Faculty Bios

Jon Palacio Jr.

Director of Jazz Studies

Over the past few years, Jon Palacio Jr. has emerged as one of newest writer/arranger’s in the Bay area. His writing style is best defined as the melding of strong rhythmic concepts with lush melodic content. Mr. Palacio is most readily recognized as one of the bay area’s authentic Latin big band writers. He incorporates powerful melodic and harmonic texture with the true spice of Latin rhythms to his charts. Whether it is the complexity of the music or it’s rich harmonic structure, Palacio’s compositions possess the passion and intensity that musicians enjoy playing. College and university jazz bands frequently perform his charts across the country; however, a growing number of professional groups have started recording and performing his songs as well. Not only is his published works known in the United States, Palacio’s music is spreading to countries like Peru, Argentina, Philippines, Chile, Brazil, and Italy to name a few.

Although he specializes in Latin charts for big bands, Palacio also composes for orchestra, symphonic bands, chamber ensembles and choral groups. He has written for commercials, musicals and other recording projects. He is in demand for writing commissioned works for high schools, colleges and private organizations and continually adds new works to his repertoire.

Mr. Palacio attended California State University--Hayward where he received a B.A. in composition under the tutelage of composer/trombonist Dave Eshelman and M.A. in composition under Dr. Jeffrey Miller. While at CSUH, Palacio matured into a talented jazz pianist and prolific writer, earning national awards for composition and performance. Jon Palacio has returned to Chabot College as the Director of Jazz Studies.

Email: jpalacio@chabotcollege.edu
Office: 1109 | Phone: 510-723-6831

Shauna Fallihee

Voice

  Shauna received her B.M. in Voice Performance (with distinction in performance) from the     New England Conservatory of Music as a scholarship student of Carole Haber.  She pursued graduate work in Musicology at the University of New Hampshire. Shauna holds an M.M. in Vocal Pedagogy from Holy Names University in Oakland and is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). Find out more about Shauna at http://www.shaunabethfallihee.com/

Email: sfallihee@laspositascollege.edu  

Richard Flores

Guitar, Guitar Ensemble, and Harmony & Musicianship

Richard Flores earned both his Bachelor of Music degree and his Masters degree from Cal State Hayward studying under Jim Bertram. Mr. Flores has been teaching at Chabot College since the fall of 1992.

 For the past several years Mr. Flores has performed in the Flores/ McGuinness Duo featuring soprano and guitar. They have premiered numerous works written for guitar, voice and various instrumental combinations. He has also performed with the Austin Chamber Ensemble, the Coro Hispano de San Francisco as well as numerous choirs in the Bay Area.

Click HERE to listen to Professor Flores.

Email: rflores@chabotcollege.edu

Caitlyn Smith Franklin

Horn

Caitlyn Smith Franklin , a native of the Chicago area, is an active Bay Area performer and teacher. She has been the principal horn of the Stockton Symphony since 2013. She is also principal horn of the Santa Cruz Symphony, utility horn with the Santa Rosa Symphony, second horn with the Monterey Symphony, third horn with Symphony San Jose, and fourth horn with Opera San Jose. Additionally, Caitlyn is a frequent substitute with the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Opera and Ballet and has performed on several domestic and international tours with the San Francisco Symphony. She has performed under some of the world’s best-known conductors, including Michael Tilson Thomas, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Herbert Blomstedt, and Simon Rattle. Aside from her orchestral work, Caitlyn works regularly as a studio musician, recording with up-and-coming singer-songwriters and in recording sessions at George Lucas’s Skywalker Ranch for Blizzard video games. Caitlyn has performed with megastars such as Andrea Bocelli, Adele, and Phish and was even the featured hornist on the 2014 Oscar-nominated animated short film The Dam Keeper.

