About the Music
Performer Biographies
Audio/Video
Watershed
Many of Ted Allen’s compositions reflect his California upbringing in their invocation of California’s environment and social history. Ted’s California works include his choral pieces Mendocino Coast September 2020, Then I Took a Walk, and the repertoire for his electro-acoustic sextet, The Incendiary Cycle.
Ted’s music has been performed by San Francisco Choral Artists, San Francisco Bach Choir, San Francisco Girls Chorus, San Jose Choral Project, New Jersey All State Chorus, Galax Quartet, and the University of South Dakota Chamber Orchestra. His string metal composition, Fire in the Forge, is a best seller in the school music market, and dozens of school orchestras have uploaded their performances of the piece to YouTube. His work has been supported by ASCAP Grants to Young Composers, New York Foundation for the Arts, and IntermusicSF.
After completing his education at Pomona College and the Yale School of Music, Ted spent 10 years in New York City working as a composer, arranger, and copyist. He returned to California in 1991, where he wrote video game scores and contributed two orchestrations to the Metallica/San Francisco Symphony collaboration S&M. In 1999, Ted embarked on a second career teaching high school orchestra, jazz band, piano, guitar, and music technology.
Zack Pitt-Smith’s musical efforts began on a child’s drum set at the age of 6 and later on the saxophone at age 11. Zack studied at Eastman School of Music, Berklee College of Music and he holds a degree in Ethnomusicology from Brown University. He has toured in Europe, South Africa, the former Soviet Union, Nicaragua and Brazil. He has shared the stage with Jovino Santos, Harvey Wainapel, Marcos Silva, Gene Harris, Slide Hampton, Howard Johnson, James Williams, Henry Kaiser, and Denise Perrier. Currently, Zack performs in the San Francisco Bay Area most frequently with his Brazilian instrumental choro ensemble Grupo Falso Baiano. He is currently a music director at Edna Brewer Middle School in Oakland, CA.
Daniel Andrade began his musical pursuits at the age of 9 when a music teacher named Mr. Brahms came to teach at his elementary school (no…not that Brahms). Daniel began studying the trumpet and received additional private instruction from his father, professional trombonist, arranger and composer Ernest Andrade. After graduating from Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in music, Daniel began performing professionally with his jazz ensemble, East Bay Jazz Express. Daniel recently received his master’s degree in music education from California State University, East Bay and is currently a member of the Big O Jazz Orchestra. He is also co-director of the MUSE VIVO Orchestra and music director at Roosevelt Middle School in Oakland, CA.
Sean Michael Norris (tenor sax) is a Bay Area based saxophonist/reed player with roots in the East Bay He is a product of the OUSD music program and went on to study/perform music at the collegiate level under the tutelage and direction of Dave Eshelman, Timothy Smith, and Dann Zinn at California State University East Bay (formerly Hayward). He has performed in numerous groups, in numerous styles, and various venues, most recently opening for the likes of legendary world music groups such as Hiroshima and Third World.
Mara Fox is an established freelance trombonist and educator in the Bay Area. For more than 20 years she has amazed audiences all over the world, working in Jazz, R&B, Latin and Classical genres. Mara has recorded and toured internationally with Conjunto Cespedes, and with the Klezmorim. Locally, she plays with a wide variety of well-known groups including the 2013 Grammy Award Winning Pacific Mambo Orchestra (Best Latin Album-Tropical Island), the Montclair Women’s Big Band, The Purple Ones, Paula Harris and the Beasts of Blues. She has also played with the Berkeley Symphony, the San Francisco Sinfonietta, the Mike Vax Big Band and countless others.
As early as high school her potential was recognized as an All Star at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Mara then studied Trombone Performance at Northwestern University, but cites as good fortune to receive her most important education playing alongside many great Bay Area musicians over the last 25 years.
Isaac Schwartz is an accomplished musician and educator in the Bay Area. Though he grew up loving and learning the language of jazz he has applied his musicianship to many different styles and groups, including rock, hip hop, metal, funk, fusion, and much more. He has gotten to play notable venues throughout his career including the DNA Lounge, the Mezzanine, Piedmont Piano Company, The Jazzschool, Jupiter, and much more.