The People
The band
natalie kowalski, flute
phoenix farris, flute
arturo garcia, saxophone, clarinet
james scott, saxophone
Rebecca Growcott, trombone
Rebecca Growcott (Fresno, CA) is a sophomore Music Education major with a focus on trombone. She likes to keep herself busy, and you can see her performing in the University Orchestra and Wind Ensemble, as well as the groups 209 Brass, and the UOP a cappella group Stocktones. She has a passion for all art forms, and her designs can be seen scattered around the conservatory throughout the year. Rebecca hopes to work to inspire kids in the future, showing them how multi-faceted music is as a hobby or profession.
matthew miramontes, trombone
jack chivers, trumpet
charlotte han, violin
Described by professors as a “future leader in the industry,” Charlotte Han has garnered a notable presence for her ability to manage within the arts. She has collaborated with musicians and arts administrators from around the globe, including Daniel Ho and Philip West, and earned the Concertmaster position of her college orchestra in 2021. Charlotte has served as Artist Department Intern for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and is currently working with the CEO of the Stockton Symphony. Currently, Charlotte is a student at the University of the Pacific pursuing violin performance and music management under the instruction of Dr. Ann Miller.
emma northcutt, violin
sam tse, viola
Violist Sam Tse is not only a performer, but also an aspiring therapist. Her interest in psychology and human development increased as she was finishing high school, leading her to pursue a major in Music Therapy, as well as a minor in Psychology. At University of the Pacific, she grew out of her shell, and was encouraged by her professor, Igor Veligan, to also study Music Performance. Sam is also the president of the Mu Eta Chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon, Head of Public Relations of Conservatory Student Senate, and the violist for A String Quartet.
hasina torres, violincello
Cellist Hasina Torres is often titled as being “nonstop” when describing her involvement with her community. Being not only a performer, but also an upcoming therapist, Hasina is at the University of the Pacific to pursue both under the direction of Vicky Wang. While she works toward her double major, she is also involved in the Mu Eta chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon, PacHeavy Ensemble, the cellist for A-string Quartet, a senator for student government, and a Powell Scholar.
wyatt cannon, piano
Described as a "new rules creator", composer Wyatt Cannon strives to merge existing musical frameworks with an exploratory compositional process. A native of San Jose, California, Cannon is working toward his B.M. in Composition at University of the Pacific under instruction from Andrew Conklin. Cannon is strongly influenced by the natural world and science. His Clade series of pieces focus on how natural processes can be used as inspiration to shape a composition. He has also received a variety of accolades and awards, most recently being selected for the Pacific Bands Composer Commissioning Award in 2021.
leonard cox, percussion
founding members
Laila Mameesh, flute
Scott Pastor, clarinet
Thomas Hubel, trumpet
Joshua Dunsford, trombone
Diego Bustamante, keyboards
Peter Altamura, electric bass
Fernando Lozano, percussion
Micah Vogel, violin
Sabrina Boggs, violin
Anne Plescia, viola
Laura Robb Martín, violoncello
Tristen Collinsworth, electronics/bassoon
Andrew Lu, conductor
Scott Pastor, clarinet
Thomas Hubel, trumpet
Joshua Dunsford, trombone
Diego Bustamante, keyboards
Peter Altamura, electric bass
Fernando Lozano, percussion
Micah Vogel, violin
Sabrina Boggs, violin
Anne Plescia, viola
Laura Robb Martín, violoncello
Tristen Collinsworth, electronics/bassoon
Andrew Lu, conductor
28/78 extended family
Jenna Diebert, vocals; Nico Peruzzi, conductor; Tyler Golding, percussion; Ryan Clark, drums; Zachary Zumstein, viola; Jonathan Ivy, violoncello; Yuki Nagase, bass; William Peralta, bass
previous band members
Carrie Asai, flute; Molly Westlake, clarinet; Mitchell Beck, saxophone/bassoon; Thomas Hubel, trumpet; Diego Bustamante, piano; Maya Balachandran, violin; Emily Criss, violin; Marissa Staffero, viola; Malcolm King, cello
Behind the scenes
Braydon Ross, Artistic director
Multi-faceted performer, leader and educator Braydon Ross navigates a wide range of musical settings and styles. A co-founder, artistic director, conductor and hornist, he leads and collaborates with his colleagues at University of the Pacific’s Conservatory of Music in ensembles that focus on contemporary, classical and symphonic metal music.
He is the Artistic Director and Conductor of the 28/78 New Music Ensemble, Pacific’s student-led contemporary classical music group, and has conducted several composition recitals. As the principal conductor for Pacific Heavy Ensemble, he leads a 30-piece orchestra and choir in adventurous performances of symphonic metal works. He also co-founded the 209 Brass Quintet, a group that has commissioned new works for brass quintet and performed throughout the Central Valley.