In addition to her busy performing schedule, Caitlyn joined the music faculty at San Jose State University in 2017 and Chabot College in 2022, where she has been dedicated to helping her music students achieve their musical goals. Caitlyn Smith Franklin graduated summa cum laude in 2008 from the University of Miami where she earned bachelor’s degrees in music (horn performance) and biology. She subsequently earned her Master of Music degree in horn performance in 2011 and her Professional Studies Diploma in 2012, both from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music while studying under Robert Ward, principal horn of the San Francisco Symphony. During the summers, Caitlyn has also performed with the National Repertory Orchestra, the Music Academy of the West, the Aspen Music Festival and School, the Brevard Music Center, and the Monteux School and Music Festival.

Elizabeth Henderson

Oboe

Elizabeth is an active freelancer and educator in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has performed with the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Opera, the Phoenix Symphony, Symphony San Jose, West Bay Opera, Island City Opera, and Merced Symphony among others. Notable conductors she has performed under include Michael Tilson Thomas, Carl St. Clair, Carl Topilow, Tito Munoz, and Edwin Outwater. 

As a music educator, Elizabeth maintains a private studio of talented students from across the San Francisco Bay Area. She is on faculty as the oboe instructor at Chabot and Las Positas Community Colleges, coaches woodwind sectionals for middle and high schools across the Bay Area, and has served as an adjudicator for the Contra Costa County Honor Band. In addition to private lessons, Ms. Henderson also teaches reed-making masterclasses.

A native of Rochester, NY, Elizabeth received her Bachelor of Music from Ithaca College and Master of Music from Arizona State University. Her primary teachers include Martin Schuring, Eugene Izotov, Mingjia Liu, Laura Griffiths, and Paige Morgan.

Email: elizoboe@gmail.com

Victoria Lington

Piano

Dr. Victoria DiMaggio Lington holds a BM and MM in piano performance from the University of Houston, Moores School of Music, where she studied with Nancy Weems and received a DMA in piano performance and accompanying from the University of North Texas, where she studied with Pamela Mia Paul.

Dr. Lington performed her first public recital at the age of eight and was a soloist with the Mesa Symphony Orchestra at the age of fourteen. She has participated in many state, national, and international competitions, winning numerous awards and recognitions along the way. In demand as a collaborative artist, Dr. Lington regularly performs recitals in the Bay Area  with instrumentalists and vocalists, as well as with chamber groups. She has performed both solo and collaborative recitals in Eastern Europe and throughout the United States. She is currently on faculty as staff accompanist and lecturer at San Jose State University, and works with Opera San Jose as a rehearsal pianist.

Email: victoria.lington@sjsu.edu

Christian Manzana

Low Brass and Jazz Trombone

A San Francisco Bay-Area Native, Christian Manzana has been playing professionally for over a decade both as a freelance musician as well as a member of several ensembles.

Manzana received his BM in Music Performance with a concentration in Bass Trombone at San Jose State University under the tutelage of Thomas Hornig a premiere trombonist in the bay area. He later continued his Graduate work at San Jose State University receiving an M.A. in Jazz Studies under the tutelage of Scott Whittfield, a renowned jazz trombonist/vocalist. He has also been teaching locally in the San Francisco Bay Area for eight years working with Fremont Unified School District, Stanford Jazz Workshop, as well as private students ranging from classical music to jazz.

Along with teaching, Manzana is an active working musician playing in various groups throughout the San Francisco Bay Area ranging from classical music, salsa, jazz, funk, hip-hop, and r&b. He has performed with Aretha Franklin, Tower of Power, and has toured Europe with Jon Faddis. Manzana is also a member of a soul/funk/jazz band that plays video game music called the “Super Soul Bros.” which actively performs all around the country in major events/conventions such as “Comic-Con”, “E3”, and “PAX East”.

He has also performed in major Jazz Festivals such as, San Jose Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, and Jazz à Vienne.

