I joined the San Francisco Pride Band in 2015 and am an active musician in the percussion section for the Marching, Pep, and Concert Bands.
Driven by my love of playing music, I had been looking for a band to join after relocating back to the Bay Area, when I came across the San Francisco Pride Band’s website after an internet search for community bands. What I ended up finding was not only a band; I found a band with a mission: “To promote visibility of LGBTQ+ communities”, a statement that I support for the great community where I choose to live and work. I also found a place to continue my love of playing music and a group of talented musicians I now call friends.
My favorite memory is the first parade I marched in with the Band, the 2016 Chinese New Year Parade. Marching in a night parade for the first time, the excitement of the crowd, and the loud firecracker pops! It is an experience I will never forget.
My proudest moments are when we performed in support at the first Women’s March in 2017 in Oakland, CA and in 2018 when the Band was designated “The Official Band of the City and County of San Francisco” in a formal ceremony at City Hall with the Mayor. I am honored to be a member of such a great Band!
I am a percussionist in the Corte Madera Town Band and I have performed in the percussion section with the Golden Gate Symphony Orchestra and Choir and Awesöme Orchestra Collective. I play clarinet, too, and have performed with the woodwinds in the Ventura College Symphony Orchestra.