Conductor Biographies
February 2nd-4th at Sonoma State University

Concert Band 
R. Anderson “Andy” Collinsworth is the Director of Bands at Sonoma State University, where he leads the university Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Concert Band. Dr. Collinsworth earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Conducting at Arizona State University, where he studied with Gary W. Hill. He holds a Master of Music in Saxophone Performance and Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Nevada at Reno.
Now in his 34th year of teaching, Dr. Collinsworth brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the ensembles he leads and the courses he teaches in conducting pedagogy and music education. In addition to teaching duties, he serves as Chair of the Department of Music at SSU.
Dr. Collinsworth maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor, adjudicator and rehearsal clinician throughout the western states. He is conductor and artistic director for the Saint Helena Community Band, an ensemble established and sponsored by director Francis Ford Coppola. He is the founder and director of the Sonoma Summer Wind Band Conducting Symposium, an annual weeklong conducting seminar for music educators. He is the artistic director and coordinator of the Sonoma Invitational Wind Band and Orchestra Festival—a signature three-day event that brings over 2,500 high school and community college students to campus each year. He received the Outstanding Music Educator from CMEA Bay Section in 2022 and was previously recognized as the John Swain Outstanding University Music Educator Award for outstanding contributions to music education at the collegiate level by the California Music Educators Association in 2014. He is a nominee for membership in the American Bandmasters Association.

Concert Choir
Recipient of the 2019 CMEA Bay Section Outstanding Choral Educator Award, Dr. Jenny Bent is Director of Choral Activities and Associate Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities at Sonoma State University, Choral Director for the Santa Rosa Symphony, and Manager of Chanticleer in Sonoma. She is a graduate of Boston University (BM in Voice Performance, MM in Choral Conducting, MM in Voice Performance) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (DMA in Choral Conducting and Choral Literature). Her teachers include Ann Howard Jones, Fred Stoltzfus, Susan Ormont, and Jerold Siena.
Dr. Bent’s choirs have earned unanimous superior ratings and command performances at choral festivals throughout the Bay Area and beyond and performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City and Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. 
Dr. Bent has ten years’ experience as a high school choral music educator, most recently as the Director of Vocal Music at the Marin School of the Arts. She was also on the voice faculty of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, which is part of the Tanglewood Music Center, the summer home of the Boston Symphony.
In addition to her academic work, Dr. Bent frequently adjudicates festivals and presents at conferences for such organizations as the California Music Educators Association, the American Choral Directors Association, and Golden State, and she clinics choirs throughout the Bay Area and beyond. Dr. Bent served as Area I Representative on the CMEA board, and she is currently Treasurer of the California Choral Directors Association. From 2007-2014, Dr. Bent could be heard hosting the radio show The Choir Loft on KRCB-FM, the Sonoma County NPR affiliate. 

Jazz Band 
Dave Eshelman is Director Emeritus of Jazz Studies at California State University, East Bay. Dave led the CSU East Bay Jazz Ensemble on four European concert tours (2000, 2003, 2005, 2007) as well as one tour to Brazil (2001). The band performed at the International Association of Jazz Education International Conference three times (1995, 1999, 2005). He has conducted the California CMEA All State Jazz Band, the Northern California Grammy In The Schools All Star Big Band and numerous district and county honor jazz bands.

As a trombonist he has been a featured soloist with the big bands of Ray Brown, Joe Henderson, Tito Puente and Gerald Wilson. His quartet CD release Mystique features John Abercrombie, guitar, John Patitucci, bass and drummer Peter Erskine. In the summer of 2002, Dave led an All-Star Big Band Tribute to West Coast Jazz in concerts at the Verona Jazz Festival in Italy and at the Vienne Jazz Festival in France.  Among those performing in that band were Bud Shank, Pete Jolly, Teddy Edwards, Joe La Barbara, Bobby Shew, Andy Martin, Bill Perkins, and Dick Nash.

He has recorded five projects as leader-composer of the Jazz Garden Big Band and four jazz albums in association with Ray Brown. Dave was commissioned by the San Jose Jazz Society to compose, record, and perform Suite For Jazz Orchestra with his big band at the San Jose Jazz Festival. He has written, conducted and recorded three CD projects for Philippe Kahn featuring jazz greats John Abercrombie, Alex Acuna, Richie Bierach, Terence Blanchard, Alan Broadbent, Patty Cathcart, Don Cherry, Paul Contos, Peter Erskine, Charlie Haden, Billy Hart, Dave Liebman, Ron McClure and John Patitucci.

Dave publishes with the Neil Kjos Music Company and Walrus Music Publishing. His compositions and arrangements have been recorded and performed by bands throughout the United States and Europe. Since retiring in 2007 he has performed as guest soloist with De Anza College, Albany High School, Diablo Valley College, El Cerrito High School, The Jazz School Big Band, Cabrillo College, Santa Cruz High School, The Sacramento Jazz Orchestra, CSU East Bay at Yoshi’s , St. Mary’s College and presented clinics for the CMEA State and Bay Section Conferences. Dave currently teaches every summer at the Hayward-La Honda Music Camp and  leads the Jazzschool Studio Band at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley, California.

Jazz Choir
Kerry Marsh is a distinguished arranger and publisher with a focus on vocal jazz ensembles. Acclaimed arts critic Terry Teachout has praised Kerry's work, describing his "gorgeous charts, wide-spaced harmonies, and tingling dissonances" as the pinnacle of postmodern vocal group writing. As a highly sought-after commissioned arranger, Kerry's extensive catalog of music is performed globally by some of the top educational vocal and instrumental jazz ensembles. Currently based in Lawrence, Kansas, Kerry is serving as the guest director for The University of Kansas Jazz Singers, and has published over 300 compositions and arrangements on KerryMarsh.com.
Kerry's background in jazz education is extensive, having spent six years as a faculty member in the jazz studies program at The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) in Greeley. During his tenure, Kerry directed two advanced vocal jazz ensembles and taught applied jazz voice. Under his guidance, UNC's Vocal Lab and Northern Colorado Voices garnered six Down Beat Magazine Student Music Awards in the Large Graduate Level Vocal Jazz Ensemble category, with Vocal Lab performing at conferences of The Jazz Education Network in 2016 and 2018.
Before joining UNC, Kerry served as the director of vocal jazz ensembles at Sacramento State for a decade, where his ensembles achieved nine Down Beat Awards and received invitations to perform at conferences of the International Association for Jazz Education.
In collaboration with his wife and musical partner, Julia Dollison, Kerry released his ambitious debut album, Vertical Voices: The Music of Maria Schneider, in March 2010 through ArtistShare. With the endorsement of Grammy-winning composer Maria Schneider herself, the album features her compositions, originally written for jazz orchestra, reimagined with the horn parts sung in collaboration with the rhythm section from The Maria Schneider Orchestra. Vertical Voices earned critical acclaim, including a four-star review in Down Beat Magazine.
Since 2010, Kerry and Julia have performed as part of the vocal quartet Vertical Voices, alongside Greg Jasperse and Jennifer Barnes. The group showcases the music of Maria Schneider, Pat Metheny, Imogen Heap, Becca Stevens, and more, as well as their own original compositions.
Kerry is in high demand as an adjudicator and clinician for jazz festivals and workshops. He has directed all-state jazz choirs across the United States and worked with singer-songwriter Ben Folds as a vocal arranger and background singers director for numerous performances with major symphony orchestras, including the Boston Pops, The Washington National Symphony, and The LA Philharmonic at The Hollywood Bowl.
Kerry holds a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Kansas and a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the University of North Texas.