PHOTO CREDIT: follow on instagram @bydoratsui (Dora Tsui) 

Email: cmanzana@chabotcollege.edu

Jesse Micek

Collaborative Pianist

Jesse Micek has been working as a piano accompanist in the Bay Area for over twenty years. An alum of the Chabot College music department, he received his B.A. in classical piano performance from Cal State East Bay. He is the principal accompanist for the Danville Girls Chorus and a past accompanist with the S.F. Girls Chorus. Mr. Micek works regularly as a pianist for National Assoc. of Teachers of Singing (NATS) festivals. Besides his work as a performer, he operates a piano teaching studio at his home in Castro Valley. He is a former President of the Southern Alameda County Branch of the Music Teachers Assoc. of CA (MTAC).

Email: jessemicek@yahoo.com

Victoria Hauk

Flute 

Flutist Victoria “Tori” Hauk loves exploring the beauty of music through collaboration with fellow Bay Area musicians and by sharing it with the next generation of musicians through coaching and teaching.

She is an avid chamber musician and can be seen performing with groups including: Avenue Winds, One Found Sound, Areon Flutes, and Nomad Session.

Orchestras she has worked with include: Marin Symphony, Vallejo Festival Orchestra, Napa Valley Festival, Midsummer Mozart Festival, Berkeley Symphony, California Symphony, Stockton Symphony, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, and New World Symphony.

She maintains an active private teaching studio and also teaches at San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Pre-College Division and California State University, East Bay.

She is the winner of the National Flute Association’s 2022 Convention Performers Competition, University of Arizona President’s Concerto Competition and Arizona Flute Society Competition and is an award winner of the Musical Merit Foundation of Greater San Diego, MTNA Southwest Regional Competition, San Diego Flute Guild Young Artist Competition and has received the Presser Foundation Award.

She received her professional studies diploma at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music studying with Tim Day, her master’s degree in music at Lynn Conservatory studying with Jeffrey Khaner and Renée Siebert, and her bachelor’s degree in music at the University of Arizona studying with Brian Luce.

Find out more about Victoria at https://www.victoriahauk.com/ 

Email: vhauk@chabotcollege.edu

Lenny Ott

Trumpet

Leonard Ott is professor of trumpet at Chabot College. He holds the B.A. from California State University-Hayward. His major teachers include David Burkhart, Marvin Nelson, Laurie McGaw, and Roy Poper. His is also currently teaching trumpet at California State University-Stanislaus, University of the Pacific, and in the past has taught at the University of California-Santa Cruz. Mr. Ott performs regularly with the Modesto Symphony, Oakland East Bay Symphony, Oakland Ballet Orchestra, Monterey Symphony, at the Carmel Bach Festival, Bear Valley Festival Orchestra, and occasionally with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. He is a member of the International Trumpet Guild, Chamber Music America, and the American Federation of Musicians, Local 6.

Email: lott@chabotcollege.edu

Richard Krishnan

Bassoon

Richard Krishnan is a multiple woodwind instrumentalist from the San Francisco Bay Area with a Masters in Multi ple Woodwind Performance from the University of Oregon and a BA in Music from San Jose State University. Currently Mr. Krishnan is teaching elementary and middle school in the east bay and is on faculty teaching private lessons at multiple colleges. He has also worked with several middle and high school band programs teaching all woodwinds, and sometimes high brass, in the areas of instrument conversions, sectionals, chamber music, and private lessons. 

As a performer, Mr. Krishnan can frequently be found in musical theatre pits covering any woodwind book and the occasional keyboard book or working as Music Director. He recently joined the national tour of How the Grinch Stole Christmas: The Musical as the reed 3 player. When not busy in the pit orchestras of musicals, he can be found playing clarinets and bassoons in symphony orchestras, saxophones in jazz bands (including San Jose’s 7th Street Big Band), or any number of instruments in the classic wind band setting. 

