Member Bios

Trumpet Horn Trombone/Euphonium Tuba Openings

Trumpet

Jim Becker

Jim is a founding member of the Bay Colony Brass. He hails from St.Cloud, Minnesota where he studied trumpet with Dr. Albert Moore, at SCSU. In recent years he has performed in many ensembles in the greater Boston area including the Lakeside Bass Quintet, New England Brass Band, New England Philharmonic, and as a member of the trumpet section, has been a featured cornet soloist with the Metropolitan Wind Symphony. In addition, his other musical experiences include singing bass with the University of Wisconsin Choral Union, and Boston's Spectrum Singers. In his youth, Jim played bugle for eight seasons, ending his marching career on flugelhorn with the 1980 Madison Scouts hornline. Jim 's passion for brass instruments does not end there... For the past 27 years, Jim has been repairing brass instruments for professional musicians, and students alike. And, as senior technician for Osmun Music in Arlington, MA he has become the "go to guy" when players require expert repairs on their brass instruments, always making himself available when the need arises.

Scott Beckman

Bio coming soon...

Salvo Gaglio

Salvo Gaglio, was born in Sicily, and began his musical career at the age of 8, playing in the Wind Symphony in Montelepre Sicily. He received his degree in trumpet performance from the Conservatory of Palermo in 1987. After graduation, Salvo flew to France for a summer Master Class with the famous trumpeter, Pierre Thibeaud, and, upon his return, began performing throughout Sicily with the Palermo Opera and the Catania Opera and Symphony. With the Sicilian Jazz Orchestra, Salvo accompanied such jazz greats as Dizzie Gillespie, Gil Evans and many other Italian and American performers. It was with this same orchestra that he performed in the 1988 movie, “The Sicilian”. During his tour of duty with the Italian army, Salvo enjoyed playing with the Italian Army Band, performing all over Italy and Europe. In 1990, he performed the National Anthems of all the teams participating in the World Cup Soccer Tournament in Milan. Salvo came to the United States in 1993, and after a few summer classes, was invited to study with the legendary trumpeter, Armando Ghitalla. He auditioned, and was accepted into the Tanglewood Summer Institute for 1993, under the auspices of Boston University. Other teachers in the United States included Tim Morrison and Charles Schlueter. While studying and playing with the Beantown Swing Orchestra and the Metropolitan Wind Symphony, Salvo also continued to hone his culinary skills, garnered from experience in his family businesses. He presently plays with the Charles River Wind Ensemble and the Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra, and donates his services every Sunday to the music ministry at his parish community, St. Joseph’s in Medford.

Matt Baker

Matthew Baker grew up in Fresno, California where he started playing trumpet in elementary school. In high school, his main focus was jazz. He was part of award winning groups that played for the International Association for Jazz Educators (IAJE) in New York. Being able to have success as a young player instilled Matt's love for music. Matt moved to Los Angeles to study classical trumpet with Boyde Hood at the University of Southern California. During those years he freelanced and taught lessons around the Los Angeles area. Musical outreach as always been a passion of Matt's. He was part of two different chamber groups that played outreach for the Braille Institute (a school specializing in blind education) as well as many other schools in the area. Matt also was a part of the American Youth Symphony, a premier college level group in the Los Angeles that gives young adults more opportunities to play the premier orchestral repertoire. After 6 years in Los Angeles, Matt moved to the Boston area to experience something completely new. To find work he became an usher at Symphony Hall (home of the Boston Symphony) and took lessons from the trumpet players there. He then enrolled in New England Conservatory in 2010 where he is studying with Peter Chapman and Ben Wright. Matt is also a member of the Wenham Street Brass, with Bay Colony Brass colleagues, Justin Stanley and Heidi Aispuro.

Ken Laing

Ken Laing joined Bay colony in 2006. He studied trumpet at Humber College in Toronto before completing a degree in classical trumpet performance at McGill University in Montreal . As a free-lance trumpet player Ken has played in a wide variety of musical settings from Salsa Bands to Symphony Orchestras and everything in between. Originally from Burlington, Ontario, Canada he now resides in Newton with his wife Stephanie and is a stay-at-home Dad for his two kids, Daniel and Kayla.

Cheryl Przytula

Cheryl A. Przytula, a native of Imperial, CA, has been a member of the US Air Force Band of Liberty since August 2008. She began studying trumpet at the age of seven under the guidance of her parents, Alex and Peggy Przytula, Jr. In 1991, she earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Trumpet Performance from California State University Long Beach. Her former teachers include: Boyde Hood, Dr. Richard Birkemeier, Anthony Plog, Dave Evans, and Joan LaRue. Prior to joining the Air Force she played with the UNAM Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mexico City Philharmonic, Santa Barbara Symphony, Coahuila Chamber Orchestra, and in the Toy Soldier Band at Disneyland. Cheryl has been awarded Musician of the Quarter at the Airman level (Travis), Airman of the Quarter (Sembach) and has been a Trumpet soloist with the bands at Travis AFB, Sembach AB and Langley AFB. In her spare time, she enjoys participating in various sports, learning about ancient and medieval cultures, motorcycles, and spending time with her family, friends, and cats.