Braydon has played horn for the Zion Chamber Orchestra, Opera Modesto, and Orchestra Next. He has been featured on the horn in two consecutive Conservatory Honors Recitals at Pacific, and lectured at the 52nd annual International Horn Symposium on the topic of virtual ensemble production.
Also a passionate music educator, Braydon has a growing lesson studio for horn students and leads workshops at local public schools, including serving as a clinician through the Stockton Arts Grant.
He is the Artistic Director and Conductor of the 28/78 New Music Ensemble, Pacific’s student-led contemporary classical music group, and has conducted several composition recitals. As the principal conductor for Pacific Heavy Ensemble, he leads a 30-piece orchestra and choir in adventurous performances of symphonic metal works. He also co-founded the 209 Brass Quintet, a group that has commissioned new works for brass quintet and performed throughout the Central Valley.
Braydon has played horn for the Zion Chamber Orchestra, Opera Modesto, and Orchestra Next. He has been featured on the horn in two consecutive Conservatory Honors Recitals at Pacific, and lectured at the 52nd annual International Horn Symposium on the topic of virtual ensemble production.
Also a passionate music educator, Braydon has a growing lesson studio for horn students and leads workshops at local public schools, including serving as a clinician through the Stockton Arts Grant.
Andrew Conklin, FACULTY ADVISOR
Andrew Conklin is a composer, songwriter, singer, and multi-instrumentalist who makes music that engages with American vernacular idioms and contemporary classical practices. He has appeared as a composer or performer throughout the United States and Europe, and his music has garnered recognition from diverse voices spanning the worlds of popular and classical music.
Andrew's work has received critical acclaim in blogs such as Pitchfork and The Line of Best Fit, and has been supported by grants from organizations including the Trust for Mutual Understanding, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and Vox Novus. His first full-length album, If I Were More Like You, was praised in Filter Magazine as "one of the best collections of songs I've had the pleasure of being exposed to, ever." Andrew was a 2018 Fellow at the Millay Arts, where he worked on a large-scale composition project based on Northern California folk music from the late 1930s. Two pieces in this cycle, Field Reports and Song Collector, were released in 2019 and 2020 on New Focus Recordings and Bot Cave Records, respectively. Among Andrew’s current projects is Site: Yizkor, an ongoing collaboration with the multimedia artist Maya Ciarrocchi that was presented in part at the Bronx Museum of Art in 2020, and was premiered in full at the Sichów Educational Foundation and Roza Centre (Poland) in 2022.
A versatile musical collaborator, Andrew earned a 2017 Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Recording for his contributions to The Hazel and Alice Sessions (Spruce and Maple Music) as a core band member of Laurie Lewis & The Right Hands. Andrew’s guitar and bass playing can be heard on record labels such as Six Degrees, Spruce and Maple, Plug Research, City Slang, BAG Productions, and Arhoolie, and he has recently contributed as a guitarist to recordings by Ben Goldberg, Meklit Hadero, and Michael Rocketship. He has also toured extensively in the United States and Europe as a guitarist and bassist with indie rock bands (Chris Cohen), bluegrass groups (Laurie Lewis), and improvising combos (Timosaurus). As a composer, Andrew has enjoyed fruitful partnerships with musicians from some of today's most inquisitive new music ensembles, including the International Contemporary Ensemble, Yarn/Wire, Ensemble Mise-En, Spektral Quartet, Ensemble Connect, Tala Rasa Percussion, the Calidore String Quartet, and Earplay.
Andrew also spends time thinking and writing about music theory, composition, and the pedagogy of music theory and composition. He has published articles and presented papers on these topics in Music Theory Online,NewMusicBox, Pedagogy into Practice, and the Society of Composers National Conference.
Andrew previously held teaching positions at West Chester University of Pennsylvania and Stony Brook University before joining University of the Pacific in 2018, where he currently directs the composition and music theory program.
Here are some examples of Andrew’s recent scholarly and creative work:
2022 – Site: Yizkor Poland Tour (Sichów Educational Foundation; Róża Centre for International and Interdisciplinary Art and Cooperation)
2022 – Paper: “The Guided Tour as a Contextual Listening Assessment” (Pedagogy into Practice Conference).