Find out more about Richard at https://www.richardskrishnan.com/  

Email: rkrishnan@chabotcollege.edu  

Ken Rawdon

Director of Choral Studies

Ken Rawdon received his BA and his MA degrees in piano performance at California State University, Fresno where he was the recipient of the Amparo Iturbi Piano Award. He is better known as the vocal music director at Mt. Eden High School in Hayward, California where he taught for 30 years. Over that time his choirs were recognized as some of the finest high school choirs in the state of California. They were often featured at both CMEA and ACDA conventions and conferences. Under his direction the Mt. Eden High School Concert Choir and the Mt. Eden High School Chamber Singers competed at the prestigious GOLDEN STATE CHORAL COMPETITION and frequently won 1st place, and placed within the top five choirs every year from 1997-2017. His choirs have performed 3 times in New York City at Carnegie Hall and at the Alice Tully Performance Hall at Lincoln Center.

While at Mt. Eden, Mr. Rawdon also ran a competitive show choir program that competed in show choir competitions throughout the state. He had a 58-member mixed show choir called “MONARCH MIRAGE” and an all-men’s show choir called “WHO’S YO DADDY?!”

Mr. Rawdon currently is currently one of the directors with The Crystal Children’s Choir of San Jose as well as the director of choral activities at Chabot College in Hayward.

Some awards that Mr. Rawdon has received include:
• Teacher of the year, Hayward Unified School District — 1996
• Educator of the year, Harvard Alumni Association — 1997
• Educator of the Year, Hayward Education Association — 2002
• Educator of the Year, Hayward Chamber of Commerce — 2004
• Arts Educator of the Year, Alameda County Arts Commission — 2008
• Choral Music Educator of the Year, California Music Educators Association, Bay Section — 2012
• John Pappas Humanitarian Award, City of Hayward — 2017

He recently served on the California state board of the American Choral Directors association as the Repertoire and Standards Chairperson in charge of Show Choirs throughout the state of California. Mr. Rawdon is in demand as a clinician, adjudicator, and guest conductor for high School Concert Choir festivals and competitions throughout the state of California.

Earlier in his life, from the late 1970’s to the mid-1980’s, Ken was tremendously involved in contemporary Christian Music and traveled throughout the world developing choral ensembles. From 1979-1980, he spent a year in India putting together a 60-voice ensemble that literally traveled throughout India performing in schools, churches, civic organizations, etc. In February of 1980, the choir he developed performed at the Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi presenting a concert in honor of the Prime Minister’s birthday. The next day, Ken and the entire choir were invited to have tea with Prime Minister Gandhi.

In 1981, Ken met Mother Teresa of Calcutta, an event which he feels changed his life. He continued working with Mother Teresa with a group of other American volunteers for the next two years. “We were up every morning at 4:00 AM and then throughout the day worked with the poor in whatever way we could. Sometimes we would collect leftovers at the new market, other days we would care for the sick (including lepers). My eyes were opened after that to the needs of people in our world.”

“Teaching, for me, was a calling upon my life. Not just an occupation. I believe each of us are put on this earth for a reason, and for me that reason was to teach and work with young people — especially teenagers. The earlier events I’ve mentioned were instrumental in preparing me for a career in teaching in Hayward years later, I believe.” On November 6, 2018, Ken was elected to the Hayward Unified School District Board of Education where he is currently serving a 4-year term.

Michael Rosen

Music Recording Technology

Michael Rosen is a producer, engineer, studio owner, and adjunct professor in the Bay Area. 

Michael got introduced to the recording industry in Los Angeles through a chance encounter with an engineer who worked at Capital Studios. The engineer brought Michael into the studio where he watched Booker T and the MG’s record; the vibe was electric, and Michael knew he found a home. 

Michael's first paying gig was at The Automatt in San Francisco. He went from errand boy to assistant to engineer. He then moved to Fantasy Studios in Berkeley where he struck out on his own. 

Michael’s credit list features dozens of punk, rock, metal and (yes) even a country and new age record. He’s worked with Rancid, AFI, Less than Jake, Lars Fredrickson and the Bastards, Journey, Tesla, Todd Rundgren, The Old Firm Casuals, Papa Roach, Greg Kihn, Testament, Vicious Rumors, Death Angel, Violence, and dozens more. Michael also engineered the Grammy award-winning song Game of Love for Carlos Santana. 

