Woodwinds

Grand Feature Film Orchestra - community/youth ensemble (GFFO)

The Grand Feature Film Orchestra (GFFO)

We're a non-profit San Francisco Bay Area student/community group based in Vacaville, California.  With a passion for how music, sound effects, and visual media come together to tell stories, The Grand Feature Film Orchestra studies, rehearses, and presents creative original and restored film scores live with the movie. Films from Chaplin, Lloyd, Keaton, Lang, and more, come to life with the music perfectly synchronized with the action on the screen.

Lars Johannesson

Lars Johannesson, flutist, is an active performer and teacher in the San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas. Lars studied modern flute with Lloyd Gowen and Tim Day at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he also began playing Baroque flute. He pursued post-graduate studies in Baroque flute with Wilbert Hazelzet at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Holland.

Lenora Warkentin

Lenora Warkentin received an MFA from UCLA where, in addition to winning a number of competitions, she was a Teaching Assistant for Music History classes and the Wind Ensemble. Her students have performed in the San Francisco Youth Orchestra, Young Peoples Symphony Orchestra, Berkeley Youth Orchestra, Young Peoples Chamber Orchestra, the Santa Cruz Jazz Festival, local theater orchestras, and the Junior Bach Festival.

Beverly McChesney

Bassoonist Beverly McChesney is a San Francisco native who has performed professionally in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 50 years. She attended San Francisco State University and earned a Bachelor of Music Degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She is the founder of the Bellavente Wind Quintet which specializes in educational concerts for children. Beverly produced Bellavente’s award winning CD for children called “Frogs and Friends” and received a Parents’ Choice Approved Award.

Georgeanne Banker

My teaching methods are tailored to each individual student, and are focused on building strong fundamentals and encouraging independent musical thought. Throughout the school year, I work with my students on youth orchestra and all-state audition preparation, school band/orchestra repertoire, youth orchestra audition and concert repertoire, and reed making. My students have passed successful auditions for the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, El Camino Youth Orchestra, and California All-State Orchestra and Band.