Simplified Resume!!!!!
- Six years of experience playing Traditional and Contemporary Liturgical Music. This includes directing Masses, conducting choirs, working with youth music groups, and accompanying singers on guitar.
- Two years of study with LI based guitarist Marc Viola. (Pete Moss and the Fertilizers, Ready in 10)
- Two years of advanced jazz improvisation study with Prof. George Bouchard and Prof. Mike Carubia at Nassau Community College.
- Studied jazz with internationally acclaimed Jazz bassist Rufus Reid.
- Two years of basic piano proficiency skills with Sandra McCain (graduate of The Julliard School).
- Four years of study on the Classical and Jazz Guitar with Master Guitarist Dennis Turechek.
- Studied Conducting with Jirka Kratochvil(Music director and conductor of Catskill Choral Society NY, Choir Master of the Prague Philharmonic Choir), Alejandro Rutty (Argentinian Conductor), and Charles Schnieder (Catskill, Utica, and Schenectady Symphony Orchestra)
- Accepted into and participated in Friends of the Arts Long Island Summer Jazz Festival at the Planting Fields Arboretum. This included private workshops and master classes for select jazz musicians from Long Island. (Summer 03, 04, 05)
- Adviser and facilitator of Friends of the Art’s Long Island Summer Jazz Festival (Summer 06-present)
- Selected to perform Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana in Prague, Czech Republic for The Hartwick Choral Festival.(Summer 06)
- Eagle Scout
OFFICIAL BIO!!!!
Brian is a Long Island based guitarist and vocalist. He currently holds a B.S. in music education from Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY. He began his musical education through choral singing that started in elementary school. At the age of 16, while a sophomore in high school Brian began to study the electric guitar. With less than one year of studying the instrument Brian started performing at his high school’s concerts as well in liturgical music.
Brian has experience in performing jazz, studying with a number of notable musicians. He has studied with Rufus Reid, Mike Carubia, Glen Drews, Billy Drews, Mark Marino, Tyrone Z. Jones, John Davey, Rob Hunt, and Charles Blenzing. He has also studied pop/rock guitar with Dave Stryker and Marc Viola. Brian spent four years in the studio of Dennis Turecheck and studied advanced classical guitar (and some jazz) with him for four years. Brian also has experience in conducting with training from Jirka KratochvÃl, Alejandro Rutty, and Charles Schneider. Brian’s voice teachers include tenor John Farrel in pop/broadway and soprano Lorena Guillén in classical voice.
Over the past six years Brian has been a performer for theater pits on Long Island. He has played in the pit for Seussical the Musical, Footloose, Grease, Bye Bye Birdie, Lil’Abner, Godspell, The Last Five Years, and The Baker’s Wife to name a few! For the past five years Brian has been involved with Friends of the Arts. This organization puts on professional performances in the historical Planting Fields Arboretum on Long Island. Brian’s involvement, first as a student participant and now as a facilitator and teacher, has allowed him to perform with jazz combos that have opened for musicians such as David Sanborn, Bela Fleck, Stanley Clarke, Soulive, Nestor Torres, Cyrus Chestnut, and Medeski Martin and Wood. Brian is currently performing as an Irish balladeer after learning from the great Irish balladeer Kevin Smith.
Unofficial Bio!
Outside of music Brian is an amateur Fly-Fisherman. He is also an expert on Tea. Brian has studied the ancient steeping, boiling, and whisking techniques of Japan, China, and India. He has honed the ability and art of tasting different tea's slight and wonderful variations. He is a Capricorn, enjoys fine French and Chilean wines, and has plans to study music in Chile in the future. Brian is an avid chef in the French and Italian tradition. He has also learned how to cook traditional Chilean food too. Because Brian started performing music after a few months of study he developed the alias "Legend" by the musicians he has played with the most on Long Island.
Here's what people have to say about Brian's work as a conductor and musician!!!
QUOTES!
"I could hear you playing over the coffee grinder." ~Dennis Turcheck
"Congratulations! Right away your excellent conducting technique was obvious. You gave a firm, definite ictus, excellent cues and gestures for dynamic expression. You really knew the score and your eyes were on the group as well as on each section as you gave cues." ~Julian Wilcox
"You work with a pleasant, confident manner and you smile. Smiling equals hundreds of words. I like the way you get into the music showing that you really enjoy what you are doing. Your body language along with that special facial expression, constantly glancing from section to section always seems to mean business and allows for no down time. All of this begets enthusiasm within the group you conduct." ~Julian Wilcox
"I would have conducted it exactly the same way." ~Jirka KratochvÃl
"You have a sweet voice!" ~Lorena Guillén
"In a room full of guitarists, you definitely were the best" ~Mike Rodgers
"Brian Caltabiano has that incredible ear for music. He can play anything he hears....or doesn't hear." ~Mike Valenza (Student Director - Holy Trinity Rock Mass)
"I hired a professional" ~Fr. James Mannion (Paster of Holy Family Parish, Hicksville, NY)
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