BAHLEST EEBLE FACULTY
2025-2027

Kyle Bruckmann, oboe

Oboist Kyle Bruckmann tramples genre boundaries in widely ranging work as a composer/performer, educator, classical freelancer and New Music specialist. His creative output – extending from conservatory-trained foundations into gray areas encompassing free jazz, post-punk rock, and the noise underground – can be heard on more than 80 recordings from labels such as New World, Hat Art, Carrier, New Focus, Clean Feed, Another Timbre and Sick Room. His ensemble affiliations currently include Splinter Reeds, sfSound, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Eco Ensemble, Quinteto Latino, and the Stockton Symphony. He is Assistant Professor of Practice in Oboe and Contemporary Music at University of the Pacific, and also teaches at UC Santa Cruz, Davis and Berkeley.

Since moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2003, he has performed as a substitute with the San Francisco Symphony and most of the area’s regional orchestras while remaining active within an international community of improvisers and sound artists. From 1996 until his Western relocation, he was a fixture in Chicago’s thriving experimental music scene, where the most significant projects he led or collaboratively founded included EKG, Lozenge, and Wrack.

Bruckmann earned undergraduate degrees in music and psychology at Rice University in Houston, studying oboe with Robert Atherholt, serving as music director of campus radio station KTRU, and achieving academic distinction as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He completed his M.M. in 1996 at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he studied oboe performance with Harry Sargous and contemporary improvisation with Ed Sarath.

www.kylebruckmann.com 

Jamael Smith, bassoon

Jamael Smith is a performer and educator based in San Francisco. They are a member of San Francisco Contemporary Players, Quinteto Latino, the conductorless chamber orchestra One Found Sound and Avenue Winds. They have performed and recorded with the San Francisco Symphony and also perform regularly with Bay Area ensembles like the Santa Rosa Symphony, California Symphony, Opera Parallèle, Eco Ensemble and many others.

An advocate for music being written now, Jamael has premiered the works of artists including Meredith Monk, John Adams, and Herbert Mells. Dedicated to education, Smith has been a teaching artist for San Francisco Symphony’s Adventures in Music program as well as the many education initiatives that Quinteto Latino services. They have attended summer festivals such as the Kent Blossom Summer Festival and the Pierre Monteux Festival. They completed graduate studies with Stephen Paulson and have also studied with Seth Krimsky and Bill Buchman. Jamael joined the San Francisco Contemporary Players in 2023.

Chris Froh, percussion

Percussionist Christopher Froh specializes in promoting and influencing the creation of new music through critically-acclaimed performances and dynamic lectures. A member of the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Empyrean Ensemble, Rootstock Percussion, and San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Froh has premiered over 100 chamber and solo works by composers from 15 countries. He is known for his energized performances which have been hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as “tremendous” and San Francisco Classical Voice as “mesmerizing. As a soloist, he has appeared at festivals and recitals across Japan, China, Turkey, Europe, and the United States including the Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center. He has recorded, to critical acclaim, with the San Francisco Symphony on SFS Media; as a soloist on Albany, Bridge, Innova, and Equilibrium labels; and as a chamber musician on Music@Menlo LIVE. He frequently tours Japan with marimbist Mayumi Hama and with his former teacher, famed marimba pioneer Keiko Abe.

Active in music for theatre and dance, Froh has recorded scores for American Conservatory Theater, performed as a soloist with the Berkeley Repertory Theater, and composed original music for Oakland-based Dance Elixir. His score for the Harvard Museum of Natural History’s exhibition of Thoreau’s Walden: A Journey in Photography has toured the United States.

Currently, Chris teaches percussion at the University of California at Davis and CSU Sacramento.

Ráyo Furuta, flute

Dubbed “The Rockstar of the Flute” by the Informador de Guadalajara (Mexico), Mexican-Japanese American flutist Ráyo Furuta has performed worldwide as a commanding and versatile performing artist within the classical, contemporary, world, jazz, and pop sectors.

Officiated as a cultural ambassador to the United States of America in 2014, Furuta has toured as a performer and teacher across Mexico, Japan, Austria, Czech-Republic, Poland, Hungary, and throughout the Middle East and North America. He has performed for internationally recognized names including Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad Ensemble, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The Juilliard School, The United Nations, and the Mainly Mozart, Okayama, Sarasota, and Yellowbarn Music Festivals. As a dynamic performer, he has also frequented the stage as a concerto soloist, championing the contemporary concerti of Yuko Uebayashi, Brett Dean, and Paul Schoenfield and a touring solo recitalist mastering the cornerstones of the flute repertoire.

Dedicated to Chamber Music, Furuta maintained an active role as the flutist with several ensembles including Furuta/Cann Duo with pianist Michelle Cann, Furuta/Kibbey duo with harpsit Bridget Kibbey, Furujii with percussionist Haruka Fujii, and the Burkart Duo with flutist Carol Wincenc. He has also shared the stage with classical luminaries including Jon Nakamatsu, Peter Frankl, and members of the Avalon, Brooklyn Rider, Kronos, Mendelssohn, and Emerson String Quartets. Additionally, his passion for world music has led to performances with superstars Van Anh Vo (Danh Tranh), Sandeep Das (Indian Tabla), Vijay Gopal (Bansuri), Merima Kljuco (Accordion), Ghassan Sahhab (Qanun), and Christina Pato (Galacian Bagpipe) to name only a few. He is also a member of the Mexico-city based Contemporary Mexican Jazz Band, Toktli, and is a leading-artist-member of the Common Sounds ensemble.

