ABOUT US > Who We Are

The Marin Academy Music Program is experiential and student-centered. Built around small ensembles, the program is run by teachers who are also professional musicians.

Bob Schleeter (Music Director, Jazz Ensembles, Music of the World, Chorus and Contemporary Music Seminar - aka the rock, soul and acoustic bands)

Bob Schleeter is a veteran of music performance, creation and education. His passion for music has led to travel, study and performance throughout the U.S. and in many centers of world music, including Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica, Greece and Spain. A 1989 graduate of Berklee College of Music, Bob is also an active composer and player. He has had four original musicals produced throughout New England and the West Coast. The Boston Globe called his co-creation, SARA'S JUKEBOX, "a hit parade of music...the songs are tantalizingly diverse, yet widely appealing."As a guitarist, Bob has performed with an equally appealing and diverse group of musicians including wild weekends with The Drifters and Del Shannon and longer stints with Shana Morrison and many of his own ensembles.

For more information see www.bigscore.net

Dartanyan Brown (American Roots Music): Dartanyan Brown has been a member of the Marin Academy music faculty since 2003. He is a performer, composer and sound designer whose career outside of education has been highlighted by performances or recordings with some of the great musicians of the last 60 years including Bernard Purdie, Chick Corea, Kenny Loggins, Grover Washington Jr., Joe Chambers, Huey Lewis, Bill Chase and many others. His work with poets including Al Young, former California poet laureate, David Meltzer and even Quincy Troupe and He has been inducted into the Blues, and Jazz Halls of Fame in his home state of Iowa and will be inducted into the Iowa Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame this fall. It has been his passion to bring music to young people since doing his first workshops in the late 1970's with the National Endowment for the Arts Artists-in-Schools Program. Dartanyan has worked extensively in the areas of bringing Jazz improvisation and effective use of technology to secondary and university-level educational environments. He was a member of Apple's 1990's educational outreach teams which brought groundbreaking media technology tools to thousands of educators nationwide. The American Roots class gives students a great way to understand how over 130 years of music, technology and culture have come together to create a rich heritage of American music. Dartanyan performs with his son, the drummer and composer Jaimeo Brown.

For more information on Dartanyan you can go to his online home at http://www.dartanyan.com

Julie Feldman (Chamber Music): Cellist Julie Feldman directs the MArin Academy Chamber Music program (The Chamber Gladiators) and is assisted by Roy Malan, violin, and Jill Brindel, cello. Julie performs regularly with the Symphony Silicon Valley and free-lances with many Bay Area groups. She has been director of chamber music at the Marin Academy for 17 years as well as Branson School and has an active private teaching studio in Berkeley. For many years she was a member of the New York Chamber Soloists, touring in Europe as well as the United States, and continues to work with a number of East Coast ensembles. Six years ago she returned to the Bay Area after a one-year sabbatical teaching at Mannes College of Music in New .