Mike Galisatus
Trumpet – Director, Miles Ahead Big Band; Giant Steps Day Camp, Giant Steps Package
Michael Galisatus has been directing the Miles Ahead Big Band since its creation in 2015, leading the elite group to honors and awards at the Next Generation Jazz Festival and wiht the DownBeat magazine Student Music Awards for multiple years. He has also been an integral member of the dynamic faculty at Jazz Camp.
Michael is former Professor of Music and Director of Bands at the College of San Mateo, and is currently the director of the Stanford University Jazz Orchestra. He has been the recipient of various teaching honors including the CMEA Bay Section Outstanding Jazz Educator Award 2015-2016, The Peninsula Arts Council Arts Educator of the Year for 2007, the Otter Distributors 2004 Jazz Educator Award for the state of California, the California PTA Honorary Service Award, and the CMEA Bay Section Gil Freitas Memorial Award for music education. Prior to his appointment at the College of San Mateo, Michael was the band director at South San Francisco, El Camino, and Aragon High Schools. He currently holds the office of Jazz Representative for the California Music Educator’s Association, and is on the board of the California Alliance for Jazz. He is also a past president of the California Music Educator’s Association Bay Section.
Michael is in demand as an adjudicator throughout California, and has appeared as guest conductor for the CMEA Bay Section Conference Band, Hayward Unified School District High School Honor Band, The Elk Grove Unified School District High School Honor Band, The Stanislaus County Music Educators Association High School Honor Jazz Band, The San Mateo Union High School District Honor Jazz Band and Concert Bands, the Contra Cost County Honor Junior High School Honor Jazz Band, and the West Contra Costa County Honor High School Band.
As a freelance trumpeter in the San Francisco Bay Area, Michael has recorded with Pete Escovedo and Queen Ida, and has performed with a variety of artists, including Louis Bellson, Natalie Cole, Frank Sinatra Jr., Mary Wilson, Kenny Washington, Jamie Davis, Frankie Valli, Kenny Loggins, Gladys Knight, Johnny Mathis, Mel Torme, The Temptations, Michael Feinstein and a host of others.
