Brian Switzer joined the Carlmont High School music faculty in 2016, first as Assistant Director and later as Director. Drawn by the reputation of Carlmont’s jazz ensemble, he has since led the program to new heights, including performance tours to New York and Chicago. Under his direction, the Carlmont Symphony Orchestra has recorded twice at George Lucas’s Skywalker Sound, performing John Williams’s finale to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and the finale of Dvořák’s New World Symphony. The legendary Carlmont Jazz Ensemble has also been featured in live broadcasts on KCSM 91.1, reaching an estimated worldwide audience of 280,000 listeners.
Mr. Switzer is also an accomplished professional trumpet player. For the past five years, he has been a member of Bob Weir’s Wolf Pack (Weir is a founding member and singer of the Grateful Dead), performing at venues such as the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra, Radio City Music Hall, and Red Rocks Amphitheatre. In the summer of 2025, he served as vocal conductor for Bob Weir during his performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.
Mr. Switzer studied music at UCLA, specializing in jazz performance and music education. After graduating, he revitalized the music program at Borel Middle School, growing it from 135 to 287 students in just three years. He later focused exclusively on directing the jazz band, allowing him to further develop his own playing and build a thriving private lesson studio. Many of his private students have earned substantial music scholarships and gone on to perform professionally. Under his leadership, the Borel Middle School Jazz Band earned multiple invitations to perform at the prestigious Next Generation Monterey Jazz Festival.
During this period, Mr. Switzer also toured briefly as a trumpet soloist with British rock band Muse, performing at venues including Madison Square Garden and The Forum in Los Angeles. He then joined the Grammy Award-winning rock band Train for two years, with appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Today Show, and a performance at the Sydney Opera House.
While touring with Train, Mr. Switzer created JazzDeck – Textbook in a Box, a unique and accessible resource for teaching jazz improvisation. JazzDeck quickly became one of the best-selling jazz education tools in the country and has now shipped to 39 countries worldwide.
Each year, graduating Carlmont musicians reflect that the music program was one of the most positive and defining parts of their high school experience. Mr. Switzer remains inspired by how far his students can take the music—on stage, in life, and beyond.