles and settings, including marching band, indoor percussion, chamber ensembles, large ensembles, and solo works. His music has garnered recognition within the United States and internationally.