Sunday, May 21, 2023 at 3:00 PM
”Music and Muses”
McAfee Performing Arts Center, Saratoga CA

Conductor and pedagogue Dr. Danielle Gaudry is a celebrated ensemble director, clinician, and adjudicator across North America. Her scholarly pursuits have resulted in publications on the topics of chamber wind ensemble repertoire as well as the history of early chamber wind ensembles. Throughout her career as a music educator and leader at all levels, Dr. Gaudry has consistently advocated for building community through inclusive practices and championed repertoire from underrepresented voices. She has presented sessions on various topics at distinguished international music conferences.

In 2023, Dr. Gaudry was appointed to the McGill University Schulich School of Music as Director of the Wind Orchestra and Associate Professor of Instrumental Conducting (Wind Orchestra and Community Engagement). Prior to her position at McGill, Dr. Gaudry was Associate Professor of Music at the California State University, East Bay, where she was Director of Bands and Coordinator of Instrumental Music from 2013-2023. Originally from Winnipeg, Dr. Gaudry taught high school instrumental music for seven years. She proudly served as a musician and conductor in the Canadian Armed Forces for fourteen years. Her military experience included appointments as Director of Music of The Regimental Band of The Royal Winnipeg Rifles and also as Conducting Instructor at the Canadian Forces Logistic Training Centre, Music Division, at CFB Borden. Retaining her military affiliations in the US, Captain Gaudry was the Associate Conductor with the 38th Infantry Division Band, Indiana National Guard for three years.

Dr. Gaudry earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Wind Conducting with a Cognate in Music Education from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music in Conducting from The Pennsylvania State University. She also holds a Graduate Diploma of Fine Arts (Wind Conducting) from the University of Calgary, a Bachelor of Education from the University of Toronto, and a Bachelor of Music with Honors in Music Education from McGill University. At home, Danielle and her husband, Jordan, a musicologist, maintain a fast-paced life with their two sets of energetic twin boys. When she has a moment to herself, she loves running and reading.

Sunday, February 26, 2023 at 3:00 PM
”Reflections on Love”
McAfee Performing Arts Center, Saratoga CA

Lila Vickerman is a 7th-grade student at Jackson Academy of Math and Music in Morgan Hill California. She currently plays the bass clarinet in the band program and participated in the 2022 Cazadero Band Camp. She has been playing clarinet since she was 11 and also plays piano and ukulele.

Lila has participated in many local theater productions, including The Little Mermaid Jr. and Beauty and the Beast. Currently, she is cast as Wendy Darling in the Theater Fun Production of Peter Pan Jr. She enjoys dancing, singing, drawing, painting, playing video games and doing crafts in her spare time. 

Lila would like to thank her whole family for always supporting her in all of her performances and she would especially like to thank her Dad for introducing her to and encouraging her with music.

Sunday, February 26, 2023 at 3:00 PM
”Reflections on Love”
McAfee Performing Arts Center, Saratoga CA

Dr. David Vickerman, 2015 winner of The American Prize in Conducting and 2023 winner of the Outstanding Music Educator Award for CMEA Bay Section, is an Associate Professor of Music and the Director of Bands at San José State University. Prior to his appointment at San José State University, he was the Director of Bands at The College of New Jersey (2012-2017) and the Johns Hopkins University Homewood Campus (2010-2012). In addition to his duties at SJSU, he has previously served as the Associate Conductor of Great Noise Ensemble, in Washington D.C. and he is a highly sought-after guest conductor, having conducted numerous honor bands across the country.

A fervent advocate for contemporary music, Dr. Vickerman has commissioned works by eminent composers and conducted numerous premieres. He has also arranged several pieces for winds including Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Wind Ensemble by Philip Glass (published through WiseMusic Classical), Ára Batur by the Icelandic rock band, Sigur Rós, Observer in the Magellanic Cloud by Mason Bates and Craigslistlieder by Gabriel Kahane. Dr. Vickerman also regularly presents at regional, national and international conferences on topics ranging from teaching social justice issues in band to embracing vulnerability in rehearsal and performance.

