Diane, founder & artistic director

Diane Downs is the founder of The Louisville Leopard Percussionists. She is from Louisville, KY and began playing music at home at a very early age. She participated in band throughout school and entered Morehead State University in Morehead, KY with a music scholarship. After taking a year off of college to teach music in Montego Bay, Jamaica, she returned to Morehead to pursue her degree in elementary education. Diane earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in elementary education from Morehead State University in Morehead, KY and a Rank 1 status from the University of Louisville in the areas of gifted education and jazz pedagogy.

Diane founded The Fabulous Leopard Percussionists in 1993, directed that group for ten years and then created The Louisville Leopard Percussionists, a non-profit, community based group. She also supports the “We Got The Beat” percussion ensemble in Fresno, CA and serves as a consultant to numerous elementary percussion ensemble programs around the United States. Diane was a teacher in the Jefferson County Public School System for 28 years. From 1989-2003 she taught 2nd & 3rd grade at ML King Elementary and from 2003-2018 she taught music at Norton Elementary. To learn more about Diane, click here: http://wfpl.org/five-things-teacher-diane-downs-on-music-confidence-and-mowing-the-lawn/

In recognition for her work, Diane received the 1996 WHAS TV/PNC Bank ExCel Award, the 2001 Governor’s Award for Excellence in Arts Education, the 2004 Louisville Arts Council Community Arts Award in Music, the 2005 Today’s Woman Magazine Most Admired Woman in Louisville in Education Award, the 2008 National Cable Leaders in Learning Award, the 2015 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Living the Vision Award, the 2018 John LaPorta Jazz Educator of the Year Award through The Jazz Education Network and Berklee College of Music, and the 2019 Percussive Arts Society Outstanding Supporter Award.  Diane is a member of The Percussive Arts Society, The Jazz Education Network, National Association for Music Education, and is active with Hit Like A Girl.

Outside of Leopards, Diane lives on her small family farm and enjoys spending time caring for her chickens, walking in the woods, and mowing grass.

Kent, executive director

Kent Klarer joined the Leopards teaching staff in 2016 and began serving as Executive Director in 2020.  Before LLP, Kent was Director of Bands for North Harrison Community Schools in Ramsey, IN.  He previously taught music at Floyds Knobs Elementary School and has taught classroom music for education majors at the University of Louisville.  In addition to teaching, Kent also composes and arranges the music for each LLP ensemble and manages in-house recording projects.  Before teaching, Kent played trombone in the Sarajevo Philharmonic.  He holds a degree in trombone performance from the Indiana University Jacob’s School of Music.

As Executive Director, Kent oversees the planning of concerts and fundraisers, including the annual BiG GiG.  He works with Diane and the board of directors on plans for the development of LLP programs and with the other teachers to make sure those plans are implemented successfully.  His focus when envisioning new projects is to make it as easy as possible for any interested kid to become a Leopard, and for LLP to be a just representation of the Louisville community. 

As a teacher, Kent’s methodology focuses on identifying each student’s strengths and tailoring the musical process to make every kid proud of the part they’re playing.  He believes everyone has the potential to make music regardless of their skill level.  He celebrates the beauty of imperfection and is a champion for making mistakes as part of the creative process. 

Outside of work, Kent enjoys sailing, running, and playing chess.  He lives in Louisville with his wife, daughter, and LLP colleague Dan Quayle. 

Carly, ensemble and program director

Carly Rodman is a Louisville native, born and raised. She has loved music since she could kick along to the beat while still in her mother’s belly. She was lucky enough to be born into The Fabulous Leopard Percussionist while her brother was a member.

She later joined The Louisville Leopard Percussionist when she entered the 2nd grade.  Once she graduated from the Leopards after 6th grade, she became one of the founding members of The Steel Leopard Percussionists group. She joined the teaching staff as a volunteer in middle school and officially became a director in 2014.

Carly is now the lead arranger and ensemble director for the Beginner Performing Group, introducing them to new percussion instruments and techniques, preparing them to continue on their Leopard journey. She is also an assistant arrange and ensemble director for the Advanced Performing Group and Steel Leopards steel drum group. 

