Selected Alumni Bios

• Daniel Rocha

  Daniel Rocha is a freelance hornist and an educator. Currently based in Newark, Delaware, he has performed extensively in and around the New York City metropolitan area. A versatile performer, Daniel's performance credits range from a production of The Who's "Tommy" in Manhattan's Abrons Arts Center, to a performance with the band Weezer on the stage of Madison Square Garden. In the studio, he has performed as principal horn on jazz pianist Kenny Werner's album, "No Beginning, No End," featuring Joe Lovano on saxophone and the vocals of Judi Silvano (Half-Note Records, 2010), and on the feature film "Blue Ridge." 

  As a chamber musician, Daniel is an active promoter of music for the woodwind quintet, championing new works, and premiering them with the Spectre Wind Quintet, and most recently, with NOTU5 (no-tus), the resident fellowship quintet of the University of Delaware. Reaching beyond traditional performance outlets, NOTU5 has been active in the Newark-Wilmington public school systems with outreach programs fusing popular and classical musical forms. Daniel received a B.M. in Horn Performance with a minor in Business Studies from New York University, where he studied with Joseph Anderer. He is currently pursuing a M.M. in Horn Performance from the University of Delaware where he studies with John D. Smith.

  Photo: Rocha (seated) with his quintet.

• Justin Stanley

  Justin Stanley is the founder of, and hornist for, the Wenham Street Brass, and the Education Director at A Street Music LLC. He started playing the horn when he was 11 years old. He had early successes in music performance – such as winning first chair in the Texas All-State competition – and he moved to New York to study with Joseph Anderer at New York University in 2004.

  Justin gained a great deal of experience during his time in New York through regularly attending performances at the Metropolitan Opera, performing in NYU orchestra and wind ensemble concerts, or creating music with artists around New York. In 2006, Justin was a finalist for the wind-concerto competition and performed with the NYU Wind Ensemble. Performing chamber music at NYU, mainly in woodwind quintets, was important as it led to a deep love of chamber music and to the creation of the Wenham Street Brass in 2010. Justin views chamber music as an optimal medium to draw audiences and musicians alike into artistic experiences.

  In 2008, Justin moved to Boston to attend the New England Conservatory and study with Jean Rife. Justin performed with the school’s Philharmonia Orchestra under Hugh Wolf, Benjamin Zander and others, but focused mainly on chamber music and Music-in-Education. His horn quartet was a finalist for the NEC Wind Concert Competition with their performance of Schumann’s Konzertstück. Justin completed his Masters Degree in horn performance with academic honors and a Music-in-Education concentration in 2010.

  Music-in-Education (MIE), a program of study at NEC, focuses strongly on the idea of Artist-Teacher-Scholar, a framework that promotes the evolution and growth musical artistry, teaching artistry, and scholarship in NEC students. Justin applied these ideas to his own musicianship, and also began teaching regularly to private students, as an intern in public schools, as a teaching assistant for NEC graduate classes, in musical outreach through chamber ensembles, and eventually through A Street Music LLC, where he created an education program (including lessons, community outreach, student/teacher concerts, and summer camps).

  Justin formed the Wenham Street Brass (WSB), a collective of brass players in Boston, for the purpose of achieving the highest musical standards and for teaching through artistic engagement. The WSB has commissioned music from notable composers (including Nathan Ball and an ongoing collaboration with Derek David), performed numerous outreach programs and recitals in its first year. Justin is the director of two summer music camps for children in the Boston area. Justin also performs regularly around the Boston area.

  Links:

  • astreetmusiceducation.wordpress.com
  • www.wenhamstreetbrass.com
• Douglas Yeo

  Douglas Yeo (M.A., Music Performance) currently plays bass trombone with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and plays concerts throughout the world. He maintains an impressive web-site that is extremely informative and highly imaginative in its presentation and development. He has written several books and has a solo recording recently released. www.yeodoug.com

  Since going to Boston and joining the Boston Symphony, Mr. Yeo has been involved extensively in teaching, from 1985-1992 and again since 1996 at New England Conservatory of Music and, since 1993, at Boston University. Since 1995, he has been on the faculty of the annual Hamamatsu (Japan) International Wind Academy and Seminar. He has been a soloist with the Boston and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, on both occasions becoming the first bass trombonist to perform as soloist with either orchestra. In 1991, he gave the premiere of Vaclav Nelhybel's Concerto for Bass Trombone with the New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble and performed John Williams' Tuba Concerto with the Boston Pops Orchestra under Mr. Williams. He gave the first performance of Lawrence Wolfe's Wildfire with the University of Washington Wind Ensemble in 1995. His new solo recording, PROCLAMATION with the Black Dyke Mills Band features premieres of four newly commissioned works: Proclamation by Gordon Langford, Rainy Day In Rio by Goff Richards, Triptych by Lawrence Wolfe and Tribute to George Roberts arranged by Bill Geldard. In May 1997, he will perform Simon Proctor's Concerto for Serpent and Orchestra with the Boston Pops Orchestra.