Jennifer Garrett
Jennifer M. Garrett is a professor of music and director of choral activities at Bakersfield College. She conducts the College Choir and Chamber Singers, teaches Music Appreciation, and is the director of the Applied Music Program for over forty instrumental and vocal students. Under her direction the Bakersfield College Chamber Singers represented the College on a performance tour of Rome, Florence, and Venice, Italy in June 2015.
Dr. Garrett is a popular clinician, adjudicator, guest conductor and serves a member of the National Collegiate Choral Association review committee. She has devoted a great deal of time to accompanying for voice and instrumental lessons, recitals, and juries in Washington, Utah, Nebraska, Arizona, and California. For the past 20 years she has dedicated much of her time and energy to church choirs and her private voice and piano studio.
Before coming to Bakersfield College in 2012 Dr. Garrett taught at California State University Bakersfield.
From 2008-2010 she conducted the Arizona State University Women’s Chorus. Under her direction, the choir grew to record numbers and performed with the Phoenix Symphony and Ballet Arizona.
While in Arizona, she also conducted the Arizona Desert Chorale, which performed for local church and community events throughout the Phoenix area.
From 2000-2004, Dr. Garrett taught at Wasatch High School in Heber City, Utah. When she first arrived at Wasatch the choral program consisted of less than 40 students. After four years the program boasted over 300 students.
Under her direction the choirs received superior ratings at regional and state festivals. During her four years at Wasatch, she was nominated as favorite teacher of the year twice.
Jennifer M. Garrett is a native of Washington state. She has a music education degree from Brigham Young University, a masters in choral conducting from the University of Nebraska Lincoln, and a doctorate in choral conducting from Arizona State University.
She currently lives in Bakersfield, California, with her husband and three amazing daughters.
John Gerhold (Chair)
Professor Gerhold has been teaching music theory and ear training at Bakersfield College since 1994 and is the current Performing Arts department chair. His textbook for beginning music theory entitled A Plain English Guide to Music Fundamentals: An Outcome Based Approach
(Kendall Hunt) is now in its second edition. He has been president of many organizations, including the Music Association of California Community Colleges (MACCC), the KCCD Community College Association (CCA), and the Bakersfield College Academic Senate.
Dr. Gerhold has composed orchestral commissions celebrating the centennial of Bakersfield College and the Grand Re-opening of the Simonsen Performing Arts Center (SPArC) in 2015, the centennial of the City of Bakersfield in 1997, the centennial of Orange County, California in 1987, and hopes to compose for his own centennial in 2065. His degrees include a B.Mus. Magna cum laude in piano and MFA in composition from UC Irvine and a DMA in composition from the University of British Columbia.
His BC honors include being named a Levan Faculty Colloquium Presenter (2013 and 2006 with Ron Kean) and a Levan Scholar (2013), the Levinson Faculty Leadership Award (2007), and the Bakersfield College Innovator of the Year (1995).
Timothy Heasley
Tim Heasley is a visual and performing arts educator based in Central California.
He is currently the director of the Bakersfield College Band and Drumline and has held a variety of positions within the Kern High School District.
Tim has spent his recent summers as a sound engineer for the Madison Scouts (2010-2013), the Santa Clara Vanguard (2014), and as the director of the Golden Empire Drum & Bugle Corps (2014-present). Tim marched baritone with the Sacramento Freelancers from 1992-1994 and with the Crossmen from 1995-1997. His performance career continued as an original cast member of Blast! and Blast II: Mix, performing worldwide from 1999-2006.
Tim earned a BA in Communications with a minor in Art from California State University, Bakersfield in 1997 and holds a California teaching credential in Arts, Media, and Entertainment. His background in media production and experience in the audio/visual industry has gone hand in hand with his work as a freelance visual designer and music editor.
Kathryn Kuby
Dr. Kathryn Kuby received her Bachelor of Music degree in music education from Belmont University, her Master of Music degree in conducting from the University of North Texas, and her Doctorate of Musical Arts in conducting from the University of Connecticut. She has been a music educator for over fifteen years teaching various facets of music to students all of ages and academic levels. As a conductor, she has participated in the London Conducting Institute as well as the South Carolina Conducting Institute. She has worked under the tutelage of Anshel Brusilow, Edward Cumming, Robert Gregg, Karen Deal, and the late Peter Sacco.
Dr. Kuby founded the Flower Mound Preparatory Orchestra in Flower Mound, Texas, as well as the Connecticut Repertory Orchestra in Storrs, Connecticut. Dr. Kuby has guest conducted the Symphony Orchestra at Cerritos Community College as well as the Pipe Dreams Flutes Ensemble. Having conducted over a dozen musicals, her pit ensembles have been nominated twice for the Jerry Herman Awards. While teaching music at the high school level, her ensembles consistently performed with high ratings at music festivals. She has also conducted honor ensembles, including the Kern County High School Honor Band in the “Grand Night for Music” (2017).
