BPA Coaches
ORCHESTRA
Kat Bula
Fiddlers’ Coach
Kat Bula is a multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter with a background in a variety of fiddle styles. In addition to writing and recording albums of her own, Bula has toured extensively with bands ranging from hardline traditional bluegrass and Western swing, to indie rock and metal. Along the way she’s found opportunities to work with bluegrass legends such as Laurie Lewis, Kathy Kallick, Molly Tuttle, and Missy Raines; cult-folk icon Jason Webley, Celtic-pop outfit The Clumsy Lovers, and math-rock group Rooftops, to name a few. When We Get To Shore, her collaboration with Coty Hogue and Aaron Guest, reached #1 on the FOLK-DJ charts and received airplay on BBC and Sirius XM. She was also a co-writing member of the pirate-themed folk punk humor band Pirates R Us, which reached College Music Journal’s Top 100 and was featured on the legendary Dr. Demento comedy radio show.
Kat is also a devoted music teacher who specializes in improvisation, music theory, and collaboration skills, and has worked with hundreds of adult and teenage students across North America and Europe via live workshops, online courses and private lessons.
Bula is also one of the founding cohort songwriters of the Know Better, Do Better Project, an initiative which has received multiple grants to support the creation of new folk and educational songs as viable alternatives to popular songs rooted in minstrelsy and other problematic traditions. The project was launched in 2021 via a livestream concert hosted by Boston’s Club Passim, and is still open for new submissions.
Read more about Kat at https://www.katbula.com/home
BAND
Gary Hammon
Jazz Band Coach
Born and raised in Seattle, Gary “Jubil” Hammon is one of a number of musicians from the area that have enjoyed a long and successful career in the performing arts. Gary began his study of the saxophone while a junior at Garfield High School. With diligent practice, he advanced rapidly on the instrument, and soon began playing in bands around the thriving Seattle music scene. With some encouragement from Jim Wilke, he applied for further musical study at the renowned New England Conservatory of Music. Awarded a scholarship, he began attending in 1969, the first year black students were accepted. While there he benefited greatly while studying with Kenny Dorham, Mary Lou Williams, Carmen McRae and others. He also helped inaugurate the jazz studies program at the Conservatory in 1972, as part of Gunther Schuller’s ensemble. Impressing the likes of Isaac Stern and Arthur Fiedler, the program has been a success ever since.
Gary went on to establish himself on the jazz scene in Boston and New York, frequently filling in for Harold Vick before leading his own bands, becoming a regular at Wally’s in Boston and Manny’s Car Wash in New York. This led to working and touring with blues greats Albert King and Albert Collins, a long stint with Big Jim Patton’s band, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder and further jazz work with Barbara Donald and Grant Green.
Gary Hammon returned to Seattle in 2004 after a long career as a sideman and an educator. After being in so many great bands led by others, he was eager to pursue his own musical directions. Gary teamed up with saxophone great Hadley Caliman to make a two tenors album, “Fangs,” and they performed regularly throughout the Seattle area for some years. When Hadley Caliman got called to play with Bobby Huthcherson one weekend, Gary called trumpeter Erik Esvelt to fill in at the last minute. The two musicians quickly recognized their shared enthusiasm for an old-school, lyrical approach to playing the music. A long term collaboration sprung from there, and the two horn players were soon rehearsing together, working to blend their sound and learning each others’ music. Gigs in 2011 culminated in recording their album, “Slightly in the Tradition,” that summer.
Still active as an educator, Hammon has been teaching saxophone and sharing his love of music for over four decades. As well as having tutored dozens of award-winning musicians, Gary has also worked closely with Ballard High School’s program in recent years, helping them become one of the region’s top programs and regular attendees of the prestigious Essentially Ellington competition held annually in New York City.
Recognition of Mr. Hammon’s legacy of connecting the jazz tradition with the current generation was recently showcased at the 2018 Earshot Jazz Festival. Leading the band “Last of the Tribe,” at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, he was joined by Booker T. Washington, Nathan Breedlove and prominent young saxophonist James Brandon Lewis in an adventurous foray that showcased Hammon’s artistry on his instrument in a very free setting.
