Nick Antipa, Trumpet

Nick Antipa wanted to play the flute, but upon realization the Superman Theme sounded much better on the trumpet instantly moved to the dark side known as brass. He is credited with planting the idea for the movie ‘Inception’ into Christopher Nolan’s mind while he was dreaming.  Nick also speaks fluent French, in Russian, and has amassed an amazingly large DVD collection, which has never once been alphabetized. With two degrees in optical engineering under his belt and fourteen years in the belly dancing industry, he is the most interesting trumpet player in the world.

Austin McGee, Trumpet

Austin McGee took up the trumpet in the fourth grade only because his first choice, the trombone, was not to be found anywhere in his hometown of Sonoma, California.  He is pretty sure his parents had them all hidden and has held a grudge against trombone players ever since.  He was confused from an early age, taking lessons from a French Horn player of all people before coming to Cal and being caught up in the distraction that is Berkeley engineering for just long enough to get a BS degree.  He studies with San Francisco Opera principal trumpet Adam Luftman and graduated with a BA in music but now works as a sell-out Software Engineer  He enjoys saving the world and climbing rocks in his spare time, and has come to terms with the fact that he will never play trombone or be as tall as Scott or Francis.

Chad Goodman, Trumpet

A 2011 graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Chad Goodman received his Bachelor of Music degree while studying under the tutelage of renowned trumpet artist and pedagogue, James Thompson.  At Eastman, Chad performed frequently with the Eastman Philharmonia, the Eastman Wind Ensemble, and the Eastman Brass Guild. He has performed in master classes around the world for artists such as Jens Lindemann, Michael Sachs, Gabrielle Cassone, Guiliano Sommerhalder, David Bilger, and James Watson.  Chad has spent his summers performing at various music festivals, including the Banff Brass Ensemble Residency program, Le Domaine Forget International Music Festival, and the Summer Brass Institute at the Menlo School.  In 2007, Chad was the recipient of the Eastman School of Music’s prestigious Howard Hanson Scholarship.  Upon graduation in 2011, he was awarded the Sidney Mear Trumpet Prize.  Chad is currently pursuing his Master of Music degree in trumpet performance at San Francisco State University, where he is studying under Adam Luftman.  He is attending SFSU as a recipient of the Edward M. Nagel Scholarship.     

Nick Carnes, French Horn

Nick Carnes graduated in 2010 from UC Berkeley with a BA in Unemployment, though due to a clerical error the degree reads BA in Music. While he is by far the shortest member of BBQ, he likes to think the length of his horn makes up for it (a full 2 feet longer than the tuba). When not blowing the horn, Nick enjoys the agave plant and chasing after women he can't get. He should really take some lessons from Scott.

Scott Michel, Trombone

Scott Michel began his trombone studies at the age of ten and it has all been downhill ever since. Under the tutelage of private instructors Jim Prindle and Toby Oft, Scott has successfully managed over the past eleven years to become more awkward and clumsy than his instrument of choice. In his spare time, Scott enjoys eating (but not cooking), falling asleep in class and wooing women with his grandiose tales of heroic brass playing.

Francis Upton, Tuba

Francis Upton started his musical studies with the cello at age 12. After a few years of aural abuse to both the neighbors and his section mates Francis fortunately decided to switch to a different instrument. When asking his mom for a suggestion, she remarked "anything but tuba". Well the decision was easy at this point (and besides the tuba had buttons making it much easier to play). He has been playing ever since, much longer than any other member of the quintet has been breathing. Outside of private tuba study, Francis has no formal education in music, something he hopes to remedy before his death. Francis is mainly interested in chamber and symphonic music and has participated for many years at the Humboldt Brass Chamber Music Workshop. He has performed with a number of local groups and has been a member of Peninsula Symphony, Ohlone Wind Ensemble, Punk Rock Orchestra, Oakland Civic Orchestra, and Fog City Brass. He currently performs with the UC Berkeley Symphony and the Berkeley Brass Quintet. Francis has studied with Charlie Warren, Tony Clements, Peter Wahrhaftig and currently studies with trombonist Don Howe. Francis is devoted to the ideas of Arnold Jacobs.