Kevin Tracy

Kevin Tracy hails from Southern California. Kevin studied with Charles Schlueter as an undergrad at the New England Conservatory and received his Graduate Diploma as a student of Boyde Hood at the University of Southern California. As an active freelancer in Los Angeles, Mr. Tracy has recorded several major motion picture, television, and radio spots, as well as performing with orchestras, opera companies and big bands up and down the West Coast. His trumpet brought him to Afghanistan and Iraq in 2007 on a USO tour. Priding himself in playing various styles of music, Kevin has recorded and performed with acts as diverse as Cypress Hill and Yo-Yo Ma.

Horn

Hadley Reynolds

Hadley Reynolds started playing horn in the Chicago area in the late 1950's. Fortunately, he had many opportunities to attend Chicago Symphony Orchestra concerts under Fritz Reiner, and to develop a lifelong appreciation for the exceptional sound being created by the CSO brass of the time, particularly Philip Farkas (horn), Adolph Herseth (trumpet), and Arnold Jacobs (tuba). In these years he played in the Evanston Symphony Orchestra under the CSO's Frank Miller, the North Side Symphony under the CSO's Milton Preves, the Youth Orchestra of Greater Chicago under Dr. Frank Powers, the North Shore Band of Wilmette under nationally renowned Northwestern University Band Director John Paynter, as well as winning state-wide awards for horn solo work with stage band, orchestra, as well as ensemble conducting. Hadley studied with Christopher Leuba, Principal Horn of the CSO, and K. Ethel Merker, the first nationally recognized woman symphony player and recording artist on the horn, and now designer of the Merker Model French Horns for Holton/LeBlanc. In the Philadelphia area, He studied with Ward Fern of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and performed solo concertos and conducted the joint orchestras of Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges. In the Boston area, Hadley has kept up his playing over the years with a number of groups, including the Newton Symphony, The Civic Symphony Orchestra of Boston, the Boston Summer Opera Theatre, Dover Foundation Community Theater, and a variety of classical and popular performing ensembles in the area. He currently plays in the horn cadre of Bay Colony Brass, Boston's leading independent large brass performing ensemble. Hadley also serves as a Trustee of the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston.

Diantha Millott

Diantha Millott, originally from Las Cruces, NM moved to the Boston area in 1998. As a member of the Air Force Band of Liberty (1998-2002), she began her study of physical fitness. She is now a personal trainer focusing on helping people with chronic disease and disabilities in the geriatric population. She continues to enjoy subbing in various ensembles in the greater Boston area.

Alec Zimmer

Alec Zimmer, horn, joined the Bay Colony Brass in 2005. Originally from Danville, PA, he began his private horn studies with C. Scott Smith at Susquehanna University and later studied with the late Rick Martin. While earning is BS in Engineering at Swarthmore College, he studied with Michael Johns, member of the Pennsylvania Ballet and Opera Company of Philadelphia horn sections. After a brief stint at Stanford University for graduate school, Alec moved to the Boston area. In addition to the Bay Colony Brass, Alec is assistant principal horn with the Newton Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Mercury Orchestra, Lowell House Opera, Civic Symphony of Boston, the Longwood Symphony Orchestra, the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra, the UMass Boston Chamber Orchestra, and the Charles River Wind Ensemble. Last year, he attended the Kendall Betts Horn Camp in Lyman, NH where his performance of Eugene Bozza’s “En Foret” earned him praise from the camp’s distinguished faculty. Alec is a registered professional engineer and works as a structural engineer for Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Consulting Engineers in Waltham. He lives in Watertown with his extraordinarily patient wife, Elisabeth.

