The Glenn Glasow Fellowship Concert

Honoring our Retirees

Jeffrey Sykes and Dann Zinn

Acclaimed by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as “a commanding solo player, the most supportive of accompanists, and a leader in chamber music,” pianist Jeffrey Sykes has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Western Europe. He has garnered praise for his interpretations of music both old and new: The San Francisco Examiner praised his appearance with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players as “a tour-de-force performance [that was] the evening’s major delight.” And The Well-Tempered Ear commented that “Mr. Sykes displayed the ideal Chopin touch and tone. His fleet fingers captured the lightness of the bel canto singing style in Chopin, with its filigree runs and quickly turned ornaments, all making the hard sound effortless and graceful.” Together with violinist Axel Strauss and cellist Jean-Michel Fonteneau, Sykes is a founding member of the San Francisco Piano Trio. Praised for its virtuosic ensemble playing throughout a wide repertoire ranging from the trios of Haydn and Beethoven to those of Leon Kirchner and Astor Piazzolla, the trio recently appeared on San Francisco Performances’ Salon at the Rex series and has upcoming performances on series in the Bay Area and the Midwest. Mr. Sykes’ other recent activities include a Carnegie Hall recital under the auspices of the Pro Musicis Foundation; a live broadcast over WGBH, Boston Public Radio; and a tour of Chile sponsored by the US State Department. Mr. Sykes is the founder and artistic director of the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society of Wisconsin, a highly-acclaimed and innovative chamber music festival now in its twenty-first season. He is a regular guest artist in the Cactus Pear Music Festival in San Antonio, Texas and Music in the Vineyards in Napa Valley, California; and in 2007, he served as the guest artistic director of Music in the Vineyards. He has recorded for the Albany, CRI, Mandala, Centaur, and Cactus Pear record labels. For more than twenty years, Mr. Sykes has served as the Music Director of Opera for the Young, a preeminent producer and presenter of opera for children that has introduced more than 2 million children to opera. He works extensively as a vocal coach throughout the US and teaches at the University of California at Berkeley. He joined the faculty of California State University-East Bay in the fall of 2008, where he directed the piano accompanying and vocal coaching programs until 2025. Mr. Sykes holds degrees with highest honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Franz-Schubert-Institut in Baden-bei-Wien, Austria. He continued his education as a Fulbright scholar at the Hochschule für Musik in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. A recipient of the Jacob Javits Fellowship from the US Department of Education, he completed his doctorate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

As a world-class saxophonist/flutist, Dann Zinn is renowned for being a passionate soloist and composer/arranger. Hailed over the years as “inventive,” “distinctive,” and for “creating a stunning and emotional listening experience,” Zinn has developed a unique style distinguishing him as a one of a kind artist with a tone unlike any other horn player on the jazz scene today. Zinn’s resume includes working with Omar Hakim, Rachel Z, Peter Erskine, Mike Stern, Leni Stern, Taylor Eigsti, Terri Lynn Carrington, Allison Miller, Derrick Hodge, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Cuong Vu, David Weiss, Dave Eshelman, Chuck Findly, Mary Wells, Martha and the Vandellas, and Barry Finnerty, among many others. In addition to his six CDs, Ten Songs, Wish, Grace’s Song, Shangri La, Day Of Reckoning, and his newest, Two Roads, his impressive discography includes over 100 appearances as a featured soloist and sideman on albums with prominent musicians. Zinn’s performances have spanned top venues including being featured at the San Francisco Jazz Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, New York City's Smalls, and the world famous Yoshi’s, where he has played to sold-out crowds. He has garnered critical acclaim from prestigious publications such as DownBeat Magazine, Jazz Times, Jazziz, and local media such as Oakland Magazine. Zinn’s other performance history includes television, radio, and multi media videos, and even children’s specials. When he is not recording and gigging, Zinn is teaching the best and the brightest jazz musicians in the country. He was Saxophone Instructor and Director of Jazz Studies at California State University East Bay for decades (first hired in 1995 and retired in 2024), the Director of the San Francisco Jazz Festival High School All Star Combo for 16 years, is still on the faculty of the University of California at Berkeley, The California Jazz Conservatory & Jazz School, and formerly taught at the Brubeck Institute. Zinn’s private studio is home to a list of multiple winners of full scholarships to schools such as the Boston Berklee School of Music, winners of the Jimmy Lyons Award, winners of the Downbeat best high school and college musician awards, winners of Thelonious Monk Institute scholarships, Grammy Band participants, and countless all star band members for famous jazz festivals. Some of his students include Dayna Stephens, Mark Zelesky, Chad Lefkowitz-Brown, Albert Baliwas, Jill Ryan, Natalie Cressman, Remy LeBoef, Pat Carroll, Hitomi Oba, Jesse Scheinen, Ben Flocks, and Kenny Shanker. He has also directed Ambrose Akinmusire, Justin Brown, Elena Pinderhughes, and Zach Ostroff in ensembles. ​Zinn and the Art of Saxophone, a much coveted and sought after series of six books instructing students and professionals on how to expand their playing abilities and concepts, is in its fifth printing. When Zinn tells his students they will be first chair in the All State Band by next year, he means it. He instills a work ethic in his students, which enables them to get the most out of their talent. He gives true meaning to the old adage, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” ​Zinn is currently enjoying the balance of his personal creative endeavors of being a composer and bandleader, as well as a sideman and teacher. He lives in Alameda, CA with his wife.