Who We Are
Founded in 2019
The San Francisco Brass Band was founded in 2019 to represent the Bay Area, California and the West Coast in North American British Brass Band competition! We also exist to promote the works of underrepresented composers and performers!
Music Director
Dr. Craig S. McKenzie
Dr. 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.
Musicians
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Principal Cornet
Guy Clark
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Soprano Cornet
Eugene Boyle
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Solo Cornet
Mike Marmarou (asst. Principal)
Justin J. Smith
Tim Bacon -
Repiano Cornet
Laura Holtzman
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2nd Cornet
Laura Shea-Clark
Monika Ryser -
3rd Cornet
Susan Schadeck
David Reinke -
Tenor Horn
Tyler Morse
Peter Ryser
Fleurette Sevin -
Flugelhorn
Mike Pakaluk
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Euphonium
Jacob Guilbeau
Vanessa Sayres -
Baritone
Ken Nakamoto
Anu Jaakkola -
Trombone
John Monroe (* on leave)
Steve Renaker
Jackson Baker
Ken Rydeen
Mike Hartglass -
Eb Bass
Jocelyn Lin
Erin Bliss -
Percussion
Wendy Tran
Shota Otaguro
Andrew Kuykendall -
BBb Bass
Francis Upton IV
Elizabeth Cruz
Bin Love
Board of Directors
Jacob Guilbeau - President
Ioana Vera - Vice President
Gene Boyle - Treasurer
Laura Holtzman - Personnel Manager
Vanessa Sayres - Secretary
Craig S. McKenzie - Music Director