Outside of Leopards, she works as political operative with The Outreach Team, working for equity and justice throughout the country. She also loves spending time with Ozzy her 20 year old kitty cat/gremlin, traveling, taking film photos, and performing with her bands The Ego Trippers and Honeymack.

Allison, ensemble director

Allison Cross is a multi-genre artist and musician.She is a Board-Certified Music Therapist, a business owner, a trombonist, a DJ, and a producer.She has played trombone since age 12 and graduated from University of Louisville’s music therapy program in 2010.She is the current owner of Restorative Sound, LLC which exists to address the physical, psychological, cognitive and social needs of individuals in Louisville.

Allison has had the pleasure of helping to launch and develop a few of the extra curricular music programs in Louisville including AMPED, Girls Rock (GRL), Restorative Sound, and is now working with the Middle School Ensemble in The Leopards.As of 2022, GRL has rebranded to Out Loud Louisville, of which Allison is the current Program Director.

Allison enjoys building friendships and playing opportunities with people from all walks of life. She’s Looking forward to building her knowledge with percussion and enjoying spending time with the Leopards crew!

Laura, ensemble director

Laura Barnhorst moved to Louisville in the fall of 2020, and is attending the University of Louisville as a Music Therapy student, with an emphasis in percussion.  Laura participated in the marching percussive arts for four years throughout high school, and now participates in the UofL percussion studio.  She has also participated in the UofL Community Band and the UofL Symphonic Band.

Laura began working with the Leopards in December of 2021 as a teacher in the Advanced and Beginner groups. She is excited to build leadership skills, and musical skills not only as an individual, but within a group. Laura is very excited for the future to come within the organization.

Outside of music, Laura loves to travel and spend time with her friends and Family. Laura is originally from a small town in Southeastern Indiana, and enjoys to visit her hometown as well.

Elijah, drum set specialist

Elijah Smith was born and raised in West Louisville.  Elijah began showing interest in music as an infant and picked up drum set by the age of four.  Because of his love and interest for music, he learned violin, piano, and classical guitar by the 8th grade. Throughout high school Elijah participated in concert band, marching band, and jazz band.

Currently, Elijah is attending Simmons College of Kentucky as a music performance major, with a concentration in percussion.  At Simmons, Elijah participated in marching band for three years, and is currently in concert and jazz band. 

Elijah is also a musician and an audio engineer in a few of the local churches in the city of Louisville, and also gives drum lessons.

Elijah joined the Leopards in February 2022 as a drum set specialist.  He plans on using this opportunity to grow and learn as a teacher, leader, and musician, and looks forward to being a part of the future of this program.

Outside of music Elijah enjoys sports, spending time with friends and family, and traveling. 

Demond, drum set specialist

Demond Smith began playing drum set as a four year old.  He has extensive experience in participating in and teaching high school and drum corps drum lines.  

By the time he was a preteen he was playing drums at his father’s church, eventually taking over as Director of Music where he played piano, organ, and taught vocal music.     

Demond attended Morehead State University on a music scholarship where he participated in marching band, percussion ensemble, concert & symphonic bands, and jazz band.  He was a member of the MSU Drum Line & Percussion Ensemble which placed 1st at the 1992 Percussive Arts Society International Convention Ensemble Competition.  Demond studied jazz theory at the University of Louisville and finished his degree back at Morehead State University in jazz performance.  Throughout his education Demond was very active as a performer and educator.

Since 1991, Demond has served as a percussion instructor, drum line instructor, and band camp instructor for numerous schools throughout Kentucky and Ohio.  He performed with Dutch Boy Drum & Bugle Corps and The Cadets of Bergen County and served as a percussion tech for the Cadets during their 2003 summer tour.  Demond was also a percussion adjudicator for high school drum lines from 1998-2012.

Since 1995 Demond has served as Director of Music at various churches and since 2004 has been the Director of Music for Little Flock Baptist Church in Louisville.  He is currently the Director of Percussion at Jeffersontown High School where he has been since 2010.

In his free time Demond enjoys hanging out with his daughter Jude (who is a Beginner Leopard), spending time in the kitchen making healthy food and green juice, and working out at the gym.  Demond is excited to be a part of such an extraordinary innovative group of musicians and to go on this percussive journey with his daughter, Jude!

