The Team
Who We Are
Mark Price
Director of Bands
Mark Price is currently the Director of Bands for McAlester Public Schools. Since 2018, he has led the Pride of McAlester Marching Band and High School Wind Ensemble, along with overseeing all aspects of the band program. Additionally, he teaches beginning trumpet at Parker Intermediate Center and 7th and 8th grade brass classes at Randy Hughes Middle School. This is currently his 18th year as a music educator.​
He began teaching at McAlester Public Schools in 2010, as Assistant Director of Bands for eight years, five of which he directed the Pride of McAlester Marching Band. He began his teaching career in 2007 as Director of Bands at Dewar Public Schools. Mr. Price graduated high school from Pottsboro, TX in 2002. He earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Southeastern Oklahoma State University in 2007 and Masters of Education degree from East Central University in 2009.
Mr. Price is currently serving as Past-President of the Oklahoma Bandmasters Association this year and previously was elected to serve as President, President-Elect, Vice President, and Parliamentarian. He maintains memberships in the National Association for Music Education, Oklahoma Music Educators Association, Oklahoma Bandmasters Association, and Oklahoma Education Association.
Mr. Price was awarded Band Director of the Year by the Southeastern Oklahoma Band Directors Association in 2017 and led the McAlester High School Band to the OSSAA State Sweepstakes Award in 2023 & 2025.
Mr. Price has been married to his wife Jamie for 18 years and they have two children, Casen and Kinsley and a miniature schnauzer named Ranger. Mr. Price is also the worship drummer at Life Church in McAlester and enjoys Texas Rangers baseball and spending time traveling to the mountains in Colorado with his family.
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Derek Johnson
Assistant Director of Bands
Derek Johnson was raised in Edmond, Oklahoma where he attended Santa Fe High School. Once he graduated, he went to Oklahoma State University to obtain his bachelor’s degree in Music Education. While he was there, he was teaching at Guthrie High School as a drumline instructor. He then went on to The University of Oklahoma to obtain his Master’s Degree in Percussion Performance. While there he taught at Guthrie still and went on to teach at Purcell, Washington, and Deer Creek. Once he graduated he became the Adjunct professor at East Central University. He has given masterclasses at universities like Southwest Oklahoma State and The University of Central Oklahoma. He also got to give a masterclass on marimba and snare drum at OKPAS last year. He is also a World Percussion Group Alum.
Tiffany Lopez
Assistant Director of Bands
Tiffany Lopez is an Assistant Director of Bands at McAlester Public Schools, where she began her teaching career in 2020. Currently, she serves as the 7th grade band director, the high school woodwind choir, flute choir, saxophone choir, and clarinet choir director. Additionally, she teaches the beginning flute, oboe, and bassoon students. She also teaches music theory at the High School. Mrs. Lopez graduated from Coweta Public Schools in 2016 and earned her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Oklahoma State University in 2020. She recently obtained her Master’s Degree in Education Administration, Curriculum, and Supervision from the University of Oklahoma. Mrs. Lopez spends her summers participating in McAlester Theatre and working the University of Arkansas’s Summer Music Camp. She has held membership in many professional organizations, including the National Association for Music Education, the Oklahoma Bandmasters Association, the Oklahoma Arts Institute, the Talk of Tulsa show choir, and the Oklahoma Music Educators Association. Since January 2024, she has served as the Southeastern Oklahoma All-District Honor Band 7th grade Chairman. Mrs. Lopez is an Alumni member of Kappa Kappa Psi and Sigma Alpha Iota. She is happily married to Francisco Lopez. Together, they are active members of the McAlester CrossFit community. Her hobbies include reading, taking vigorous naps, and spending time with friends and family. Each day, she finds a new reason to call McAlester home!