Justin Stanley

Justin Stanley started playing the horn when he was 11 years old. He had early successes in music performance - such as winning first chair in the Texas All-State competition - before moving to New York in 2004 to study with Joseph Anderer at New York University. Justin gained a great deal of experience during his time in New York. He was a finalist for the wind-concerto competition and played with the NYU Wind Ensemble. Performing woodwind quintets at NYU led to his deep love of chamber music. In 2008, Justin moved to Boston to attend the New England Conservatory and study with Jean Rife. He performed with the school's Philharmonia Orchestra under Hugh Wolf, Benjamin Zander and others, but focused mainly on chamber music. His horn quartet was a finalist for the NEC Wind Concert Competition with its performance of Schumann's Konzertstück. Justin completed his Masters Degree in horn performance with academic honors and a Music-in-Education concentration in 2010. While at NEC, he taught privately, served as an intern in the public schools, and worked as a teaching assistant for NEC graduate classes. AFter NEC, Justin founded A Street Music LLC, an education program that involves lessons, community outreach, student/teacher concerts, and two summer camps. He also works regularly with the Center for Music-in-Education on research, curriculum development, and assessment for music integration programs around the country. Justin is hornist and director of Wenham Street Brass (which includes Bay Colony Brass members, Heidi Aispuro and Matt Baker). WSB has participated in numerous outreach programs and recitals in its first year. It has also helped commission music from notable composers (including Nathan Ball and an ongoing collaboration with Derek David). In addition to his performing with BCB and WSB, Justin freelances regularly around the Boston area.

Trombone/Euphonium

Ed Ackerman

Ed has played trombone, bass trombone—and, yes, even occasional euphonium when called for by some strange and/or British composer—in many of Boston's amateur orchestras, including the Brahms Society Orchestra, Brookline Symphony Orchestra, Longwood Symphony Orchestra, MIT Symphony Orchestra, MIT Summer Philharmonic Orchestra (in which he still participates every summer), New England Philharmonic, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Newton Symphony Orchestra, and Wellesley Symphony Orchestra. Ages ago he also played trombone for two years each in the MIT Brass Ensemble and the reggae band Pressure Cooker, both of which are somehow still thriving.

Heidi Aispuro

Heidi Aispuro grew up in Portland, Oregon listening to all sorts of music. Inspired by a flute playing older sister and an enthusiastic mother, Heidi started playing the tenor saxophone at the age of 12 in public school. At 15 she took up the bassoon and studied with one of Portland's top bassoonists, Ann Crandall. Heidi soon developed a love of classical and chamber music. She enrolled in a woodwind camp through Portland State University, and was coached her teacher and hornist Larry Johnson, with whom she would work in high school. Heidi's bassoon career spanned five years, culminating in a performance of Weber's Bassoon Concerto with the Oregon Sinfonetta conducted by Dr. Donald Appert in 2006. At the age of 16, Heidi took up euphonium. She started to play in Portland youth bands, where she met the Oregon Symphony (OSO) tubist and brass historian Dr. John K. Richards, who became her teacher. Within a year she won a state solo championship on the instrument in 2005, followed by a repeat victory and solo chair in the state honor band in 2006. In time, Heidi began to play the tuba and trombone; the latter became her main focus of study. At age 18, after playing only 6 months, Heidi became the principal trombonist in the prestigious Portland Youth Philharmonic, under Mei-Ann Chen. She performed Philip Sparke's Pantomime for Euphonium with the Philharmonic's wind ensemble in 2006. Heidi attended Mt. Hood Community College for two years, playing in their renowned big band in New York City and Taipei, Taiwan. She studied with Oregon Symphony trombonists Robert Taylor and Charles Reneau, as well as jazz freelancers Stan Bock and Henry Henniger. She performed with dance bands and musicals throughout the Portland area, and worked for chamber music and brass camps. Heidi moved to Boston in 2008 to further her studies at the New England Conservatory (NEC) with Norman Bolter and Ronald Barron. In addition to Bay Colony, she plays trombone in the New Philharmonia Orchestra and as well as the Wenham Street Brass with fellow BCB members, Justin Stanley and Matt Baker. A talented sketcher and sculptor who hopes to become a visual artist, Heidi creating visual media for the group, as well as arranges music.

Bill Griffin

Bill Griffin has been a trombonist of various styles in the Boston area for over 15 years. Classically, Bill has studied with the Empire Brass Quintet and with trombonist Lawrence Isaacson. Bill received an undergraduate minor in music performance at the University of New Hampshire, where he studied with Nicholas Orovich, principal trombonist for the Portland Symphony. Bill studied jazz techniques in high school and college and has studied and played with such jazz performers as Clarke Terry, Milt Hinton, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and Lew Tabackin. Bill also plays in rock horn bands, in which he doubles on baritone sax. Outside of Bay Colony Brass Bill also freelances in local jazz, classical and rock groups. Bill works in the financial services industry and holds an MBA from the University of Massachusetts.