Luke, ensemble director

Luke Anderson is a Louisville native, attending University of Louisville for a Bachelor’s degree in Music Therapy. Luke is finishing up an internship with Restorative Sound LLC, where they intend to continue working after passing the CBMT Board Certification Exam to become a licensed music therapist. They began their music journey at the age of 8 with piano and becoming a percussionist a few years after in 5th grade.

Luke recently joined the LLP team in August of 2022 and currently works with the Studio Leopards, Late Steel, and 2 & 3 Spotlight on the Blues group.

Outside of the Leopards, Luke is a lesson and percussion sectional teacher for different Jefferson County and Bullitt County schools.  They primarily tech at their high school alma mater, Louisville Male High School, with both concert and competitive groups.

Luke looks forward to working with the LLP as a teacher, arranging future pieces for the groups, and being a diverse resource to the Leopards’ crew.  Along with the Leopards, Luke loves exploring all things local in their community, checking out friends in their upcoming gigs, hiking, and having a coffee in their left hand with a keyboard mallet in their right!

Rafa, drum set specialist

Brazilian drummer, Rafael Freitas, started playing the drums at 12 years old.  He became a professional musician in Brazil at 17. Since then he’s spent over 10 years playing in various bands, working as a studio musician, and teaching music to people of all ages and experiences.

He moved to Kentucky in 2017 and started working with the Leopards in 2022. 

“My favorite part of teaching at the Leopards is to see the excitement when the kids learn something new and how much fun they have playing music.”

Mikayla, teaching volunteer

Mikayla is a teaching volunteer who assists with our Spotlight on the Blues group.  She first joined The Leopards as a member of our Beginner group when she was 7 years old.  She graduated to our Advanced group, our Steel Leopards, and is now a member of our Studio Leopard group.

Mikayla joined her elementary school band on clarinet and continued playing throughout middle school where she was awarded 1st chair.  She currently attends Jeffersontown High School where she participates in concert band, sitting 1st chair as a freshman.

Mikayla is also an award winning archer on her high school’s archery team.  While in middle school, she accompanied her team to a national archery competition and received a 4th place trophy.

Sam, teaching volunteer

Sam Fouts is a volunteer teacher who helps instruct our Spotlight on the Blues group. They joined The Leopards as a Leopards Lite member themselves when they were only 7 years old, they’re now 15!  They graduated to our Beginners group after a year, then graduated again to our Advanced group. Sam is now one of the oldest members of our Steel Leopards.

Sam joined their elementary school violin club in kindergarten, and later did choir all throughout middle school. This was thanks to them being drawn to performing music. They currently attend school at Atherton High School.

Outside of Leopards they are a part of many clubs at their school, including Chess club and Dungeons & Dragons club. Though, while they do enjoy spending time with their friends, they’re always happy to just spend time in their room listening to music or reading.

Tank, teaching volunteer

Shawn Stinson, AKA Tank, helps instruct our Beginner Leopard group, concentrating on drum parts as well as serving as a conductor.  Tank has participated in our Leopards Lite group, our Middle School Ensemble, our World Drumming Friday group, and is currently in our Advanced performing group.

Tank attended Lincoln Performing Arts Elementary School and is currently a 6th grader at Western Middle School for the Arts, where his major is band and his minor is choir.  Tank is also an active musician at his church, Second Baptist Church of Fairfield, where he plays drum set, organ, and piano in the church band.

Outside of music, Tank enjoys cooking, baking, and spending time with his family of 10.

Cash, teaching volunteer

Cash Brighton Doyle helps instruct our Beginner group, focusing on keyboard and drums.  Cash has been with Leopards since 2019 and is currently in the Advanced performing group.

Cash is in 5^th grade at Bates Elementary School in Fern Creek.  As a 2^nd grader, Cash performed a drum solo for his school pep rally.  Prior to Leopards, Cash participated in Rock 101 at School of Rock and currently studies Jazz Piano under Professor Todd Hildreth at Bellarmine University.

In addition to music, Cash loves basketball.  He plays in the J-Town recreational league and was thrilled to be chosen for his school team this year.  Go Bears!!  In his spare time, Cash enjoys spending time with his family, hanging out with friends, gaming, rooting for LaMelo Ball and the Hornets, and collecting NBA cards and jerseys.

