Teachers and Staff

Guitar :: Mandolin :: Violin :: Banjo :: Voice :: Piano and Keys
Bass :: Drums :: Sax and Clarinet :: Songwriting and Music Tech
Band Workshops :: Seminars :: Blue Bear Staff

Guitar

• Kent Brown was a professional actor, singer and guitarist in Atlanta and the Southeast for 11 years. He now performs originals and covers as a solo artist and with his band Suite Love Express. More...
  
  
• Randy Clark has been playing and teaching in the Bay Area since 1992 after completing a Jazz Studies degree at Ithaca College in New York. His band Crowsong has put out two CDs to great reviews, and continues to perform at local venues. Learn more at crowsong.com.
  
  
• Brian Gire has been teaching and playing music for over thirty years. Initially inspired by watching the late John Hartford on television, he has delevoped an eclectic approach that ranges from Bartok to hard rock to Doc Watson.
  
  
• Alexi Glickman has taught guitar lessons in the Bay Area since 1999. He has a B.A. in Music from UC Santa Cruz and has written songs and played in bands for most of his life, most recently with The Botticellis. He enjoys teaching rock, pop, and folk guitar as well as improvisation, songwriting, and musicianship skills.
  
  
• Chris Haugen is the founder, lead guitarist and songwriter for the critically acclaimed touring band Jambay. After music theory study at UC San Diego, he began touring full-time at age twenty-one. He specializes in American roots music and improvisation, and also teaches lap steel guitar. Chris played lap-steel on the musical score for Into the Wild, Sean Penn's award-winning film. More on chrishaugen.net
  
  
• Steve Kirk is a composer, arranger, guitarist, singer and sound designer. His work encompasses everything from multimedia to modern chamber music. He's played in and written for progressive rock, jazz, alternative, and swing bands. He is a long standing member of the Club Foot Orchestra and has composed music for video games, TV, film and radio. stevekirkpop.com
  
  
• Matthew Montfort is leader of world music group Ancient Future and author of Ancient Traditions - Future Possibilities, a training manual on the rhythms of Africa, Bali, and India. He holds an M.A. in World Music and a B.A. in Music Composition. ancient-future.com/matt.html. More...
  
  
• Johnny Nitro, bandleader, guitarist, singer and showman, is a regular in SF clubs. He's played with Charlie Musselwhite and written songs for Albert Collins. sfblues.net/JohnnyNitro.html
  
  
• Mike Powell has taught guitar and bass in the Bay Area for nearly 10 years. With a B.M. from Berklee College of Music, he's performed and recorded with Meat Beat Manifesto, played with members of the Sun Ra Arkestra, worked on remixes from Pete Townsend to the Butthole Surfers, and co-produced five of the popular Tino's Breaks series. His own project Bo Square is on the Tino Corp label.
  
  
• Janak Ramachandran teaches voice, guitar, bass, vocal styling, and acting principles for the stage musician. His acoustic, electric, and bass guitar instruction is designed to concretely guide your progress from one level to the next with an emphasis on playing songs today and a goal of making music forever. A graduate of SFSU's Music and Recording Industry Program, Janak regularly works on original material and is currently fronting the classic and hard rock cover band Bottoms Up! More...
  
  
• Mike Rao, a graduate of GIT, studied solo jazz guitar with Ted Green. He loves blues and classic rock and has more than a decade of teaching experience.
  
  
• Mark Schuh, a Blue Bear alum, has also studied music at the University of Wisconsin, City College of San Francisco, and the Berkeley Jazz School. He is the front man for his own original band, The Shim Sham Rebellion, and also plays in Kent Brown's Suite Love Express. When not busy recording, touring or teaching, Mark maintains a rigorous sleeping schedule.
  
  
• Bill Spooner, Bammy-Award-winning singer and guitarist, was founder and principal songwriter of the legendary Tubes and actively performs in the Bay Area's best dives and bars. His current group, The Folk-Ups, is a must-see.  More at billspooner.com.

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Mandolin

• Brian Gire has been teaching and playing music for more than thirty years. Initially inspired by watching the late John Hartford on television, he has delevoped an eclectic approach that ranges from Bartok to hard rock to Doc Watson.

• Chris Haugen is the founder, lead guitarist and songwriter for the critically acclaimed touring band Jambay. After music theory study at UC San Diego, he began touring full-time at age twenty-one. He specializes in American roots music and improvisation, and also teaches lap steel guitar. More on chrishaugen.net

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Violin

• Steve Gardner studied music at San Francisco State University and The Aaron Copeland School of Music in New York, and toured America and Europe with his band Culann's Hounds and Sony recording artist Danni Leigh. Steve has been a guest artist with Grammy award winners Blues Traveler and with The Popper Project, and he's been invited by the San Francisco Giants to play the National Anthem three times.

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Banjo

• Brian Gire (guitar and mandolin) teaches beginning banjo.