Read more about Hammon at: http://www.garyhammonmusic.com/bio
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Alexis Rosenberg
Jazz 2 Instructor
Alexis Rosenberg is a jazz saxophonist and educator based in Seattle, Washington. She grew up in Los Angeles where she initially developed her passion for jazz music, and went on to study at the University of Oregon where she received Bachelor degrees in Jazz Studies and Music Education. Some of her performance achievements include touring in Europe with the Oregon Jazz Ensemble, headlining a show with her original compositions at the Jazz Station, performing at the North American Saxophone Alliance Region 1 Conference in 2019, and partaking in gig
opportunities throughout Oregon when requested. As an educator, she taught music full time for two years at Illinois Valley High School, was a clinician at the McKay High School Jazz Festival in 2022, and taught sectionals/ensembles for local high schools as a college student. She recently relocated to Seattle where she will be teaching the Jazz II at Ballard High School, teaching lessons, and playing local gigs. She is looking forward to working with everyone in Jazz II this year!
Denali Williams
Drumline instructor
Williams is a performing & teaching percussionist and is Ballard Performing Arts’ Drumline instructor. .His work involves many musical settings including orchestras, chamber groups, rhythm-sections (jazz, rock, pop, etc.), and various world music ensembles.
As an orchestral percussionist, Williams currently is a member of Symphony Tacoma, Lake Washington Symphony, and Federal Way Symphony. He performs as an "extra"​ percussionist for the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra, Bellingham Festival of Music Orchestra, and Auburn Symphony.
As a drumset artist and auxiliary percussionist he has performed and recorded in dozens of groups ranging from funk big bands to rock, jazz, blues, and country music rhythm-sections. Williams has toured throughout the world with bands/artists including Lee Oskar & Friends, Thomas Mapfumo, and Cracker Factory.
Williams maintains teaching studios in Seattle and Tacoma for both remote and in-person lessons. In addition to private teaching and BHS coaching duties he directs the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra Percussion Ensemble and serves as a school outreach coach for Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra and Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra. It has been his honor to serve as an adjudicator for several solo & ensemble festivals over the past twenty years throughout the state of Washington.
THEATER
Rachel Atkins
Playwright, teaching writing to Theatre Arts classes
Rachel Atkins is the scriptwriter for the award-winning educational theatre company Living Voices. They have twelve different multimedia shows in ongoing national touring repertory, all focusing on issues of history and social justice, and seen by over 3 million audience members throughout the US and Canada. Her play Black Like Us (Original Works Publishing) received the Theatre Puget Sound Gregory Award for Outstanding New Play, two Seattle Times Footlight Awards, including Top World Premiere, and was an American Theatre Critics Association Steinberg New Play Award nominee. Other plays include Treadwell Gold (Perseverance Theatre, Alaska), Baalzebub (published by Theatrefolk) & Frankenstein’s Mary Shelley (both at Seattle Public Theater). Literary adaptations for Book-It Repertory Theatre include Jane Austen’s Emma (also produced by Harvard Radcliffe Summer Theater & Vintage Theatre, Colorado), Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, and a variety of non-traditional texts and children’s literature. Her short plays & plays for young actors have received multiple productions nationally and worldwide.
A 3-time TPS Gregory Award nominee, her other work has been produced extensively throughout the Seattle area. Rachel holds her Masters in Educational Theatre from New York University. A member of the ArtsWA Teaching Artist roster and the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture’s Arts Partner roster, she works as a master teaching artist for Arts Impact, Seattle Public Schools Ethnic Studies, and ACT’s Young Playwrights Program. Rachel received a 2019 GAP award for This Is Not (Y)Our History, a new play with music about race relations and conflicts within the women’s suffrage movement which centers on the marginalized voices of African-American suffragists silenced by history and draws parallels to today.
Lisa Holmberg
Musical Rehearsal Accompanist
Lisa Holmberg has enjoyed making music with Ballard High School’s music and drama departments for 15+ years, and was thrilled to accompany their production of Songs for A New World at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Her professional performance background includes acting, singing and playing piano; favorite roles include Adelaide (Guys and Dolls) and Madame Arcati (High Spirits). Her extensive music directing and/or accompanying credits with theaters, churches and schools in the Greater Seattle area include The Fantasticks, Quilters, Something’s Afoot, and Man of La Mancha, among others. Lisa’s onstage experience helps her connect with performers, and accompany them with sensitivity; she appreciates the opportunity to work alongside some of the region’s finest music and drama educators/directors, who she believes are right here at Ballard High School.