As a flutist, Dr. Kuby regularly performs in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, as well as in the Bakersfield area. Dr. Kuby is currently the Director of Instrumental Music at Bakersfield College.
Robert Martinez
Robert Martinez has enjoyed musical success as a conductor, composer, musician, performer, and educator.
Among the names of artists that Robert has conducted are flutist James Walker (formerly the principal of the LA Philharmonic), classical saxophonist Harvey Pattel, guitarist and multi-Grammy Award winner Laurindo Almeida, and multi-Grammy Award winner vocalist Alan Paul of the vocal group The Manhattan Transfer, soprano Miss Anya Matanovic of the Los Angeles Opera Company, Diva Jennifer Jones of the NY Metropolitan Opera Company, and Symphonic Rock Violinist Terry Glenny.
As a graduate of San Diego State University with a Master’s degree in Music Composition (1975), Robert has been a professor of Music at Bakersfield College, California since 1989. And from 1995 to the present the musical director and conductor of the Desert Community Orchestra of Ridgecrest, the founding music director of the Tehachapi Pops Orchestra, and is currently the Music Director and Conductor for violinist/composer Terry Glenny. Robert Martinez has been inducted into the “Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers”, for Music Education, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006 and the Cambridge Who’s Who Education Recognition 2007.
Robert has also received the award for outstanding achievements in performing arts and science by the national organization “Heritage of America”, Educational & Cultural Foundation (for arts and humanities), The Day of The Americas, 2004.
Mr. Martinez also served as the President of the Kern County Music Association in 2004, The Conductor’s Guild, The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (The Grammy Awards), and the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers (ASMAC).
Josh Ottum
Josh Ottum holds B.A. degrees in Music and Psychology from Seattle Pacific University, an MFA in Integrated Composition Improvisation and Technology from UC Irvine, and a Ph.D in Interdisciplinary Arts from Ohio University.
Dr. Ottum heads up the Commercial Music Program at Bakersfield College, teaching courses in music technology, synthesis, songwriting, and music appreciation. Additionally, his music has been featured on shows such as Mad Men and The Voice and in advertisements for Volvo, Nordstrom and others.
Ottum has made several records as a solo artist and with bands and supported these releases by touring extensively throughout Europe and the United States. Along the way, he has shared stages with M.Ward, Cold War Kids, Stereolab, Joe LaBarbera, and many more.
Find out more at www.joshottum.wordpress.com.
Kris Tiner
Kris Tiner is a California-based trumpet player, composer, and educator. Featured on NPR Music as one of a handful of new trumpet voices impacting modern music, his playing has been described as “extraordinarily inventive” in Signal to Noise Magazine, and the LA Weekly claims “Trumpeter Kris Tiner can turn barbed wire to beauty.” His music has been performed on five continents, his 60+ recordings have been enthusiastically reviewed in the international jazz press, and he has performance credits on MTV, NBC, PBS and Comedy Central. Tiner has been recognized with awards from ASCAP, IAJE, the American Composers Forum, Chamber Music America, Montalvo Arts Center, KCMEA, and the Kennedy Center.
He is a member of the acclaimed Empty Cage Quartet, whose 2008 CD Stratostrophic on Portugal’s Clean Feed record label was hailed as “One of the best things in jazz to emerge in the new millennium” by the UK magazine The Wire. He also collaborates with New York guitarist Mike Baggetta in the duo Tin/Bag; their CD Bridges was chosen as one of the ten best jazz recordings of 2011 by Hank Shteamer of Time Out New York. Tiner also performs regularly with the Industrial Jazz Group, Chris Schlarb’s Psychic Temple, pianist Cathlene Pineda, the Los Angeles Trumpet Quartet and the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra.
A California native, Tiner holds an MFA in African-American Improvisational Music from California Institute of the Arts and a BA in Music from CSU Bakersfield. He is an Associate Professor of Music and the Director of Jazz Studies at Bakersfield College, and has also taught at CalArts, CSU Bakersfield, Taft College, and the Academy of Creative Education in Los Angeles. He has been a visiting lecturer/performer at schools and universities throughout the United States and in Europe, and has been featured at the FONT Festival of New Trumpet Music (New York), Clean Feed Festival (New York), Aperitivo in Concerto (Milan), Angel City Jazz Festival (Los Angeles), Is That Jazz? Festival (Seattle), Gateshead Jazz Festival (UK), In The Flow Festival (Sacramento), Trummerflora Spring Reverb Festival (San Diego), The Outpost Creative Soundspace Festival (Albuquerque), NMASS Festival (Austin), Mission Creek Arts Festival (San Francisco), and the Bakersfield Jazz Festival. Tiner is the founder of Epigraph Records, an independent label dedicated to the documentation of new creative music recorded in Bakersfield.