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Voice

• Vicki Burns is a jazz singer who holds a B.A. in Classical Performance from the Univ. of New Hampshire, and an M.A. in Improvised Music from San Jose State. Her teaching reflects a background in Classical technique combined with a working knowledge of jazz, blues, musical theater and pop. More info on vickiburns.com, myspace.com/vickiburnsjazz and allaboutjazz.com.
  
  
• Masha Campagne has extensive experience performing in a variety of styles including jazz, blues, Broadway, Brazilian and improvisation. She has studied vocals with Kitty Margolis, Jane Sharp and David Stroud, and is a certified Speech Level Singing instructor.
  
  
• Carmen Marie Coleman holds a Bachelor's Degree in Music from Howard University in Washington, D.C. An experienced choir director and educator, she has performed professionally as a gospel, R&B, jazz and blues artist at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Yoshi's and Herbst Theatre.
  
  
• Sharman Duran, vocalist and keyboardist, has been performing jazz standards, Top 40, Soul, Rock, Pop, and Latin jazz in bands since 1976. She also specializes in teaching music to pre-school children. sharmanduran.com
  
  
• Raz Kennedy's credits include vocal coaching for Adam Duritz and members of Counting Crows, Davey Havoc of AFI, members of Metallica, Rancid, Stroke 9, Narada Michael Walden and Los Tigres Del Norte. Recording/Performance credits include Bobby McFerrin, Todd Rundgren, Mickey Hart, Kenny Loggins and Al Jarreau, as well as radio, film and television projects.
  
  
• Janak Ramachandran teaches voice, guitar, bass, vocal styling, and acting principles for the stage musician. His acoustic, electric, and bass guitar instruction is designed to concretely guide your progress from one level to the next with an emphasis on playing songs today and a goal of making music forever. A graduate of SFSU's Music and Recording Industry Program, Janak regularly works on original material and is currently fronting the classic and hard rock cover band Bottoms Up! More...

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Piano and Keys

• Walter Alexander, an expat from the Big Apple, has extensive recording, gigging, touring and composing experience as a keyboardist. More...
  
  
• Caroline Dahl plays boogie-woogie, blues and rock piano in bands and solo at many Bay Area clubs where she is often underpaid. She is frequently seen wearing sequins. carolinedahl.com  

• Brent Goodbar teaches piano, guitar and concepts of jazz, rock and classical music theory. He holds a Master's Degree in Composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and received First Place in the Billboard Magazine Songwriting Contest. mrgoodbarmusic.com More...

• You might have heard Rich Leiter playing jazz piano tracks on recent CBS "Charlie Brown Specials" and the Met Life or Shell "Peanuts" commercials. He's also written and produced hundreds of TV and radio projects for Honda, Mattel, Disney and NPR, winning first prize in the ANDY, ADDY, CLIO, Silver Microphone and Belding competitions. Rich is a Contributing Editor at Keyboard Magazine and a staff songwriter for Warner affiliate About Records.

• Jerome Rossen holds a B.A. in Jazz Studies from the University of North Texas. He has performed and toured internationally with rock and jazz bands, and currently performs in the Bay Area with his jazz trio Oscar Fabulous. He has also written music for film, television and video games.  freshmademusic.com

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Bass

• Ben Bernstein has been active in the San Francisco music scene as a freelance bassist, teacher, producer and engineer since 2002. He toured with New Monsoon for two years throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and is now focused on solo work, music production, and freelance performance and session work. Ben plays locally and nationally with the Drew Emmitt Band, Culann's Hounds, The Smokedaddies, and his own Petting Zoo Band.  benbernsteinmusic.com
  
  
• Mark Calderon plays bass, drums, guitar, percussion and vocals. He's toured the country with the Dave Matthews Band and Leo Nocentelli of The Meters, and currently plays with Hyim and The Fat Foakland Orchestra, fusing hip-hop, Brazilian, Latin, and retro disco.  myspace.com/a1bassman  more...
  
  
• The following guitar instructors also teach bass: Kent Brown, Brian Gire, Steve Kirk,
  Mike Powell, Mark Schuh, Bill Spooner, Janak Ramachandran

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Drums

• Shaun McGonegal is a professional drummer with over 20 years teaching experience. Well-versed in all musical styles and all aspects of drum set performance, his training includes intensive work with Tony Williams. Shaun performs locally with the Funk Monsters. More...
  

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Sax and Clarinet

• Jim Peterson, local saxophone sideman, recorded and toured with Mumbo Gumbo for more than a decade. He now performs with Mitch Woods, Steve Lucky and others, both Stateside and on extensive European tours of duty.
  
  
• Nick Rous has played professionally since 1995. He's studied with Ben Miller, Mel Graves, Harvey Weinaple and Marylyn Thompson. After graduating with distinction from Sonoma State, Nick immersed himself in San Francisco's music scene, performing Jazz, Calypso, Salsa, Funk, Reggae and Hip-Hop with a variety of local bands.
  