Roger Hecht

Roger Hecht was a trombone student of Emory Remington, Edward Kleinhammer, Byron McCulloh, and Douglas Yeo. Before coming to Boston, he was a member of the Syracuse Symphony and the Lake George Opera orchestra. In New England, he has been a member of the New Bedford Symphony, the Cape Ann Symphony, and the New England Philharmonic and is now principal trombone with the Mercury Orchestra and Lowell House Opera. He performs as a freelance trombonist, and teaches trombone privately. Roger is a classical CD critic for American Record Guide, the oldest English language record reviewing magazine in the United States. He is also a contributor to Listener's Guide to Classical Recordings, a comprehensive guide to classical recordings (Backbeat Books, 2002). His specialties include English music, the early 20th Century post-Mahlerians, 20th Century French music, and neo-classical and neo-romantic Americans. (He wrote three major Overview articles on English music and one on Stravinsky for ARG.) Roger has contributed articles on music for Positive Feedback magazine and The Elgar Society Journal of the British Elgar Society. Roger's fiction includes two novels and several stories, including The Audition, a tale about a musician's experience auditioning for a major orchestra (published in Positive Feedback).

Richard Kesner

Dr. Richard M. Kesner serves Northeastern University as an Executive Professor of Management Information systems at Northeastern University. Over the past thirty years, Dr. Kesner has worked as an IT executive or consultant with many different business organizations with a focus on strategic planning, process reengineering, and project delivery. Dr. Kesner holds CLU and ChFC certifications from The American College, a M.A. and Ph.D. from Stanford University, and an A.B. from Oberlin College and a M.B. in musical performance (trombone) from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He remains active as an amateur musician, studying with Eric Spinelli, principal Euphonium for the U.S. Air Force Band, and performing as a soloist and with small and large ensembles on the trombone and euphonium in the greater Boston metropolitan area. He was the founder and former President of the Neponset Valley Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the founder and manager of the Beantown Brass Quintet.

Caroline Cole

Trombonist Caroline Cole comes from a background of diverse musical styles and spends much of her "free" time freelancing and playing trombone in the Boston area. She also has experience with alto and bass trombone, sackbut, and tuba. She has played with several orchestras and wind ensembles in Vermont, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, including The Granite State Symphony Orchestra, Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra, the Boston Conservatory Orchestra, and the "Massachusetts' Own" 215th Army Band. Caroline also appears in Norman Bolter's "Frequency Band" trombone ensemble and she can be found occasionally marching for hours in the North End with the Lawrence, MA Italian American Band. Her other areas of performance experience include brass quintets, brass ensembles, pit orchestras, jazz ensembles, and the occasional rock band. Caroline received a Bachelor of Arts in German and a Bachelor of Music with College Honors in Music from the University of Vermont and her Master of Music in Performance at The Boston Conservatory and has studied with Peter Bouchard, C. Robert Wigness, and John Faieta. When she's not playing trombone, Caroline stays busy working as an accountant, studying trapeze and dance, weightlifting, and making doilies.

Tuba

Michael Stephen

Michael Stephen is the principal tubist with the Indian Hill Symphony. He played a few concerts with us several years ago before leaving town for Pittsburgh and graduate school at Duquesne University. His previous degrees are from New England Conservatory and UMass Amherst. He was principal tuba with the Youngstown Symphony, and has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Pittsburgh Opera, Naples Philharmonic, West Virginian Symphony, New World Symphony, Boston Philharmonic, and others.

Steve Skov

Steve Skov was born and raised in Fargo, ND. After attending two colleges in separate states for a few years, he won a job with the United States Air Force Bands. He was stationed with the USAF Band of Liberty from 2001 until his separation in November 2009. While serving in the military, Steve performed in several different capacities including; the Tournament of Roses Parade (a grueling 7 mile gauntlet of cheering fans and tired marching feet), a featured soloist with the Concert Band, member of the Colonial Brass (some really cool and really NOT so cool gigs), guest bassist with the USAF Rock Band Afterburner (all really cool gigs!), participant in the funeral for President Gerald Ford, performer at the 2009 Inauguration of President Barak Obama (best gig in the Air Force), and a four month tour as a Third Country National Escort stationed in Kuwait at Ali Al Salem Air Base during the summer of 2005 (a completely non-musical role). After leaving the USAF, Skov has been busy finishing his Bachelor of Music degree at the New England Conservatory studying with Mike Roylance, Principal Tuba of the Boston Symphony. While attending NEC, Steve has performed on several occasions with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. This includes a televised performance of the national anthem at Game 5 of the 2010 NBA Finals with the Boston Pops. Steve has also performed with Symphony in C and the Camerata Virtuosi New Jersey. After graduating from NEC this December, Steve plans to move back to the Midwest in time to start a masters of music program at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. He'll be studying with Steve Campbell of the Minnesota Orchestra. He'll also be closer to his family in Fargo, ND where his father is having health issues and it will be easier to check up on them. Steve has been an member of BCB on and off since 2002.

Please inquire at info@baycolonybrass.org for more information about membership

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