Michael has developed curriculum in mixing, audio production and recording at San Francisco State University and Chabot College to help develop the next generation of producers and beat makers of the future.  

Michael is currently the owner and operator of East Bay Recorders in Oakland, California

Lucas Schwyter

Music Recording Technology

Young Kwang (Lucas) Schwyter is a working audio engineer, A/V technician, certified Pro Tools user and guitarist with over fifteen years’ experience, mainly focusing on classical guitar performance.  He received his BA from UC Berkeley where he studied musicology, computer music and performance. He then received an MM in Music Education from San Jose State University during which he taught music theory and received the award as most outstanding graduate student.

At Chabot College, he studied classical and jazz performance. He performed with artists such as Eric Marienthal, Bobby Shew, Terrence Brewer, Edgardo Cambon, and the group “Crossing 32nd Street”. During his bachelor studies, Lucas worked in recording studios around the Bay Area including Fantasy Studios and Skyline Studios, first as an intern but later as a recording/mixing engineer. Over the    years, he has worked with artists such as Bill Frisell, Nels Cline singers, Thomas Pridgen (The Memorials) and Sly and the Family Stone. In the last couple years, he helped form the podcast “East Bay Shortwave”, a non-profit podcast promoting local musicians.

During his BA studies, he also participated in experimental projects such as attempting to break the Guinness World Record for most glass bottles used in a musical performance and composing for UC Berkeley’s “Multimedia Orchestra”. Lucas also collaborated to create “Voices of a Fugue”, a VR musical performance with Polar Productions, which received critical acclaim from the Montreal International Animation Film Festival (Animaze) and the Seattle Transmedia Independent Film Festival. 

Lucas has over a decade experience with Ableton and Pro Tools, reaching the certification of “Expert Music” and “Expert Post” for Pro Tools which can be found on the AVID website . He has taught multiple courses such as Live Sound, Advanced Mixing, Post-Production and Sound Design on campuses around the Bay Area at San Jose State University, SAE Expressions College, and Diablo Valley College. He lives in San Lorenzo with his wife and son. 

Connor Moen
Songwriting

More info and music at https://connormoen.weebly.com/

Scott Sorkin

Jazz Guitar

Scott Sorkin is a guitarist, composer, producer, and recording engineer, and teacher based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

​Scott leads his own trio, co‐leads the international jazz group Crossing Borders with Jennifer Scott and Kristen Strom, and is a member of the Kristen Strom Quartet, and Ed Johnson & Novo Tempo.

He’s been featured at many festivals including the Monterey Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Festival, Earshot Jazz Festival, the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, and Jazz on the Wing, in Whitehorse, Yukon.

​Scott is on the faculty of the Stanford Jazz Workshop, and has been a clinician for Stanford University, San Jose Jazz Summer Camp, San Jose State University, Mission College, Kuumbwa Jazz
Center, The Siskiyou Institute, Selkirk College, Los Gatos Music & Arts, The Mountain
View Community School of Music & Arts, and is a co-founder of the South Bay Summer Jazz Intensive (SBS]l.org).

For more information about Scott, visit https://www.scottsorkin.com/ 

Email: ssorkin@chabotcollege.edu 

Artie Storch

Percussion and Percussion Ensemble

An active Bay Area free-lance musician who enjoys performing in many diverse styles, Artie Storch is a regular extra percussionist for the San Francisco Symphony, Symphony Silicon Valley, Opera San Jose and other orchestras.  In the pop realm, he has performed with acts including The Who, Metallica, Weird Al Yankovic and Andrea Bocelli, and he is a frequent player in the Bay Area theater scene, playing in the world premieres of Beautiful (The Carole King Musical), The Prince of Egypt, White Christmas, as well as the Bay Area runs of Phantom of the Opera and many other shows. 

