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2008 Artist Faculty Click a name to view an artist's bio Adam Baron Jeffrey Beecher Gerald Clayton John Clayton Shawn Conley Mark Dresser John Gallagher John Kolivas Harold Robinson Sprocket Royer George Rubino George Wellington Jr. Kenneth Wild Randy Wong Adam Baron 
Kansas City native Adam Baron studied music at the University of Missouri School of Fine Arts and the Berklee School of Music in Boston, and holds a degree in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Washington. His teachers include Jeff Hamilton, Joe Hunt and Todd Strait. During his twenty year career in music, Adam Baron has enjoyed performing with a wide variety of artists such as the Honolulu Jazz Quartet, Tennyson Stephens Trio, Don Ho, Shelly Berg, Matt Catingub and the Honolulu Symphony Pops, Gabe Baltazar, Hiroshi Hata, Bruce Hamada trio, Jimmy Borges, Herb Ota Sr., Azure McCall, and Carlinhos de Oliveira. Among musicians Adam lists as important influences on his drumming are Jeff Hamilton, Ray Brown, Ahmad Jamal, Gilberto Gil, Teo Lima and Olodum. Mr. Baron can be heard on his recently released solo cd, ‘Pangaea’ under the artist name von Baron.
Jeffrey Beecher  Jeffrey Beecher began his musical education in New York where he attended the Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School. He completed his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music with Harold Robinson and Edgar Meyer. He has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. An active chamber musician, Mr. Beecher has enjoyed performing at such venues as Bargemusic, Weill Recital hall, Zankel Hall, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the 92nd Y, and Merkin Hall. He has also enjoyed several summers at the Marlboro Music Festival and will be touring with musicians from Marlboro next year.Mr. Beecher is a regular member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, with which he has traveled to many major musical centers in the United States and Europe, as well as locations in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, India, Egypt, Iran, Syria and a number of the Central Asian Republics. Along with other members of the Silk Road Ensemble, he has participated as a mentor in Weill Institute Professional Training Workshops at Carnegie Hall and conducted masterclasses at Harvard University, the Rhode Island School of Design, Northwestern University, and the University of California Santa Barbara. Mr. Beecher recently composed and produced music for the popular PBS television show entitled "Travels to the Edge with Art Wolfe." He currently lives in Toronto where he is the Principal Bass of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Professor of Double Bass at the Royal Conservatory of Music and the University of Toronto. Jeffrey Beecher plays on an instrument made by Giovanni Battista Rogeri in 1690. Gerald Clayton 
Gerald Clayton was born May 11, 1984 in Utrecht, The Netherlands and moved to the United States at an early age. He graduated from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA) in 2002, and in 2006 earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies at the University of Southern California.Gerald grew up in a musical family and was exposed to a variety of musical styles from a very young age. He studied classical piano with Linda Buck and jazz piano and composition with Shelley Berg, Kenny Barron and Billy Childs. Gerald was the winner of the 2001 Music Center Spotlight Awards and received the 'Outstanding Soloist' Award during the Monterey High School Jazz Competition in 2001 and 2002. He was also selected for the Grammy High School Big Band, comprised of high school students from across the United States. Gerald was presented with the "level 1" award by the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts (NFAA) in January of 2002. That summer he was named Presidential Scholar in the Arts and was invited to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In addition, Gerald was awarded a Music for Youth Foundations scholarship and performed at Steinway Hall in New York City. Later in 2002 he received the Shelley Manne Award for emerging young artists from the Los Angeles Jazz Society. In 2006, Gerald was a winner in the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute Jazz Piano Competition. Now 23, Gerald has already performed extensively with outstanding musicians in a wide variety of venues. Notable engagements include the performance of a composition for piano and orchestra with the Henry Mancini Orchestra at Royce Hall (August 2002) and Disney Hall (May 2006). The piece, composed by his father, John Clayton, was commissioned by the Henry Mancini Institute. In Spring 2005, Gerald joined pianists Benny Green, Mulgrew Miller and Kenny Barron for a series of duo concerts in Europe. Later the same year, he performed with trumpeter Clark Terry in Switzerland. In 2006, Gerald performed at the Playboy Jazz Festival followed by a week at New York´s Village Vanguard with The Lewis Nash Quintet. Gerald has toured extensively with trumpeter Roy Hargrove since the summer of 2006. He currently lives in New York City, where he often performs with his own and other groups. Gerald can be heard on "Back in the Swing of Things" with The Clayton Brothers as well as on several tracks of Diana Krall's recording "From This Moment On." John Clayton  John Clayton’s serious study of the double bass began at age 16 when he became a protégé of the legendary bassist, Ray Brown. At age 19, John was the bassist for Henry Mancini’s television series “The Mancini Generation”. He later completed his formal studies at Indiana University, graduating in 1975 with a Bachelor of Music in Double Bass. Touring with Monty Alexander and the Count Basie Orchestra followed. He lived in Europe for more than five years, while serving as principal bass in the Amsterdam Philharmonic.