Meg, specialist

Meg Samples Morrow hails from Mt. Sterling, KY and started working with the Leopards in November of 2008.  She graduated from the University of Louisville Jamey Aebersold Jazz Program in 2010 with a Bachelors of Arts in Jazz drum set.

Meg co-directed the Advanced and Beginner groups.  Her main focus with the program was arranging and drum set instruction.

She is currently based in Portland, OR where she is the on air host at KMHD Jazz Radio and is the executive director of the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble.  She still works with the Leopards at our summer camp and always stops by when she comes back home to visit.

Dani, specialist

Dani Markham began playing with The Fabulous Leopard Percussionists as an 8 year old, where she discovered her love for music. Today, Markham is one of the most daring and inventive percussionists working today, and is in high demand across the pop and contemporary music world, as well as the New York theatre scene. As a touring member of influential bands Tune Yards and Grammy-winner Childish Gambino (Donald Glover), Dani has played all around the world. Recent stage appearances include the 2018 Grammy Music Awards with Childish Gambino,  onstage drumming for Sonya Tayeh’s acclaimed ‘You’ll Still Call Me By My Name’, and as a featured guest on Saturday Night Live. Markham is a Latin Percussion and Musser endorsed artist, and is a graduate from the acclaimed Frost School of Music of The University of Miami.

Dani Markham is currently based in Nashville, TN and works with the Leopards when she returns to Louisville.

Mason, camp teacher

A native of Louisville, KY and a graduate of DuPont Manual/Youth Performing School, Mason F. Allen’s love for music manifested itself early in his life.  He is an accomplished percussionist, and a Louisville Leopard Percussionist alum.  He is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and is currently employed as an audio engineer/music producer by Atlantic Records in Los Angeles, California.  He also does work for Roc Nation.  His musical accomplishments include, RIAA Certified Platinum selling single for Roddy Ricch, Every Season (recording engineer); RIAA Certified Gold selling album for Roddy Ricch Feed Tha Streets 2 (recording engineer); and released his first EP in 2018 entitled Forrest EP Vol. 1: Floral Forrest.  Mason has been an instructor for the Leopards summer camp for 7 years and enjoys coaching young aspiring Leopards.  Mason says, “I enjoy giving back to the kids.  They inspire me!”.

Aaron, specialist

Aaron Klausing, a graduate of Oldham County High School (1999), completed his high school education with a variety of musical recognitions. While receiving his bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky in Music Education (2004), Aaron was involved in the University of Kentucky’s percussion ensemble, orchestra, symphonic band, marching band, pep band, and steel band. During the summer of 2000, he marched with the Southwind Drum and Bugle Corp and has played in the Americana Folk band, the Rainjunkies®, from Lexington, Kentucky. Aaron has also performed at the PASIC, KMEA, and with the Appalachian Brass Orchestra. In addition to his performances, he has arranged and composed music for various middle and high schools in Kentucky.

Aaron attended the University of Louisville’s school of music where he graduated with his master’s degree in music education in 2010. While attending UofL, Aaron served as the principal percussionist in the University Wind Ensemble.

Aaron joined the Leopards in January of 2008 as an assistant teacher and arranger, and also started The Steel Leopards in 2009 as lead teacher and arranger. Aaron currently teaches band in Owensboro, KY but still helps with the Leopards.

Dan Quayle, head of security

Dan Quayle has been volunteering as security officer with us since 2019.  He was one of 11 boys in his litter, 9 of whom went on to be working dogs.  DQ wasn’t exactly what the canine trainers were looking for but he’s perfect for us.  He always alerts us when someone enters our property, and is very eager to welcome kids to rehearsals.  He helps with morale, helps calm kids when they feel a bit frustrated, is always ready to play ball, eat snacks, and is our best bud.  If you watch our later videos, you can see him walking through our instruments, chewing on his bones, or taking a nap.

Board of Directors

• Jessica Murr, President
• Tricia Williams, Vice President
• Taylor Garver, Secretary
• Tamuna Loladze, Treasurer
• Laura Wheeler
• John Scruton
• Adam Loewy
• Kristin Wingfeld

Business Manager

• Caroline Taylor