Guitar & Ukulele Faculty
Gianfranco Baltazar
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Gianfranco Baltazar (guitarist and composer) was born in Lima, Peru and at age six moved to San Francisco, California. He studied guitar and chamber music with Scott Cmiel at both the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music pre-college and studied composition at the John Adams Young Composers Program with Director Matthew Cmiel and Chicago Symphony Composer-in-Residence Samuel Adams. The San Francisco Ballet School feature one of his compositions on their 2016 Showcase Concert and in the From the Top NPR show in San Jose 2016.
Gianfranco supplemented his study of the classical guitar with research and performances of traditional Peruvian music, bossa nova, tango, and flamenco. He have studied for four years at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with David Tanenbaum, as well as having the chance to have masterclasses with Sergio Assad, Manuel Barrueco, William Kanengiser, David Leisner, and Su Meng. |
Sungmin Lee
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Sungmin Lee is a classical guitarist from South Korea who is currently based in San Francisco, California. He started piano training when he was four years old and his passion for music grew at a young age of 12, when he grew interest in finger style guitar. Sungmin then discovered his love for classical music, sparking his interest in studying classical guitar.
Sungmin has received several prizes and wide recognitions in competitions during his guitar career—highlights include the Great Lakes Guitar Festival, Eastman Guitar Concerto Competition, Lone Star Guitar Festival and SF Bay Classical Guitar Competition. He has also performed in several reputable master classes with Jorge Caballero, Carlos Barbosa Lima, Manuel Barrueco, and Matthew McAllister. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Sungmin received his Bachelor of Music in Guitar Performance in addition to the Performer’s Certificate. He received his Master of Music degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 2020. At SFCM, his primary teacher is Judicaël Perroy and prior teachers include Nicholas Goluses, Thomas Viloteau, and Leighann Narum. |
Matt Funamura
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Matt Funamura is a trumpeter, guitarist, composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist raised in the Sierra Nevada Foothills near Sacramento. At the age of six, he picked up his first guitar and trumpet at the age of 8 beginning his musical journey. He majored in music performance and jazz studies at American River College in Sacramento, California for two years during which time he was a freelance musician throughout the west coast. He then went on to earn a Bachelor of Performance from Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA.
Matt has performed with and studied under numerous musicians in a wide range of genres including: Angelique Kidjo, Ingrid Jensen, Tiger Okoshi, Gamble & Huff, Salvador Santana, Joe Gilman, Charles Haynes, Dontae Winslow, Jerry Martini, and Victor Mendoza. He currently plays with local legend Ed Ivey and the North Beach Brass Band, as well as a wide range of musical acts in Northern California. He teaches trumpet, guitar, bass, ukulele, and mandolin. |
Ahmed Ragab
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A trilingual artist, composer and multi-instrumentalist. Originally from Egypt, he listened to and lived in both Egyptian and Japanese cultures during his childhood. He started learning music on the drum kit at 17 and has been on a journey exploring the different languages of music ever since. Starting from Heavy metal music, he quickly expanded into learning jazz, funk eventually learning piano and composition.
Ahmed has performed in various places around the world, including San Francisco, Philadelphia, Tokyo, and Cairo. He has performed in local festivals with several notable artists in the Bay Area including, Audiopharmacy, Climbingpoetree, Nina Grae, Sasha Bayan, Teao Sense, Thieves of the Sun, Dave Mihaly and YOURS. His style of playing ranges from Rock, Funk, Reggae, Jazz, all the way to Hip-hop as well as Electronic and world music. |