Mr. Clayton has written and arranged music for Diana Krall, DeeDee Bridgewater (including her Grammy award winning CD “Dear Ella”), Natalie Cole, Milt Jackson, Nancy Wilson, Quincy Jones, George Benson, Queen Latifah, Gladys Knight, Dr. John, Regina Carter and others. He has written commissioned works for many ensembles, including the Northwest Chamber Orchestra, the American Jazz Philharmonic, The Iceland Symphony, The Metropole Orchestra, The Carnegie Hall Big Band, The Richmond Symphony, the WDR Orchestra, and the Amsterdam Philharmonic. His stirring arrangement of “The Star-Spangled Banner” performed by Whitney Houston during the 1990 Super Bowl won him a platinum record. John’s numerous other awards include the Golden Feather Award and the Los Angeles Jazz Society’s composer/Arranger award. In 2007, John replaced Dr. Lynn Skinner as the Artistic Director for the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival. In November of the same year, the Festival received the Presidential Medal of Arts from President Bush. John has served as Artistic Director of the Port Townsend Jazz Festival since 2003. Before that, he was Artistic Director of Jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1999 through 2001. In addition, he has served as Musical Director of numerous jazz festivals including the Sarasota Jazz Festival and the Santa Fe Jazz Party. As Artistic Director of the Vail Jazz Workshop, he participates in choosing talented students from across the nation for an intensive week of learning jazz. Mr. Clayton, renowned for his work teaching and mentoring young musicians, is a long time member of the music faculty at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music and a past president of the International Society of Bassists. John co-leads The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with his brother, saxophonist, Jeff Clayton, and drummer, Jeff Hamilton. John and his brother also share leadership of the Clayton Brothers Quintet. Shawn Conley 
Shawn Conley studied with George Wellington, Sr. for the first five years of his life as a bass player. During that time he won a position in the Honolulu Symphony, and both the State and Southwest divisions of the MTNA solo string competition. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Music degree at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, under the tutelage of Paul Ellison. Shawn was awarded a Wagoner Fellowship to study a year in Paris, where he received both performance and teaching diplomas from François Rabbath. Upon returning from Europe, Mr. Conley returned to Rice University to work with Paul Ellison toward his Master of Music degree. In June 2007, he was a winner in the International Society of Bassists Scott LaFaro Jazz competition.Mark Dresser 
Mark Dresser (1952) is an internationally acclaimed bass player, improviser, composer, and interdisciplinary collaborator. A major focus has been extending the sonic and musical possibilities of the double bass through the use of unconventional amplification. A chapter on his extended techniques for contrabass, "A Personal Pedagogy," appears in the book, Arcana: Musicians on Music (ed. John Zorn, Granary Books, 2000). His playing is documented in over one hundred recordings, including nearly thirty CDs as a soloist, band-leader or co-leader.Mr. Dresser lived and worked in New York City for 18 years, during which time he recorded and performed with some of the strongest personalities in contemporary music and jazz, including nine years with Anthony Braxton. In 2001 he was nominated for a Grammy. He is currently Professor of Music at University of California, San Diego, and has also been a lecturer at Princeton University, and a faculty member at the New School University and Hampshire College. He serves on the board of directors of the International Society of Bassists and the advisory board of the International Society of Improvised Music. John Gallagher 
John Gallagher has been a member of the Honolulu Symphony bass section since 1997. A graduate of Manhattan School of Music, he was a member of the Orquestra Sinfonica de Puerto Rico, as well as principal bass of the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra and Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra. Before moving to Hawaii, he lived in Minneapolis, where he free-lanced and was a member of the Minnesota Opera.Mr. Gallagher is currently the Applied Music Instructor of double bass at the University of Hawaii. Previously, he taught bass at the University of Minnesota at Duluth and the University of Wisconsin at Superior. John Gallagher has been a participant and guest artist at the Hawaii Contrabass Festival since 2000, and in 2008 will also serve as the festival’s Faculty Liaison for the Outreach College of the University of Hawaii. John Kolivas 
