Craig Bryant has served as the Director of Instrumental Music at Albany High School in Albany, CA since 2007. Mr. Bryant leads a strong and diverse music program that is recognized for its musical excellence throughout the Bay Area. The instrumental program at Albany is made up of 200 students in two orchestras, two concert bands, and two jazz ensembles. Under Mr. Bryant’s direction, groups have received top ratings and awards at various band and orchestra festivals, as well as at the Folsom, Reno and Santa Cruz Jazz Festivals. In past years the Albany High School Jazz Band performed at the CMEA State Conference, and was selected as a finalist for the Next Generation Festival presented by the Monterey Jazz Festival (2010, 2015, 2018, 2019) and the “Essentially Ellington” contest presented by Jazz at Lincoln Center (2010). Mr. Bryant’s students participate in the Jazz School and SF All-Star bands, the Young People’s, Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco Youth Orchestras, the CBDA All-State Bands and Orchestras, and other area honor groups.
In addition to his work at Albany, Mr. Bryant is active in the Bay Area music education community. In 2018-19 Mr. Bryant conducted the College of San Mateo Symphonic Band. He served as Secretary for the California Alliance for Jazz from 2011-2016, and as Band Representative on the board of CMEA Bay Section from 2014-2018. He is a frequent adjudicator and clinician in the Bay Area, serves as regular conductor at Cazadero Music Camp, and conducted the 2016 California Jr. High School All-State Jazz Ensemble. Mr. Bryant was recognized as an NBC Sports Bay Area All-Star Teacher in 2018.
Mr. Bryant grew up in Asheville, NC, where his parents were his high school band and choir teachers. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in trombone performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and a Master of Music Education degree from Boston University.Mr. Bryant is a freelance trombonist in various bands and orchestras throughout the Bay Area. He performs regularly with the Berkeley Symphony, East Bay Mudd (Classic R&B), and Avance (Salsa). His trombone teachers include M. Dee Stewart, Carl Lenthe, Scott Hartman, and Jiggs Whigham. He loves to spend his free time enjoying the Bay Area with his wife Crystal and their two children, Paige and Miller.
Albany High School Instrumental Music 