Who We Are

Craig S. McKenzie is the conductor of the San Francisco Brass Band, a newly formed competitive ensemble in the California Bay Area steeped in the British Brass Band tradition. He is also the Assistant Director of Bands / Director of Athletic Bands at San José State University. His responsibilities at SJSU include directing the Symphonic Band, Spartan Marching Band, and Spartan Basketball Band, teaching Music Education classes, and supervising student teachers.

Dr. McKenzie received his D.M.A. from the University of Miami, Frost School of Music where he studied instrumental conducting with Robert M. Carnochan. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a Master of Arts with an emphasis in instrumental conducting from San José State University.

With twenty years of middle school, high school, and college teaching experience, Dr. McKenzie is also the 2019 Grand Champion of the International Conducting Competition hosted by the National Association of Brass Band Conductors in Eccles, England. He is a long-standing member of the California Music Educators Association, the California Band Directors Association, the National Association for Music Education, and the College Music Society.

He enjoys returning to the San Bernardino mountains of California each summer to visit Arrowbear Music Camp where he has directed the Intermediate Session Band every year since 2002. He credits Arrowbear Music Camp with an influential portion of his musical education and attended as a camper in his childhood.

Dr. McKenzie believes that music and the arts are an integral part of a well-rounded education and that training the next generation of music teachers is of paramount importance.