2021 – Article: “Wanted: Orchestral Scores By Composers Not Named Beethoven” (NewMusicBox)
2021 – Premiere: I Am Not Prokofiev, for solo piano (Earplay, First Mondays Concert Series)
2020 – Album Release: Song Collector (Bot Cave Records)
2020 – Collaborative multimedia art exhibit: The Root (Telephone)
2020 – Guitarist: Ben Goldberg’s Symphony No. 9 (BAG Production Records)
2019 – Article: “Writing Wrong Notes: Chromatic Clashes in the Music of Tune-Yards” (Music Theory Online)
2019 – Premiere: Site Yizkor (work in progress) (Center for New Music, San Francisco)
2019 – Album Release: Field Reports (New Focus Recordings)
Andrew's work has received critical acclaim in blogs such as Pitchfork and The Line of Best Fit, and has been supported by grants from organizations including the Trust for Mutual Understanding, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and Vox Novus. His first full-length album, If I Were More Like You, was praised in Filter Magazine as "one of the best collections of songs I've had the pleasure of being exposed to, ever." Andrew was a 2018 Fellow at the Millay Arts, where he worked on a large-scale composition project based on Northern California folk music from the late 1930s. Two pieces in this cycle, Field Reports and Song Collector, were released in 2019 and 2020 on New Focus Recordings and Bot Cave Records, respectively. Among Andrew’s current projects is Site: Yizkor, an ongoing collaboration with the multimedia artist Maya Ciarrocchi that was presented in part at the Bronx Museum of Art in 2020, and was premiered in full at the Sichów Educational Foundation and Roza Centre (Poland) in 2022.
A versatile musical collaborator, Andrew earned a 2017 Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Recording for his contributions to The Hazel and Alice Sessions (Spruce and Maple Music) as a core band member of Laurie Lewis & The Right Hands. Andrew’s guitar and bass playing can be heard on record labels such as Six Degrees, Spruce and Maple, Plug Research, City Slang, BAG Productions, and Arhoolie, and he has recently contributed as a guitarist to recordings by Ben Goldberg, Meklit Hadero, and Michael Rocketship. He has also toured extensively in the United States and Europe as a guitarist and bassist with indie rock bands (Chris Cohen), bluegrass groups (Laurie Lewis), and improvising combos (Timosaurus). As a composer, Andrew has enjoyed fruitful partnerships with musicians from some of today's most inquisitive new music ensembles, including the International Contemporary Ensemble, Yarn/Wire, Ensemble Mise-En, Spektral Quartet, Ensemble Connect, Tala Rasa Percussion, the Calidore String Quartet, and Earplay.
Andrew also spends time thinking and writing about music theory, composition, and the pedagogy of music theory and composition. He has published articles and presented papers on these topics in Music Theory Online,NewMusicBox, Pedagogy into Practice, and the Society of Composers National Conference.
Andrew previously held teaching positions at West Chester University of Pennsylvania and Stony Brook University before joining University of the Pacific in 2018, where he currently directs the composition and music theory program.
Here are some examples of Andrew’s recent scholarly and creative work:
2022 – Site: Yizkor Poland Tour (Sichów Educational Foundation; Róża Centre for International and Interdisciplinary Art and Cooperation)
2022 – Paper: “The Guided Tour as a Contextual Listening Assessment” (Pedagogy into Practice Conference).
2021 – Article: “Wanted: Orchestral Scores By Composers Not Named Beethoven” (NewMusicBox)
2021 – Premiere: I Am Not Prokofiev, for solo piano (Earplay, First Mondays Concert Series)
2020 – Album Release: Song Collector (Bot Cave Records)
2020 – Collaborative multimedia art exhibit: The Root (Telephone)
2020 – Guitarist: Ben Goldberg’s Symphony No. 9 (BAG Production Records)
2019 – Article: “Writing Wrong Notes: Chromatic Clashes in the Music of Tune-Yards” (Music Theory Online)
2019 – Premiere: Site Yizkor (work in progress) (Center for New Music, San Francisco)
2019 – Album Release: Field Reports (New Focus Recordings)
Eric Dudley, Faculty Advisor
Born in Toronto and raised in Connecticut, Eric Dudley leads a multi-faceted career as a conductor, composer, vocalist and pianist deeply engaged in the performance and creation of contemporary music. Since its founding in 2009, Eric has been a member of the genre-defying vocal octet Roomful of Teeth, touring worldwide and recording a wide array of newly commissioned works with the Grammy Award-winning ensemble.
He moved to the Bay Area in 2016 to lead the orchestra program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for two years, and is now the newly-appointed Artistic Director for the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players.
In 2019, Eric returned to Australia as principal conductor for the Bendigo Festival of Exploratory Music, where he has appeared before on the Melbourne Festival, and leads Roomful of Teeth and Ensemble L'Instant Donné in a production with Peter Sellars at the Paris Festival d'Automne.
While living in New York, he conducted and performed with organizations as diverse as Ekmeles and Tenet vocal ensembles, the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Talea Ensemble, American Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Signal and the New York Philharmonic. He was an assistant conductor for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under Paavo Järvi and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra under Rossen Milanov for several seasons, and some of his recent guest engagements include the Ojai Festival in California, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) in New York and Finland, Adelaide Symphony, and the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. He served on the faculty of The New School and Mannes College of Music in New York, where he directed the Mannes Prep Philharmonic and The New School Chorus, and currently teaches conducting at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
As a pianist and chamber musician, he has performed with members of Novus New York and the Cincinnati and Princeton symphony orchestras, and his own music has been premiered and recorded by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Quey Percussion Duo, and by Roomful of Teeth.