Jarrett Adams
Assistant Director of Bands
Jarrett Adams is an Assistant Director of Bands for McAlester Public Schools. He teaches 8th Grade Band, beginning clarinet, beginning bass clarinet, and beginning saxophone. He is also a director for the Basketball Athletic Band. He is completing his fifth year in education. Mr. Adams is a 2014 graduate of McAlester High School. In 2018, he finished his Associates in Arts and went on to further his love for music. Mr. Adams graduated from Oral Roberts University with a Bachelors in Instrumental Music in 2020. After graduating, he moved back to his hometown to continue pursuing his passion for music and education.
During his time as the 8th Grade Director, Mr. Adams, has led the band to earn a superior rating on stage and in sight reading, receiving the Outstanding Achievement Award presented by OSSAA for five consecutive years. This is the highest honor for a middle school band in the state of Oklahoma. He is a member of the National Association for Music Education, Oklahoma Bandmasters Association, and the Oklahoma Music Educators Association. In his free time, he serves on the board for McAlester Theatre. Some of his hobbies include singing, serving at Life Church, live theater, playing ultimate frisbee, and cooking.
Francisco Lopez
Assistant Director of Bands
Francisco Lopez is an Assistant Director of Bands for McAlester Public Schools. Mr. Lopez serves as the 6th Grade Band Director, director of the jazz ensemble ,and the director of the brass choir and brass sextets. Additionally, he teaches beginning low brass and an advanced band class at the high school. Mr. Lopez is from Houston, Texas where he graduated from Heights High School in 2013. He earned his Associates Degree in Music from Blinn College and a Bachelors of Instrumental Music Education degree from the Greenwood School of Music at Oklahoma State University. During his time at Oklahoma State University, Mr. Lopez was an active member of Kappa Kappa Psi and Phi Mu Alpha music fraternities. Prior to McAlester, Mr. Lopez was a Director of Bands at Ripley Public Schools and Savanna Public Schools. He has also held membership in many professional organizations including the National Association for Music Education, the Oklahoma Bandmasters Association, and the Oklahoma Music Educators Association. During the summer Mr. Lopez will tour and serve as the Brass Caption Head for Oklahoma’s only Drum and Bugle Corp, Zephyrus. He is happily married to Tiffany Lopez, who is also his favorite co-worker. His hobbies include basketball, ultimate frisbee, cooking, playing french horn and video games.
Angel Clark
Color Guard Director
Angel Clark is the Color Guard Director for McAlester Public Schools. Mrs. Clark was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, where she spent eleven years as a competitive figure skater. Mrs. Clark earned her Bachelor's degree from the University of Tulsa in 2013, as a double major in music and Arts Management with a minor in music business. In 2016, she earned her juris doctorate from Oklahoma City University School of Law and has been a practicing attorney in McAlester for the firm of Steidley & Neal, P.L.L.C. since 2017.​ Mrs. Clark started teaching color guard at Eufaula High School.
In 2019, she took over as the color guard director for Hilldale High School in Muskogee, where she led the color guard to earn numerous caption awards in marching band and started the school's winter guard program in 2021. The Guard spent their inaugural season undefeated, culminating in Hilldale becoming the 2021 Scholastic Regional B State Champions. Since that first year, the program added a Junior Varsity team, which spent one season in novice before being promoted to the Scholastic Regional B classification, ending their second season in the top​ 10. The Varsity team has maintained their position in the top 10 in the state over the years and finished their 2024 season following a promotion to Scholastic B in fifth place. In addition, they also finished fourth at their inaugural WGI appearance, just one point shy of making finals. During her time at the University of Tulsa, Mrs. Clark marched clarinet with the Sound of the Golden Hurricane and was an active member of the Sigma Alpha Iota music fraternity and Kappa Delta Sorority. She was also an active member of the Phi Alpha Delta international law fraternity. She has served as a member of the Color Guard Review committee for Winter Guard and Percussion of Oklahoma for two (2) years, she was also a member of the handbook committee. In 2023, Mrs. Clark was voted director of the year for Winter Guard and Percussion of Oklahoma, and she was recently elected as the vice-president of the circuit.
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aclark@mpsbuffs,org
