Band Staff
Tyler Nettestad
Tyler Nettestad is a 2010 graduate of South Dakota State University where he earned his Bachelor of Music Education Degree. Before teaching at Brandon Valley, he spent seven years teaching in Lennox, SD. He is currently in his fourth year teaching high school band at Brandon Valley. He teaches three concert ensembles: Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and Concert Band. In addition, he directs the Marching Lynx, jazz band, jazz combo, and pep band.
Mr. Nettestad is an active trumpet performer in the region, regularly performing with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, Augustana University Orchestra, and the Sioux Falls Municipal Band. Mr. Nettestad is the recipient of the 2016 Dennis Hegg Outstanding Young Band Director Award. He holds membership with the South Dakota Bandmasters Association and the South Dakota Music Educators Association. In his free time, he enjoys running, completing projects around the house, and spending time with his wife, Carmen, and his two children, Ari and Isla.
Devon Melillo
Devon Melillo is an active music educator in the Brandon Valley School District and comes from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Devon graduated from South Dakota State University with his Bachelor of Music Education and minor in Spanish, where he led the SDSU Pride of Dakotas Marching Band Drumline, as well as served as principal percussionist in collegiate-level wind ensembles and intercollegiate bands. In Brandon Valley, Devon directs the middle school bands, high school percussion ensemble, serves as assistant director of the marching band and directs Brandon Valley Indoor, a PSW national semi-finalist competitive indoor drumline.
Devon has been a music instructor in Brandon Valley since 2015; before joining full-time, he student taught at Rosemount High School in Rosemount, MN, and then became the high school and 5th grade band director in Lennox, SD. He has served as the Artistic Director of the nonprofit parade drumline, SuFuDu, and marched bass drum in River City Rhythm Drum & Bugle Corps in 2015 and 2018. In his senior year of college, he was awarded the Schultz-Werth Research Grant Award based on his published paper The Impact of Percussion From John Cage, and he was named SDSU School of the Performing Arts Honoree. In 2022, Devon was nominated for Schmitt Music Educator of the Year, and he was selected as Minnesota Percussion Association's 2022 Instructor of the Year. Devon is a vibrant clinician for scholastic and independent marching programs in the Sioux Falls/Twin Cities area and was invited to present performance clinics at MPA’s 2020 & 2023 "Day of Percussion" event. He co-authored the method book, The Bass Book, alongside Calvin Lipetzky, to bolster the education & art of modern bass drumming. Most recently, Devon joined the Phantom Regiment Drum & Bugle Corps as bass technician. He is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. In his free time, Devon enjoys finding new recipes in the kitchen, finding new chess strategies and spending time with his fiancé and family.