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

Joe Bonfiglio

Clarinet

Joe Bonfiglio has a BM from Peabody, and BM & MM degrees from The Juilliard School. He has taught on the faculties of the Peabody Preparatory School, University of California at Santa Barbara, and is currently Adjunct Professor of Clarinet at Chabot College. Joe has performed many concerts as soloist with bands and orchestras, and was recorded on the sound track to the movie “Fat Rose and Squeaky”.

Click HERE to listen to his amazing performance of Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

Email: jpcbonfiglio@gmail.com

Yueh Chou

Bassoon

Dr. Yueh Chou is the bassoon instructor of the School of Music and Dance. She is known for her work on Modern and Historical Bassoons. She holds a Certificate Diploma (2007) on both Baroque and Classical Bassoons at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Den Haag, the Netherlands; a Bachelor’s degree in Music from the Juilliard School; and has obtained both Masters and Doctorate (2000) degrees in Music (with minors in Baroque Bassoon and Music Education) from the University of Southern California. Dr. Chou has extensive performance and teaching experience, including teaching Master Classes at Fu-Jen University in Taiwan. She has taught Bassoon and Chamber Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Preparatory Division and Chabot College in Hayward.

Besides her love of modern and historical instruments, Dr. Chou also enjoys contemporary music. She premiered the solo Bassoon pieces Under the Open Sky by Veronika Krausas in Los Angeles and Group on a Row the Same by Lou Harrison in Santa Cruz. She has performed in Den Haag; Amsterdam (Muziekgebouw aan't IJ) in the Netherlands; Geel and Chimay (Theatre du Chateau) in Belgium; Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center in the United States; and the National Concert Hall in Taiwan. She is the co-founder of the Baroque ensemble Harmonia Falice based in the Bay area.

She plays on a modern by Heckel as well as a baroque after Prudent (c.1770) and a classical after Granser (c. 1800) by Peter de Koningh.

Samuel Faustine

Choral

Samuel Faustine, a San Francisco born tenor, performs a wide-variety of genres ranging from Baroque Opera to Modern Musical Theatre. He has appeared in Europe, China, and across the US in roles such as Anthony in Sweeney Todd (San Jose Stage), Vašek in The Bartered Bride (Pocket Opera), Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors (Ray of Light Theatre), Curly in Oklahoma! (Broadway by the Bay), Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi (Kunming Opera Festival), and many leading roles with Lamplighters Music Theater. 

Sam is also known as an oratorio and concert soloist, and has performed with companies including the San Francisco Symphony (having made his soloist debut in Boris Gudonov in 2018), California Bach Soloists, San Jose Symphonic Choir, among many others. He is known in particular for his 'Roasted Swan' aria in Orff's Carmina Burana. Mr. Faustine regularly sings with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, Gaude, Volti, Cappella SF, and many other local ensembles. He graduated with a Master of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Sam has been teaching private students in voice, guitar, piano and musicianship for the 10 years.

 Email: sfaustine@chabotcollege.edu

Website: http://www.samuelfaustine.com​

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

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

Paul McCurdy

Collaborative Pianist

Paul G. McCurdy is a teacher, coach, and pianist for Chabot College, Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, and the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco. He performs in recital regularly with instrumentalists and vocalists and works with a wide range of organizations, including A.C.T., the Hamlin School, Lamplighters, the Oakland-East Bay Gay Men's Chorus, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Solo Opera, Volti, and Woodminster Summer Musicals.

He studied music at the University of Georgia and holds degrees in anthropology and German. In 2014 he recorded Mozart KLAR, an album of Mozart piano sonatas, available through iTunes and CDBaby.

Email: paulgmccurdy@gmail.com

Bruce Mishkit

Saxophone

Bruce Mishkit earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music, with a specialty in Flute Performance from California State University, Hayward; his Master’s degree in Multi-Media Art from California State University, East Bay; and his Doctorate in Music Education from Boston University.

Dr. Mishkit is the Director of Instrumental Music and Music Technology at Crystal Springs Uplands School and is an Adjunct Professor of Saxophone at Chabot College.

Dr. Mishkit has studied saxophone with William Trimble, Joe Henderson and Hal Stein; flute with Roberta Brokow, Lloyd Gowen, and David Subke; and piano with Don Hass and Mark Levine. His performance experience includes concerts with Bob Berg, Victor Feldman, Donald Harrison, Rodney Holmes, David Liebman, Jeff Lorber, Tom Scott, Dan Siegel and Kenny Werner. Dr. Mishkit also performed at the 1999 Monterey Jazz Festival with Michael Zilber and the CARMA big band.