As principal percussionist for The Skywalker Symphony, his recording credits include playing drums and/or percussion for numerous movies and video games, and he can be heard on recordings by artists ranging from John Williams to Linda Ronstadt.

Artie is the Percussion Director for the California Youth Symphony, runs a private teaching studio, and is on the faculty of Chabot College where he teaches orchestral percussion and drum set, and directs the percussion ensemble.  In addition, he taught percussion at CSU East Bay for 37 years. 

Artie received a Bachelor of Science degree from Brooklyn College, CUNY, where he studied with Morris Lang of the New York Philharmonic, and a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, where his principal teacher was Saul Goodman.

Artie Storch endorses Vic Firth drumsticks and mallets.

Email: astorch@chabotcollege.edu

Cory Tiffin

Clarinet

Cory Tiffin is the principal clarinetist of the Las Vegas Philharmonic, having performed in this role with numerous orchestras, including the Green Bay Symphony, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Chicago Chamber Orchestra, Chicago Philharmonic, and New Hampshire Music Festival, in addition to numerous other orchestras around the country.

As a chamber artist and soloist, Tiffin has performed in recital with the Grammy Award-winning Chicago Chamber Musicians; the Grammy- nominated Lincoln Trio; collaborated with Chicago’s leading new music ensemble, Fulcrum Point New Music Project; and performs regularly with Access Contemporary Music’s resident ensemble. Tiffin enjoys being featured as a chamber musician across Chicagoland, throughout Las Vegas, and elsewhere in North America and Europe.

Tiffin has been invited to perform concertos with the Las Vegas Philharmonic and the Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra multiple times. Time Out New York called Tiffin a “clarinet maverick” and Lawrence Johnson of Chicago Classical Review wrote: “…Tiffin’s understated virtuosity was the fulcrum of the performance – as it was all afternoon…”

Tiffin is currently the clarinet instructor at Chabot College. Prior to relocated to the bay area, he served as the Instructor of Clarinet at Loyola University, DePaul University, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, and The Chicago High School for the Arts. He appears as a guest clinician and lecturer at universities and schools nationwide. Tiffin can be heard on the Southport and Albany record labels.

Email: ctiffin@chabotcollege.edu 

Aaron Joseph Lington

Saxophone

Grammy Award-winning baritone saxophonist and composer Aaron Joseph Lington (b. 1974) received his BM in music education from the University of Houston, Moores School of Music, and both his MM in jazz studies and DMA in saxophone performance from the University of North Texas where he studied with James Riggs. His performing and compositional credits include collaborations with the San Francisco Symphony, Maynard Ferguson, the BBC Radio Orchestra, the Count Basie Orchestra, Doc Severinsen, Bo Diddley, Randy Brecker, Joe Lovano, Jamie Davis, Tommy Igoe, Pacific Mambo Orchestra, and many others. In addition, he has won awards for both his playing and writing from Downbeat Magazine, ASCAP, and was the 2003 recipient of the Sammy Nestico Award. He was named the 2011 “Jazz Educator of the Year” by the California Music Educators Association, and has been recognized multiple tim es in the both the Downbeat Magazine Critic’s Poll and Reader’s Poll. In 2015 he was named as a Silicon Valley Artist Laureate. The San José Mercury News praises Dr. Lington’s playing as “revelatory...he obviously relishes the beautiful, blustery bark of his instrument...” and that he possesses a “...finely honed melodic sensibility...” Josh Davies from the International Trumpet Guild states that Lington “...[shows] a true command of his instrument with a very studied and soulful essence.” Cadence magazine declares “Lington and compatriots come up with a wonderful and totally American jazz sound, [resulting in] a solid mainstream set based on some sweet melodic improvisation.” In addition to his position as professor at San José State University where he serves as Coordinator of Jazz Studies, Dr. Lington is the saxophone professor at Chabot College and a Saxophone Performing Artist for Selmer Saxophones and is a D’Addario Performing Artist and performs exclusively on Rico Reeds.