John Kolivas, son of local piano instructor dolly Lott, is a 1979 graduate of Punahou School where he studied bass with Herb Ward and George Wellington, Sr. In the ‘70s, he performed in the jazz fusion group Wave with the Choy brothers, David and Delano, Jr. In 1979, John began his long association with Broadway musical director Donald Yap, performing in the orchestra pit at Diamond Head Theater. At age 19, John was named Musical Director of the Keola and Kapono Beamer show in Waikiki.In 1982 John relocated to New York City where he studied with jazz bassist Stafford James, and at the Juilliard School with Homer Mensch. He performed on Broadway in The Tap Dance Kid and Big River, and on tour with The Pirates of Penzance and The Gregory Hines Show. John joined the Honolulu Symphony bass section in 1998. In addition to performing with the orchestra, he can be heard playing with his own group, the Honolulu Jazz Quartet, and with the jazz fusion group, Nueva Vida, as well as Hawaiian music artists Keola Beamer, Kapono Beamer, Keali‘i Reichel and Na Leo Pilimehana. He has worked with many jazz artists of note, including Gabe Baltazar, John Clayton, Richie Cole, Herb Ellis, Robin Eubanks, Azure McCall, Flip Nunez, Jimmy Rowles, Bud Shank, Woody Shaw, Grady Tate and Trummy Young. In 2002, John took over the studio of his former teacher, George Wellington, Sr. at Punahou Music School. He resides in Honolulu with his wife Deanna and his two children, Kainalu and Kalei. Harold Robinson 
Internationally acclaimed artist Harold Hall Robinson joined The Philadelphia Orchestra as principal bass in September 1995. He previously served as principal bass with the National Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 1995, assistant principal bass of the Houston Symphony Orchestra (1977-1985) and principal bass of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra (1975-1977, then known as the Albuquerque Symphony). A native of Houston, Texas, Mr. Robinson studied at Northwestern University and the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. He was a prize winner at the 1982 Isle of Man Solo Competition and has performed concertos with The Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Symphony, Houston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra Soloists, the Houston Pops, the American Chamber Orchestra, and the Greenville South Carolina Orchestra. Mr. Robinson is currently on the double bass faculty of the Curtis Institute. He has made substantial contributions in double bass education through his previous ownership of the Bass Project, and continues to promote new compositions and publications through his new company, Bass-Is. He continues to receive extraordinary acclaim for recitals and master classes presented throughout the United States, Korea, Japan and Europe. Sprocket Royer 
Sprocket Royer has been performing on the bass for more than thirty years, playing classical, jazz, blues, country, klezmer, Balkan and middle eastern music. His playing can be heard on a number of recordings including ones with Tommy Tucker, Michael Moore, Andy Statman and Yale Strom.
Sprocket has worked at David Gage String Instruments for over twenty years. As a master luthier at the workshop in New York City, he has the opportunity to work on double basses and cellos from around the world. He has been overheard saying more than once that he learned his craft in part because of his love of the instruments, and in part out of self-defense! George Rubino 
George Rubino has been making violin, viola, cello, and double bass bows for over thirty years. He studied bow making with William Salchow and was Salchow’s teaching assistant at the University of New Hampshire Violin Institute for many years. Mr. Rubino was appointed as a master instructor at UNH in 1988 and continues to be on the teaching staff for the UNH program. He has given lectures and conducted workshops on bow making and bow playability throughout North America, Europe and Australia. George Rubino bows are used by many of the world’s finest players and are renowned for their exceptional playability and craftsmanship.Mr. Rubino studied double bass at The New England Conservatory of Music with Leslie "Tiny" Martin and William Rhein of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. For 22 years George Rubino taught double bass at Dartmouth College and he is presently on the faculty at Bates College. He continues to perform with the Portland Maine Symphony Orchestra and other freelance groups in Northern New England. George Wellington Jr. 