Bruce Mishkit is the author of, Master Lessons for the Creative Musician; endorsed by Michael Brecker and Eddie Daniels. The book explores the practices and musical development of Paquito D’Rivera, Hubert Laws, David Liebman, Joe Lovano, Lennie Pickett, and Ernie Watts; and contains exercises, etudes, and transcriptions of those artists.

Currently, Dr. Mishkit performs and records with his jazz group, Epicenter (www.epicenterjazz.com). To date, he has released three CD’s of original music with Epicenter and another CD under his own name titled, Distant Runner.

Email: bmishkit@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

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.

Mason Razavi

Jazz Guitar

Mason Razavi is a jazz guitarist, composer, and educator in the San Francisco Bay Area. His albums have garnered praise from critics and have received airplay internationally. Razavi has been described as a "thoughtful player and composer that offers the listener an introspective experience of deeper meaning" by Jazz Times. 

A musician with a growing profile in the Bay Area and beyond, the San Jose based guitarist has performed with John Stowell, Anton Schwartz, Jamie Davis, Carl Saunders, Charles McNeal, and in numerous festivals and concert series including San Jose Jazz, South Bay Guitar Society, and many others. Fall 2019 highlights will include his debut at SF Jazz performing the music from Wes Montgomery’s Boss Guitar and performances of Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concert with Schola Cantorum and the Daddios Big Band. Other performance credits include the Modesto Symphony Orchestra, San Jose Repertory Theater, San Jose Symphonic Choir and many others.

Razavi began studying jazz and gigging in rock bands as a teenager before attending the Berklee College of Music. There he studied jazz composition, commercial arranging, music production, and various guitar styles, while off campus he played in a hard-charging blues-rock band that would win a competition to record in a professional studio for the first time. After graduation he changed directions dramatically and devoted himself to the classical guitar for several years, but ultimately refocused on jazz. His diverse background has led him to a variety of professional opportunities, and today he is a jazz artist/educator who has channelled these experiences into a unique voice as a player and composer.

An avid educator, Razavi teaches jazz guitar in his private studio as well as at West Valley College and Chabot College. He has been on faculty at De Anza College, Mission College, and Las Positas College, and has been a clinician and participant in music education outreach programs in the Bay Area. Razavi is the newest director of the Daddios big band, a group with a decades-long history in the Bay Area that was started by the late trumpeter and teacher Dr. Herb Patnoe at De Anza College.

Razavi holds holds a M.A. in music with a concentration in Jazz Studies from San Jose State University and a B.M. from the Berklee College of Music where he majored in Contemporary Writing and Production.

Email: mason@masonrazavi.com

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. 

Deborah Shidler

Oboe

Deborah received a Master of Music degree from Yale University and a B.M.E. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is presently a member of Pacific Symphony Orchestra and is Principal Oboe of Berkeley Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Shidler is an active performer throughout the Bay Area including numerous performances with the San Francisco Opera and Ballet Orchestras, San Jose, Sacramento, Oakland Symphonies and Opera San Jose. She has participated in Aspen, Cabrillo and Carmel Bach Music Festivals, Music in the Mountains and the Bach Aria Festival and Institute in New York. Some of the labels for which Ms. Shidler has recorded include Sony Classical, 20th Century Fox, Koch International and Harmonia Mundi.

Artie Storch

Percussion and Percussion Ensemble

As an active Bay Area free-lance musician, Artie Storch is a regular extra percussionist for the San Francisco Symphony, Silicon Valley, Oakland and Marin Symphonies, and has performed with ensembles ranging from Masterworks Chorale to Metallica.  He is a frequent player in the Bay Area theater scene, where he has performed in numerous shows including The Producers, White Christmas, Beautiful (The Carole King Musical), and the long-running Phantom of the Opera.

As principal percussionist for The Skywalker Symphony, his recording credits include playing drums and/or percussion for movies (Mars Attacks, Inspector Gadget, The Iron Giant, Spy Kids, Jurassic Park 3, Hellboy, Barnyard, Seventeen Again, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past); television (The Man Who Captured Eichmann, Sesame Street, Young Indiana Jones, Running Mates); commercials for Saturn, Nissan, Hershey’s, Taco Bell; records by Randy Newman, Linda Ronstadt, John Williams, Chanticleer, and The San Francisco Symphony; and video games (Gran Turismo, Siphon Filter Omega Strain,The Simpsons, Uncharted, Uncharted 2, Star Wars:The Force Unleashed, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Starcraft II, Kinect Disneyland Adventures).

Mr. Storch 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.

He teaches privately, and is on the faculties of California State University East Bay and Chabot College where he teaches percussion and directs the percussion ensembles.

Mr. Storch is also the Percussion Director for the California Youth Symphony.

Email: astorch@chabotcollege.edu