Brass
Thomas barber
trumpet/jazz Director
Thomas has been active as both a trumpeter and composer since graduating The Julliard School in 2004. As a composer, he has written scores for over twenty independent films and t.v. shows. As a freelance trumpeter, he has performed with Paul Simon, Brian Blade, Joe Locke, Steve Wilson, Slide Hampton, Wynton Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, Esperanza Spalding, Jimmy Heath, Frank Wess, Carla Cook, Tom Harrell, Nasheet Waits, and many more.After he won both the Lionel Hampton High School Trumpet Competition and the International Trumpet Guild Jazz Competition in Gothenborg, Sweden in 1997, he attended the University of Northern Colorado, graduating with a degree in classical trumpet performance. While at UNC, Thomas had opportunities to play with many of the musicians who passed through, including Louie Bellson, Pete Fountain, Nicholas Payton, Maria Schneider, Bob Brookmeyer, Conrad Herwig and Kenny Wheeler.
Thomas resides in Portland and is a member of the funk/ soul group Dirty Revival, which tours the country year round.
Leander Star
french horn instructor
Leander serves as the horn instructor at both Rhodes College and the University of Mississippi at Oxford and is a member of the award-winning wind quintet the City of Tomorrow. The City of Tomorrow was awarded the Gold Medal at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in 2011 and later received a Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Grant in 2014. Leander also holds positions with the Oregon Ballet Theater Orchestra and the Portland Opera Orchestra and plays regularly with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, the IRIS Orchestra in Germantown, Tennessee, and the Arkansas Symphony in Little Rock. He is a graduate of San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Northwestern University. More info at leanderstar.com.
Michael Maier
LOW BRASS INSTRUCTOR
Michael Maier is thrilled to teach at Young Musicians and Artists, which he has done since 2017!
He plays Principal Trombone in the Boise Philharmonic and also Acting Associate Principal Trombone with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. Maier has performed in a wide variety of groups, including the Colorado Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Utah Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, the Tonhalle Orchestra, and the Sun Valley Summer Symphony.
He is an active music educator. He guest taught the low brass studio at Boise State University in fall 2015 and 2018. In 2015 Maier was a guest with the Mirari Brass Quintet, giving recitals and masterclasses around the country.
Maier taught at the Reaching Heights Summer Music Camp in 2018 in his hometown of Cleveland Heights, OH. He was a fellow in the Zurich Opera’s Academy program in 2007-08. He earned his BM from Northwestern University in 2007 and his MM from The Juilliard School in 2011.