Gustavo's Gutierrez
Wigmaster, Photographer, Scenic Artist (Projections),
Videographer and Editor
Ballard alumna, Gustavo Gutierrez, is a workplace manager at a local tech company and a Seattle-based performer. Amongst his many passions, “Tavo’s” work with the Ballard Playmakers continues to be near and dear to his heart. Having participated in the Performing Arts Program at Ballard High School (Choir and Drama) Gustavo acknowledges the importance of providing students with high-caliber programs that nurture their artistic endeavours. The partnership began by providing photography for the program’s theatrical productions, which led to wig design, video production, scenery projections, and student coaching. Gustavo’s goal is to foster the artistic skills of students so that it enhances their experience in the program. He looks forward to continuing to support the Ballard Performing Arts and ensure students receive a positive, fun and professional experience.
Eia Waltzer
Choreographer
Eia Waltzer has been directing, choreographing, and teaching dance professionally around the Seattle and Los Angeles areas for the past 14 years. During that time she has worked with a wide range of ages, from elementary school children to college students to professionals. Though mainly a choreographer now, you may have also seen her onstage at various theatres, such as Village Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, and the Stepping Stone Players, among others. Her latest adventure has been starting her own children’s theatre company, Off Book Productions, that aims to bring high quality theatre opportunities to the Northeast Seattle area. Eia received her Masters in Teaching, and is now teaching theatre and music in the public schools full time.
CHOIR
Serena Chin
Choir Accompanist
Serena Chin has had the pleasure of collaborating with the Ballard choirs since 2013. She is an active accompanist, vocal coach, and chamber musician in the Seattle area and currently serves as an accompanist for the University of Washington and Choral Arts Northwest. She is passionate about working with singers, especially young voices, and has performed with choirs from numerous organizations, including the American Boychoir, Interlochen Arts Camp, and Children’s Choir of Washington (DC) as well as national, regional, and state honor choirs for ACDA, NAfME, and OAKE. Other Seattle collaborations have included Northwest Girlchoir, Seattle University, Mirinesse Women’s Choir, and Opus 7. Serena received her Bachelor of Music in piano from Wheaton College and Master of Music in coaching and accompanying from Westminster Choir College.
Evan Norberg
Tenor/ Bass Coach
Evan Norberg is quickly becoming one of the Pacific Northwest’s top conductors. Quoted as “unstoppable” and having “a clear and precise style”, Evan is steadily building his reputation as a clinician, private instructor, and conductor. He holds a voice studio based out of Seattle.
Evan has extensive knowledge in both classical and jazz styles, having been part of top notch ensembles in both community and school groups; Edmonds Community College’s Soundsation, Seattle Children’s Choir, Central Washington University’s Chamber Choir, Vocal Jazz 1, just to name a few. In the professional arena, Evan has performed as a guest bass/baritone soloist for many local community and school groups for major works, such as René Clausen’s Memorial, Handel’s Messiah, Faure’s Requiem, Mozart’s Vespers and more.
Through inspiration and guidance by the great arrangers of the Pacific Northwest such as Vijay Singh, Kirk Marcy, Kelly Kunz and many more, Evan has begun arranging his own jazz standards and compositions with a steady stream of charts for his own ensembles. More notably, his arrangement of “Love You Madly” was premiered at the National American Choral Directors Association Conference in Chicago in 2011.
Evan holds degrees from Edmonds Community College, and Central Washington University, which includes a Masters from CWU in both Choral Conducting and Vocal Performance. Evan is excited to be a part of the Seattle Choir scene as a singing member of Choral Arts, local jazz group Last Call, director of choirs, jazz studies and voice at Shoreline Community College, and conductor to his own group, the newly formed Wellspring Ensemble. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Evan formed Envision Studios, LLC, a company dedicated to the support of teachers developing virtual content for classes, rehearsals, and virtual performance.
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