Directors

Director of Bands - Frasier Middle School 

Lupita Martinez is in her 8th year of teaching and is the assistant director at Frasier Middle School. Prior to teaching in Mesquite, Ms. Martinez taught in Nevada, TX for Community ISD teaching both middle and high school for 4 years. During her time there she led the non-varsity band at their first appearance at the UIL Concert and Sightreading evaluation in 2019. She then became the head director in 2022 and increased the number of all-region band students, retention of the overall band program, and achieved a Sweepstakes at UIL with the varsity ensemble.

Ms. Martinez received her Bachelors in Music Education at the University of North Texas. There she studied flute under Dr. Mary Karen Clardy and participated in many ensembles including the UNT Concert Band, the Green Brigade Marching Band, the UNT Flute Choir, and the UNT Mariachi Aguilas. She also served as Drum Major for the Guardians Drum and Bugle Corps in 2017 and on the administration team in 2018.

Ms. Martinez is a Mesquite native and attended Mesquite ISD PreK - 12th. She graduated from North Mesquite High School in 2014. It has been a dream of hers to teach at her home district. In her free time she loves spending time with her family and her dog Chico, playing on her Nintendo Switch, working out, and traveling with her fiance Victor. 

Dan Dudney serves as the Associate Band Director/Director of Percussion for the West Mesquite cluster. He oversees all percussion curricula and activities for the high school and its area middle schools. Mr. Dudney received his undergraduate degree in Music Education/Percussion from Abilene Christian University and holds a Masters of Music from Texas Tech University.

Prior to his time at West Mesquite, Mr. Dudney served as the Director of Percussion at Bellaire High School in Houston, Texas. In this role, he oversaw the percussion program, which consisted of the drumline, indoor percussion, and various percussion ensembles, as well as the jazz program, which consisted of a full jazz ensemble and several smaller combos. Under Mr. Dudney's direction, the Bellaire percussion studio enjoyed competitive success on many levels, earning several student placements in district/region honor bands, multiple First Divisions at region/state Solo & Ensemble Contest, and consistent top-3 rankings at Texas Color Guard Circuit (TCGC) indoor percussion events. He has worked with several percussion programs across the state, and, while student teaching at Abilene High School, he helped lead the percussion section to its 1st place caption award in Percussion Performance at the West Texas Tournament of Bands.

Mr. Dudney has also thrived in his own performance career, having earned a wide array of accolades/recognitions and serving several leadership roles for various ensembles. He holds the 1st place title of the 2012 Individual Solo Competition in the collegiate marching snare drum division at Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) with his original composition entitled, "…What?". Mr. Dudney has performed in regional, national, and global settings, and holds memberships in several professional organizations such as Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA), Texas Bandmasters Association (TBA), Percussive Arts Society (PAS), and Mu Phi Epsilon; he is also endorsed as a Vic Firth/Zildjian scholastic educator.

Go Wranglers!