Staff Sergeant Dan Pierce grew up in Slingerlands, NY and Pepper Pike, OH and joined the Jazz Knights in Fall of 2006.  He earned a Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music and a Master of Music from DePaul University.  As a four-year member of the Eastman Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Fred Sturm and Bill Dobbins, he had the privilege to perform with guest artists including Maria Schneider, Bobby McFerrin, Vince Mendoza, Toots Thielmans, Tim Hagans, Bill Holman and Clare Fischer.  SSG Pierce has studied with Paul Ferguson, John Marcellus, Mark Kellogg, Mark Fisher and Charles Vernon.  His performing credits include the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Pops Series with Doc Severinsen, Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra, Dave Rivello Ensemble, Bob Perna and Persistance, and Cunard Cruise Lines.

Staff Sergeant Philip Stehly joined the West Point Band in the summer of 2005.  A native of Kansas City, he received a Bachelor of Music in trombone performance from Indiana University.  While at Indiana, he was the principal trombonist of the Wind Ensemble under the direction of Ray Cramer. Staff Sgt. Stehly has also performed with the IU New Music Ensemble, IU Symphony Orchestras and the Bloomington Camerata.  His principal teachers are Roger Oyster of the Kansas City Symphony, and Dee Stewart and Peter Ellefson of Indiana University.

Master Sergeant Matthew Wozniak, from Toledo, Ohio, has served as the bass trombonist of the West Point Band since November of 1997.  He attended the Eastman School of Music, earning a Bachelor of Music in music theory, a Master of Music in performance and literature and a Master of Arts in music theory pedagogy.  In 1999 and 2001, he was a featured performer at the Joe Alessi trombone seminars and twice finished runner-up in the Eastern Trombone Workshop’s International Solo Competition. Master SergeantWozniak has performed with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and the Eastman Wind Ensemble.