Dr. Vickerman graduated from the Peabody Institute with a DMA in Wind Conducting in 2014 and a Master’s Degree in Wind Conducting from the University of Oregon in 2010. Prior to his work at the University of Oregon, he taught high school in California for 6 years after receiving a Bachelor of Music Degree in Music Education and teaching credential from California State University Stanislaus in 2002.

Sunday, October 9, 2022 at 3:00 PM
”Changing Tides”
McAfee Performing Arts Center, Saratoga CA

Craig McKenzie is the Assistant Director of Bands / Director of Athletic Bands at San José State University in San José, California.

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 Music with an emphasis in conducting from San José State University. His conducting mentors also include Edward C. Harris, Alan McMurray, Diana Hollinger, and Thomas Verrier.

He is the Music Director and Arranger of the Wall of Song Project, an ongoing collaborative art project that acknowledges the legacy of athlete activism at SJSU through communal singing and music making. He is also the Music Director of the San Francisco Brass Band, the California Bay Area’s first competitive Brass Band ensemble.

With over 20 years of university, high school, and middle school teaching experience, Dr. McKenzie has previously held positions at Abraham Lincoln High School, a visual and performing arts school in San José, CA and Pioneer High School in Whittier, CA. At Lincoln High School he was honored with the Outstanding Teaching Award in 2012 and recognized as Teacher of the Year in 2013.

Dr. McKenzie is the 2019 Grand Champion of the International Conducting Competition hosted by the National Association of Brass Band Conductors (now the Brass Band Conductors’ Association) in Eccles, England.

He enjoys returning to the San Bernardino mountains of California whenever possible to visit Arrowbear Music Camp where he directed the Intermediate Session Band from 2002—2019. He credits Arrowbear Music Camp with an influential portion of his musical education and attended as a camper in his childhood.

When not on the podium, Craig resides in San José, CA with his wife Andrea, son Malcolm, and their dog Freya.

Sunday, December 4, 2022 at 3:00 PM
“Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Out of the Blue”
McAfee Performing Arts Center, Saratoga CA

Troy Davis is the Director of Instrumental Music and Jazz Studies at West Valley College in Saratoga and on adjunct faculty in the Music Education Department at Boston University. He is the Camp Director for Hayward-La Honda Music Camp, the Director Emeritus of the Oakland Municipal Band, and was the Interim Music Director of the San Francisco State University Wind Ensemble for the 2014–2015 academic year. He has served as a guest conductor for the San Francisco Wind Ensemble (now SF Wind Symphony), Cazadero Music Camp, the Peninsula Youth Orchestra, the Holy Names College Youth Concerto Festival, the Contra Costa County Honor Jazz Band, the North Tahoe County Honor Band, the Palo Alto Unified School District Honor Band, the Fremont Unified School District Honor Band, and Summer Music at Stanley, as well as on international tours to China, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, and Austria.

In addition to conducting, Dr. Davis is a freelance oboist and was a member of the Grammy-winning San Francisco Symphony Chorus, with whom he recorded three albums. He has performed with many great artists around the Bay Area including The Grateful Dead, The Drifters, Dmitri Matheny, Taylor Eigsti, Mic Gillette, Garth Brooks, Robin Williams, Pete Escovedo, Michael Tilson Thomas, the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, and the San Francisco Symphony. He is also an active adjudicator for California Music Educators Association (CMEA), Music in the Parks, and Forum Music Festivals and was selected as an inaugural mentor for the CMEA mentorship program for young and new music educators.

Dr. Davis was honored as the CMEA “Outstanding Music Educator of the Year” for 2017, as a "Distinguished Music Educator" by Yale University in 2011, received the “Outstanding Achievement Award in Music Education” from Boston University in 2020, and the coveted “Oak TREE Award” for exemplary service to West Valley College in 2020. He completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in music education from Boston University, Master of Arts in Teaching with a music education focus from Notre Dame de Namur University, and Bachelor of Music in oboe performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Upcoming publications include “Empathy and Deep Listening in Jazz Improvisation,” a book chapter in the Oxford Handbook of Care in Music Education and “Self-Assessment in Jazz Improvisation,” an article in the Psychology of Music journal.