Meet the Members
Ari Micich
, trumpet
Trumpeter Ari Micich has held positions with the KwaZulu Natal Philharmonic in Durban, South Africa and the Berkeley Symphony. He has performed with the San Francisco Symphony, SF Ballet, and has appeared with the New World Symphony at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, under conductor Michael Tilson Thomas. While performing with the KwaZulu Natal Philharmonic, he performed for Nelson Mandela's ninety-fifth birthday celebration in Paris.
Ari is also a composer, drawing from his background in jazz for solo trumpet and chamber works.
Joseph Brown
, trumpet
Joseph Brown has been a member of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra as second trumpet since 2016. He performs frequently with the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Opera and has worked with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Seattle, Detroit, Atlanta, San Diego, Sarasota, and Tucson Symphonies. He has played guest principal trumpet with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and Hawaii Symphony Orchestra.
In his free time, Joe enjoys skiing, running, hiking, home brewing, and spending time with his wife, Erika and their cat, Bailey.
Erika Miras
, french horn
Erika Miras has held positions in Sarasota Opera, Florida Grand Opera and Palm Beach Symphony. She has performed with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Opera San Jose, Dallas Opera, Breckenridge Music Festival, Fresno Philharmonic, Modesto Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, and Santa Cruz Symphony, among others. An enthusiastic chamber musician, she performed as a contributing artist at the International Horn Symposium in 2015, and was a 2014 Coleman Chamber Competition finalist.
Erika lives in El Cerrito with her husband Joe, dog Dale and cat Bailey.
Esther Armendariz
, trombone
Esther Armendariz is principal trombonist with the Santa Cruz Symphony and the Stockton Symphony, and is 2nd trombone of Symphony San Jose and the Marin Symphony. In 2016, she played a one-year position as associate principal/2nd trombone with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic. Esther has performed with the SF Symphony, SF Ballet, SF Opera, the Colorado Symphony, Jalisco Philharmonic, Monterey Symphony, Modesto Symphony Orchestra and others.
When she’s not working, Esther enjoys playing pool, swing dancing and going for motorcycle rides with her boyfriend and 8-pound mutt, Dasha.
Gary Jones
, bass trombone
Gary Jones is an active freelance bass trombonist and teacher based out of San Anselmo. He has performed with the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Opera, Oakland Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, Modesto Symphony and Fresno Philharmonic. Prior to his freelance career, Jones was a member of the USAF Band of the Golden West for 6 years. A native of Long Island, NY, he received his Bachelor of Music in trombone performance at the Eastman School of Music and his master’s in music at The San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
His teachers include John Engelkes, Timothy Higgins and John Marcellus. Gary was the brass instructor at Redwood High School in Larkspur as well as the Trombone Teaching Artist at Enriching Lives Through Music. In his free time, Jones enjoys cooking and hiking with his wife Stephanie and hanging out with their two cats.