Dr. German Gonzalez, Music Director and Conductor of the the Golden Gate Park Band.
Dr. German Gonzalez earned a D.M.A. from Arizona State University, Herberger School of Music where he studied music education, and conducting with Gary Hill. He received a B.A. in music from San Jose State and a Masters in Conducting from CSU, Sacramento where he studied with Robert Halseth. He is grateful for his other conducting mentors: Frederick Fennell, Jack Stamp, John Whitwell, and Alan McMurray.
He is a recently retired music educator and taught music at every school level, from elementary general music to middle and high school instrumental music programs to college and university positions. His final position was at Taylor Middle School in Millbrae.
Dr. Gonzalez also was the Music Director and Conductor for the SF Civic Symphony 2010-15, and due to his leadership, he was recognized as a “mover and shaker” in the SF community by LAMM, an organization of Latin American business people. He also directed a Jefferson Union HS District Adult Community Band where he was named the “Hometown Maestro” in the Pacifica Magazine. He served as the brass section coach for the Peninsula Youth Orchestra for 7 years.
German has served in music university positions at St. Cloud State University and at Oregon State University. In these two similar positions he taught conducting, music education, and directed the Symphonic Wind Ensemble. Dr. Gonzalez was one of the first University Conductors to stream concerts on the internet at both universities. During his time in Sacramento, CA he resurrected the concert band program at Cosumnes River College.
His musical adventures focused on community across the country: the SF Area, Sacramento, Tempe/Phoenix, St Cloud and Minneapolis, MN, Portland, Corvallis, Eugene, OR, and Vancouver, WA. With every community experience, Gonzalez has actively participated in community music groups either as a conductor or trumpet player. In Oregon, he was the Music Director and Conductor for the Eugene Symphonic Band, a select community band for 5 years. As a trumpeter, he played in community orchestras, bands, chamber groups, and music theater.
An extensive interview of Maestro Gonzalez from the San Francisco Senior Beat is linked here.
David Adams, our guest conductor for July 13, earned music degrees from Boston University and San Jose State, and received a Music Fellowship from Northwestern University. Now retired after teaching public schoolmusic for 39 years, he is very proud of the award winning bands, orchestras and jazz bands he directed at Cupertino Junior High, Palo Alto High School and Foothill College. He is the founding music director of the Foothill Symphonic Winds, a non-profit adult community band of 70 members. He is an active professional trumpet player in the Bay Area, having performed with American Musical Theatre, San Jose Symphony, Opera San Jose, Luciano Pavarotti, Natalie Cole, the Temptations, Johnny Mathis, Manhattan Transfer and many others. His arrangements for brass ensembles have been performed throughout the United States. He lives with his wife and son in Mountain View.
Craig Bryant, our guest conductor on July 27, has served as the Director of Instrumental Music at Albany High School in Albany, California, since 2007. He leads a vibrant and diverse music program that is widely recognized for its excellence throughout the Bay Area. The Albany High instrumental program includes approximately 200 students across two concert bands, two jazz ensembles, and a string orchestra. Under Mr. Bryant’s direction, these ensembles have consistently earned top ratings and awards at numerous band and orchestra festivals, including the Folsom, Reno, and Santa Cruz Jazz Festivals. The Albany High Jazz Band has also performed at the CMEA State Conference and was selected as a finalist for both the Monterey Jazz Festival’s “Next Generation Festival”, and Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington Festival. Most recently, the Albany High School Wind Ensemble received a Gold rating at the 2025 New York International Music Festival for their performance at Carnegie Hall.
Mr. Bryant currently serves as President of CMEA Bay Section. His previous service to the profession includes Secretary of the California Alliance for Jazz (CAJ), and Band Representative for CMEA Bay Section. He is an active adjudicator and clinician throughout the Bay Area, a frequent conductor at Cazadero Music Camp, and a past conductor of the California Junior High All-State Jazz Ensemble. His contributions to music education have been recognized with several honors, including the NBC Sports Bay Area All-Star Teacher Award in 2018 and the CMEA Outstanding Jazz Educator Award in 2019.
A native of Asheville, North Carolina, Mr. Bryant was inspired by his parents, who were his high school band and choir teachers. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Trombone Performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and a Master of Music Education from Boston University. In addition to teaching, he is an active freelance trombonist in the Bay Area, performing regularly with the Berkeley Symphony and East Bay Mudd (Classic R&B).