For more information visit www.kristiner.com
Kyle Burnham is an active drummer and composer residing in Bakersfield, CA. He holds a MFA degree in jazz studies from UC Irvine and a BA in music composition from CSU Bakersfield.
In 1991, James Dethlefson became fascinated with songwriting. Putting down his trombone, he picked up the electric bass. 
Scott Dirkse holds a BA in music from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, an MM in piano pedagogy from the University of South Carolina, and a PhD in Musicology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Dr. Ronald Kean, Emeritus Professor of Music at Bakersfield College, recently retired after completing 30 years of teaching in California. His teaching opportunities included choral and world music, which he taught for 26 years in the Kern Community College District.
Soprano Peggy Sears has appeared as a soloist with the Los Angeles Opera Theater, Arizona Opera Theater, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Tulare County Symphony, Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra, Bakersfield Musica da Camera, Carmel Bach Festival, Mozart Festival of San Luis Obispo, The Los Angeles Philharmonic Made in Los Angeles Festival, the Pasadena Chamber Orchestra and the Los Angeles Master Chorale at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
Kimberly Chin, Professor of Theatre, earned a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Liberal Studies (credential option) at CSU, Fresno. She also attended the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, and earned a Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her focus at UNLV was playwriting.
Brian J. Sivesind is a director and professor of theatre at Bakersfield College. He received his MFA in Directing from UC Irvine (2007) where he directed productions of Ancient History,Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, Our Town, Othello, Comedy of Errors, and The Tempest. He also worked as an assistant director on productions of Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens (directed by Robert Cohen) and the French farce A Flea in Her Ear (directed by Eli Simon). In 2006, Brian was the assistant director for the world premiere of the play The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler (written by Jeff Whitty, who also penned the book for the Tony Award-winning musical Avenue Q) at South Coast Repertory Theatre. Brian also served as an assistant director at the Utah Shakespearean Festival in 2006, working on productions of Hamlet and On Golden Pond; and in the summer of 2007, he interned at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival as an assistant director to current OSF Artistic Director Bill Rauch on a production of Romeo and Juliet.
Leslie Aldridge earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Acting and Directing from Southern Utah University and a Master’s Degree in Costume Design from Utah State University. She also studied with Brigham Young University in London for a semester abroad.
Education Background: Bachelor’s Degree from Simpson College, Indianola, Iowa in Sociology & Theatre. Actor’s Two Month Intensive Certificate from National Theatre Conservatory, Denver, Colorado. Master of Fine Arts Degree from University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.
Cody Ganger studied Comparative Literature and Theatre Arts at UC Davis, where she received her B.A. In her time there, she appeared in a number of productions, most notably as Helena in A Midsumer Night's Dream, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, and Jeannie in HAIR! However, her most formative experience was studying Stanislavski's acting method under guest artist Katya Kamotskaya and playing Nina in a production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, directed by Kamotskaya. While at UC Davis, she was also chosen as an ArtsBridge Scholar, which gave her the opportunity to teach Shakespeare and acting to local high school students.
Bob Kempf has been a theatre professor at Bakersfield College since the early 1990s and has been part of BC’s Kern Shakespeare Festival since its inception in 1985. At KSF, he has both directed (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, Titus Andronicus, The Two Gentleman of Verona, and Twelfth Night) and acted (Dogberry, Friar Lawrence, Fluellen, Petruchio, Sir Toby, Prospero, Bottom, Julius Caesar, and Falstaff). He has also taught theatre courses at CSU Bakersfield, UC Davis, and National University. Bob spent twenty years in Los Angeles, appearing on TV (Seinfeld, ER, Caroline in the City, Two Guys and a Girl and a Pizza Place, among others), film (Nothing to Lose, The Fan, Time Warrior, among others), and in dozens of commercials (American Express, Pizza Hut, Armor All, Mastercard, Sega, Kellogg’s, among others). Bob is also the Artistic Director of The Empty Space, a local community theatre that seeks to bring high quality theatre to Bakersfield and the rest of Kern County. Bob earned his Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts from CSU Fresno, and his Master of Fine Arts in Dramatic Art from UC Davis.
Kevin Ganger received his BA in Dramatic Art from UC Davis. During his undergraduate career Kevin worked on 40 shows as an actor, director, producer, stage manager, designer, board operator, scenic technician, electrician, fly crew, scenic painter, and house manager.