Eric holds a bachelor's degree in composition from the Eastman School of Music, and both a master's and doctorate degree in orchestral conducting from Yale, where he was the recipient of the Dean's Prize. He lives in Walnut Creek with his wife Melanie and their son Ethan.
He moved to the Bay Area in 2016 to lead the orchestra program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for two years, and is now the newly-appointed Artistic Director for the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players.
In 2019, Eric returned to Australia as principal conductor for the Bendigo Festival of Exploratory Music, where he has appeared before on the Melbourne Festival, and leads Roomful of Teeth and Ensemble L'Instant Donné in a production with Peter Sellars at the Paris Festival d'Automne.
While living in New York, he conducted and performed with organizations as diverse as Ekmeles and Tenet vocal ensembles, the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Talea Ensemble, American Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Signal and the New York Philharmonic. He was an assistant conductor for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under Paavo Järvi and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra under Rossen Milanov for several seasons, and some of his recent guest engagements include the Ojai Festival in California, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) in New York and Finland, Adelaide Symphony, and the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. He served on the faculty of The New School and Mannes College of Music in New York, where he directed the Mannes Prep Philharmonic and The New School Chorus, and currently teaches conducting at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
As a pianist and chamber musician, he has performed with members of Novus New York and the Cincinnati and Princeton symphony orchestras, and his own music has been premiered and recorded by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Quey Percussion Duo, and by Roomful of Teeth.
Eric holds a bachelor's degree in composition from the Eastman School of Music, and both a master's and doctorate degree in orchestral conducting from Yale, where he was the recipient of the Dean's Prize. He lives in Walnut Creek with his wife Melanie and their son Ethan.
Peter Witte, dean of the conservatory
Peter Witte serves as dean of the Conservatory of Music and professor of music at the University of the Pacific, a position he began on July 1, 2017.
From 2008-2017, Mr. Witte served as dean of the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
During his tenure in Kansas City, UMKC's Conservatory raised $63M in pledges and gifts, increased the enrollment of students of color and international students by 45% over nine years, saw the number of degrees awarded rise 23% over the previous 8-year period, and launched its first professional degree in jazz, housed in a newly crafted jazz studies area.
By establishing and reenergizing partnerships with a broad range of artistic, educational, and civic organizations, Mr. Witte helped place students on stage at (le) poisson rouge in New York City, in rehearsal halls in Kansas City's K-12 schools, and in galleries at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. He helped to establish annual performances at the iconic Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts and the historic Folly Theater in Kansas City, and aided students and faculty in establishing international relationships in Japan and China.
Prior to his appointment in Missouri, Mr. Witte served as chair of the Department of Music at Kennesaw State University in metropolitan Atlanta for nine years. At KSU, Mr. Witte helped plan and open the Bailey Performance Center, hailed as "a beaut" by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and now home to annual residencies of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
An alumnus of University of Michigan, Witte serves on the boards of the PRISM Quartet, the California Symphony, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, and the National Association of Schools of Music.
From 2008-2017, Mr. Witte served as dean of the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
During his tenure in Kansas City, UMKC's Conservatory raised $63M in pledges and gifts, increased the enrollment of students of color and international students by 45% over nine years, saw the number of degrees awarded rise 23% over the previous 8-year period, and launched its first professional degree in jazz, housed in a newly crafted jazz studies area.
By establishing and reenergizing partnerships with a broad range of artistic, educational, and civic organizations, Mr. Witte helped place students on stage at (le) poisson rouge in New York City, in rehearsal halls in Kansas City's K-12 schools, and in galleries at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. He helped to establish annual performances at the iconic Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts and the historic Folly Theater in Kansas City, and aided students and faculty in establishing international relationships in Japan and China.
Prior to his appointment in Missouri, Mr. Witte served as chair of the Department of Music at Kennesaw State University in metropolitan Atlanta for nine years. At KSU, Mr. Witte helped plan and open the Bailey Performance Center, hailed as "a beaut" by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and now home to annual residencies of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
An alumnus of University of Michigan, Witte serves on the boards of the PRISM Quartet, the California Symphony, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, and the National Association of Schools of Music.
SPECIAL THANKS: Andrew Lu, James Gonzalez + Stage Crew, Jeff Crawford + Owen Hall Recording Studio, Dr. Nicolas Waldvogel, Dr. Yejee Choi, Dr. Eric Hammer, Dr. Vu Nguyen, Keith Hatschek, Igor Veligan, Eric Dudley, Zach Manzi, Briana Bacon, Ray Cleverly, Melissa Riley, Yvette Khan, Kim Girardi, Dr. Courtney Lehmann, Splinter Reeds Quintet.