As an engineer in New York, George Wellington, Jr. regularly recorded many of the world’s most distinguished artists with groups such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The World Music Institute, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the Amsterdam Concertgebau and the New Jersey Chamber Music Society.In addition to his father, George Wellington, Sr., George blames Murray Grodner, Barry Green and Larry Angell for his knowing how to play the double bass. He has performed as a bassist with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Colorado Festival Orchestra, the Colorado Philharmonic, the Honolulu Symphony, the New Jersey Symphony, and the New York Philharmonic, and other orchestra and chamber formations. At present, George is sojourning in Japan, where his wife, soprano Dana Hanchard is teaching at the Senzoku Gakuen College of Music. Kenneth Wild 
Ken Wild was born in New York City NY in 1951. As a member of a military family he traveled extensively in early years. He learned clarinet in grade school and switched to saxophone in high school. The family settled in Hawaii in 1965. Ken began playing bass in a trio with his brother, Dave Wild around 1966.From 1970-1972, Ken attended the University of Hawaii , studying bass with Armand Russell, but left before graduating to go on the road with Seawind, of which he was a founding member. Seawind opened for Herbie Hancock, Herbie Mann, George Benson and many others. In 1976 the band moved to Los Angeles and began recording for CTI records with noted drummer Harvey Mason as producer. Later recordings were released on A&M records. Their last recording was produced by George Duke. Ken continued to gather professional experience with performers such as Sammy Davis Jr., Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Barbara McNair and others. He was a member of Natalie Cole's touring band from 2002 - 2004. After moving to Los Angeles in 1976, Mr. Wild became a very active studio musician, working in TV, film, and records. That active schedule continues today. Some of his recent projects include: Records: Gloria Estefan, Doug Cameron, Buddy Greco, Bruce Lofgren Orchestra, Dave Wild, Barbara Streisand, Alan Zavedoff, Sheena Easton (with Patrice Rushen), Harvey Mason, Seawind, David Benoit, Tierney Sutton, Richard Carpenter. Movies: Scream II and III, Snow Day, The Tigger Movie, Men in Black, South Park, 24 Days, Lion King, Scorpion King, Ice Age, Jarhead, Sideways, Cheaper by the Dozen II, Dreamgirls, My Life in Idlewild, Zathura Television: The Simpsons, Star Trek Voyager, King of the Hill, Futurama, Annie, Cinderella, Gepetto, Chicago Hope, Boston Legal, Related Live Performances: Member of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Dave Weckl, Brandon Fields, Freddie Hubbard, Diane Schurr, Patrice Rushen, Dianne Reeves, Terence Blanchard, James Moody, Gene Bertoncini, Herb Ellis, John Stowell, Tom Scott, Maureen McGovern, Bonnie Raitt, Patti Austin, Greg Hines, Hubert Laws, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Quincy Jones, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Carol Welsman, Doug Cameron, Larry Goldings Randy Wong 
A Honolulu native and classical double bassist by training, Randy Wong received the degree Bachelor of Music from New England Conservatory (studies with Todd Seeber, Cecil McBee, and Michael Cain), Master of Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (studies with Steve Seidel, Jessica Davis, and Howard Gardner), and conducted further study with Jeffrey Turner at Carnegie Mellon University. He is the bassist for Project Copernicus, a chamber orchestra based in Miami, FL and performs regularly throughout the New England region with The Orchestra of Indian Hill, the New Bedford Symphony, Nashua Symphony, and other freelance formations.Mr. Wong is bandleader, founder, composer and arranger for the acclaimed exotic Polynesian lounge band WAITIKI, and has appeared with them throughout the United States and Mexico. In 2007, his album “Charred Mammal Flesh: Exotic Music for BBQ” won a Hawaii Music Award for “Exotica Album of the Year”, and one of his original compositions was nominated for an Ontario Independent Music Award for “Best Song from the USA.” His arrangements of hapa-haole and exotica tunes (once made famous by Arthur Lyman, Alfred Apaka and Martin Denny) appear on both WAITIKI albums and “Paradise Lost & Found”, a compilation released in late 2007 by Flea Market Music. His composition “L’Ours Chinois,” a Fritz Kreisler-esque violin showpiece that draws influence from classic exotica of the late 1950s was commissioned by Chung Park for Project Copernicus, and received high praise for performances in Miami and West Palm Beach. Mr. Wong can also be heard on Abe Lagrimas Jr.’s Na Hoku Hanohano award-nominated jazz album “Dimensions”, released by Pass Out Records (of which Wong is co-founder), and in a diverse array of classical chamber music on the Mode and Naxos labels. As an arts educator and educational researcher, Randy Wong is Associate Editor of the Journal for Music-In-Education, published jointly by New England Conservatory and the Music-In-Education National Consortium. He is currently the Music-In-Education National Consortium’s Director of Guided Internship Programs and is program coordinator for NEC’s Center for Music-In-Education. |
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