As a passionate teaching artist, Furuta is a Lecturer of Performance Practice and Music & Social Justice at Santa Clara University. In addition, he leads courses in global music performance and ethnomusicology. Prior to this, he served as an instructor in flute and chamber music for the undergraduate music department at Stony Brook University as the hand-selected teaching assistant to the Emerson String Quartet.

https://rayofuruta.com/

Kathryn Schulmeister, bass

Praised for her “expressive and captivating performance” (GRAMMY.com), bassist Kathryn Schulmeister brings radiant energy to her creative musical practice ranging from classical to experimental. With a fearless curiosity for collaborative environments, Kathryn’s enthusiasm for seeking opportunities to integrate improvisation, movement and theatre into her creative practice have led her to thrive as an active performer in festivals and venues around the world.  

Kathryn is a member of several contemporary music ensembles including the renowned Australian ELISION Ensemble, Fonema Consort (NYC), and the Echoi Ensemble (LA). She has performed as a guest artist with various adventurous international ensembles such as Klangforum Wien, Ensemble MusikFabrik, Delirium Musicum, Ensemble Dal Niente, and Ensemble Vertixe Sonora.

Equally passionate and experienced as an orchestral musician, Kathryn served as a core member of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra for three consecutive seasons from 2014-2017 and has performed with the Ojai Festival Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, New West Symphony, California Chamber Orchestra, Lucerne Festival Alumni Orchestra, Pacific Lyric Opera, Maui Chamber Orchestra, and Hawaii Opera Theater.

Kathryn received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Contemporary Music Performance from the University of California San Diego, Master of Music degree from McGill University, and Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music.

In Fall 2023, Kathryn joined the faculty of the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music as Assistant Professor of Practice in String Bass.

https://kathrynschulmeister.com/

Haruka Fujii, percussion

Multi-percussionist Haruka Fujii has become one of the most prominent solo percussionists and marimbists of her generation. She has won international acclaim for her interpretations of contemporary music, having performed premieres of works from composers including Tan Dun, Nico Muhly, Vijay Iyer, Joji Yuasa, and Maki Ishii. Since 2010 Ms. Fujii has performed as a member of the Grammy Award winning Silk Road Ensemble, joining a group of international musicians founded by Yo-Yo Ma. She has frequently collaborated with composer Tan Dun, performing his Water Percussion Concerto, Paper Percussion Concerto, and opera Tea in major venues across the world

Ms. Fujii’s passion for introducing audiences to new percussion music has put her on stage with diverse orchestras and ensembles. She has appeared as a soloist with the Munich Philharmonic, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Nationale de Lyon, and the NHK Symphony Orchestra. She is a member of Flexible Music  and the Line C3 Percussion Group and two New York based ensembles and also Utari Percussion Duo, a duet project with her sister Rika which actively commission new compositions from young composers. Her world premiere recordings can be found on the SONY, Kosei, ALM Records, and Deutsche Grammophon labels. In addition to her career as a performing artist Ms. Fujii directed the percussion department at the University of Connecticut from 2009-2011, and has been a frequent guest instructor at Juilliard Summer Percussion Seminar and several international percussion festivals.

Born in Saitama, Japan, Ms. Fujii began her musical studies on the piano at the age of three. Influenced by her mother, noted marimbist Mutsuko Fujii, she developed interest in percussion instruments. She studied music at the Tokyo National University, the Juilliard School, and the Mannes College of Music.

https://www.harukafujii.com/

Amr Selim, French horn

Amr Selim is a musician, educator, cultural entrepreneur, and community leader born and raised in Cairo, Egypt. His work has taken him to most of the Middle East, Europe, and the USA -- whether collaborating, performing, teaching, or speaking, Amr aims to advocate for a thoroughly decolonized and inclusive performance and education climate. His endeavors can be seen through his publications, guest talks and lectures, membership in the Presidential Task Force on Leading Change in Music Education, and co-chairing the International Initiative Committee at the College Music Society.

Dr. Selim is a former professor of Music at the Lebanese American University and has held posts at Adelphi University and Stony Brook University in New York, at which he earned his Doctorate in Musical Arts as a Staller Scholar. As a musician described as "expressive and ghostly wailing [playing] of a kind never heard from the instrument before" Amr has worked closely with renowned artists, conductors, and ensembles such as The Silk Road Ensemble and Yo-Yo Ma, Emerson String Quartet, Imani Winds, Daniel Barenboim, Frank Shipway, Christopher Muller, Ingo Metzmacher, and Gunther Schuller.

As the Director of International Music Programs at the Association of American Voices, Amr is working extensively on international projects such as YES Academies, the "Heart of" series, and a new Cultural Diplomacy endeavor that helps musician and educators use their knowledge to impact the communities around them.