Touch of Brass is made up of five excellent brass players from the northern Colorado region:
GIL GARCIA (First trumpet, Leader) was born and raised in Denver. He served three years in the Marine Corps, during which time he played in the First Marine Division Band in Korea and the Department of the Pacific Marine Band in San Francisco. He earned a B.A. and an M.A. from the University of Northern Colorado and has done extensive work toward a Doctorate Degree in trumpet performance at the University of Oregon, Eugene. Gil has been a band director for 40 years and a professional orchestral player for 38 years. He has taught at CSU, UNC, Southern Colorado State College at Pueblo, and the Loveland schools. He has also been a clinician and a guest conductor in several states, and has served as conductor of the Loveland Concert Band and Loveland Summer Series, as well as heading up Touch of Jazz.
RICK HENRY (Second trumpet) has been involved in music education for 30 years. He earned his BME and MME degrees from the University of Northern Colorado. Now retired, he was previously director of bands at Thompson Valley High School in Loveland. Under his direction, the band program at TVHS received numerous superior ratings in concert, jazz, and marching. He was an active member of CBA, MENC, and IAJE. He has been a member of the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, and Fort Collins Symphony. Besides the Touch of Brass Quintet, he is currently a member of the Modernaires Dance Band and is an active freelance trumpet player in Denver and Northern Colorado.
BRENT THORDARSON (French horn) was raised in eastern Washington, and played horn, trumpet, and piano through his formative years. He graduated from Washington State University in 1984, where he studied horn while working on an engineering degree. After graduating he moved to Fort Collins, where he now lives with his wife and two children. He is employed as an engineer at Agilent Technologies. Brent joined Touch of Brass in 1995, and it has been his primary music focus for several years.
LEONARD "LENNY" KELLOGG (Trombone) was born in Iowa but soon moved to Loveland, where he attended Thompson R2-J schools K-12 and graduated from Loveland High School. His undergraduate degree is from UNC and his Masters Degree from the American Band College. He taught for 15 years in Sheridan, Colorado, where he expanded the program from three bands to six, coached groups that consistently earned superior ratings at festivals, won state marching titles, and competed at the BOA Grand National Marching Competition. In 1999 he married a former band parent and returned home to Loveland to become only the second band director in Conrad Ball Middle School's 30-year history. Here, he has co-produced the Loveland Middle School Band Festival and has reintroduced the Loveland Summer Music Program. In his spare time, Lenny plays trombone with the Blu Jazz Band, the Boulder Friends of Jazz, and the Touch of Brass Quintet.
JIM SCHAFER (Tuba) graduated from CSU in 1991 with a Bachelor's Degree in accounting. While at CSU, he played sousaphone in the marching band and played tuba with the concert band and wind ensembles. Since his graduation, Jim has played in various performing ensembles in northern Colorado, including the Northern Colorado Concert Band, the Loveland Concert Band, the Foothills Pops Band, the Loveland Choral Society, and now the Touch of Brass Quintet. Jim is married, has two children, and lives in Loveland.
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