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Songwriting and Music Technology

• Nick Chen plays guitar, bass and drums and is also active with electronica. An experienced band teacher and producer, Nick also heads Blue Bear's Studio 101 programs. More...
  
  
• Bonnie Hayes is a Bammy-award-winning singer, songwriter, keyboard player and recording artist. She and her band have headlined the premiere West Coast clubs and toured with Huey Lewis and The News; Bonnie has also toured with artists such as Billy Idol and Belinda Carlisle. Her songs have been recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Cher, Bette Midler and others. Her latest CD, Love in the Ruins, rocks! More...

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Band Workshops

• Berklee grad Sean Leahy has toured the States and Europe with Kofy Brown, Red Archibald, Marginal Prophets, Boomshanka, Four Year Bender, Guitarmageddon and London Street. An experienced guitar teacher, Sean will be releasing his first solo project in 2008.
  
  
• Steve Kirk (guitar), Johnny Nitro (guitar), Jim Peterson (sax), Mark Schuh (guitar)
  and Bill Spooner (guitar) also teach Band Workshops.
  

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Seminars

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Blue Bear Staff

Board of Trustees

• Mitchell Stevko (Chair)
• Steve Savage (President)
• Christina Kramlich Bowie
• Christopher Caen
• Randy Eckhardt
• David M. Given
• Larry Goldfarb
• David Gottesman
• Dominic Haigh
• Bonnie Hayes
• Peter Laufer
• Jeff Levenberg
• Brett May
• Julie Rene
• Merl Saunders, Jr.
• David Schwartz
• Bruce Taylor
• Marcus Yelton
• Steve Strauss, Emeritus

Directors

• Executive Director Kevin Marlatt came to Blue Bear in 2005 after many years of experience working with a number of respected Bay Area and East coast nonprofits including Oakland School for the Arts, Stanford Lively Arts, Jazz @ Lincoln Center, San Francisco Performances, San Francisco Opera and the New England Foundation for the Arts, where he served in various production and education roles. More recently, Kevin directed and developed the San Francisco Unified School District's Arts Education Master Plan. Raised in New York and Boulder, Colorado, Kevin is an avid drummer and percussionist who enjoys all types of music, but what he really loves to do is ROCK!
  
  
• Program Director Dennis Criteser has produced albums in folk, rock and jazz styles for a variety of Bay Area artists. He's cut eight albums of original music as Diesel Cats, ranging from the cinematic musico-documentary History Club Minutes to the faux-jazz hip-ocracy of In Search of Blue Treasure. More...
  
  
• Justin Flores is Offsite Program Director and special assistant to Kevin Marlatt. Rumor has it he's a dancer in bassist's clothing - catch him with his band Pedalsped - and he states emphatically that he still loves his mom.
  
  
• Barbara Murphy, Little Bears Program Director and instructor, has been singing since she was a young lass slowly making her way from one stage to the next. She studies and plays guitar and piano, and has spent the last ten years searching for words to match her melodies. She loves her mom as well.
  
  
• Financial Director Carol Snow, erstwhile songwriter and NEA recipient, has worked at Blue Bear since 1971. Snow's third book of poems, The Seventy Prepositions, is out from University of California Press; her newly completed project is called Placed: Karesansui Poems.
  
  
• Steve Savage, a Blue Bear founder, works as a producer and/or engineer for such artists as Robert Cray, the Gospel Hummingbirds, Bonnie Hayes, John Hammond and Mike Levy.

Staff

• Happy to be back in her native state of California, Jamie Freedman comes straight to Blue Bear from Austin, TX and a degree in Ethnomusicology.
  
  
• Sean Leahy pretends to be a friendly and helpful desk staff person, but his real role in this life is as Guitar God and former owner of one of the most pitiful cars on the planet.
  
  
• Self-proclaimed hipster Hawk West is back in the studio with The New Up recording a yet untitled EP, which is due out this summer.
  
  
• Tanya "tuff as nails" Wheeler is a constant at the Blue Bear desk, she enjoys shaking people down for money and long walks on the beach... When she isn't at the Bear she DJs every first Monday at the Casanova Lounge!

Volunteers

Blue Bear is very grateful for volunteer service in the following areas:

• Marketing Committee - Dominic Haigh, Mitch Stevko, Bruce Taylor
• Event Committee - Tamara Bock, Randy Eckhardt, Gina Fung, Bonnie Hayes,
  James Hetherington, Jeff Levenberg, Jennifer Michalski, Susan Olsen, Char Sachson,
  David Schwartz, Mitchell Stevko, Scott Wyckoff, Marcus Yelton

If you have talents or contacts, and passion to help in any of these areas, please contact us at 415.673.3600 or at bluebearmusic@earthlink.net.