Our Faculty

Karlos Elizondo, an accomplished music educator with over 20 years of experience, has been a dedicated faculty member at Bradley Middle School in North East ISD since 2018. As Director of Bands, he leads the Honor Band, Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, and beginner brass classes, while co-directing the Symphonic Band. His ensembles consistently achieve top honors, earning UIL Sweepstakes ratings, unanimous first division awards, and Overall Outstanding Band accolades at prestigious festivals statewide.

In 2019, under his leadership, the Bradley Jazz Ensemble was invited to perform at both the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic and the Texas Bandmasters Association Convention. Building on that success, the ensemble will return to the Midwest Clinic in 2024—an impressive endorsement of Mr. Elizondo's sustained program excellence. The Bradley Jazz program has since expanded to over 100 students across five jazz ensembles: three full big bands, a jazz combo, and a beginner jazz band for sixth graders. Under his direction, these bands frequently achieve first-place recognition at prominent festivals hosted by institutions such as the University of Texas at Austin, Texas State University, St. Mary’s University, and Palo Alto College.

Beyond his educational role, Mr. Elizondo is a highly regarded clinician and adjudicator, maintaining active memberships in the Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, Texas Jazz Educators Association, and Texas Music Adjudicators Association. As a distinguished trumpet player, he is widely sought-after across Texas, with an extensive performance portfolio that includes collaborations with legendary artists and ensembles like The GAP Band, Eddie Palmieri, Haley Reinhardt, The Temptations, The San Antonio Symphony, Tito Puente Jr., Mannheim Steamroller, and The Latin Breed. His Broadway musical credits include acclaimed productions such as MJ The Musical, All Shook Up, Chicago, A Chorus Line, Ragtime, Little Women, In the Heights, Guys & Dolls, and Cabaret.

Mr. Elizondo also serves as the lead trumpet for the Doc Watkins Orchestra at JAZZ, TX, located in San Antonio's vibrant Pearl district, where he continues to showcase his exceptional musical talent and versatility.

Outside his professional achievements, Mr. Elizondo values time spent with his lovely wife, Madeline, and their two awesome children, Amelie and Karlos.

Dr. Adrian Ruiz is active as a freelance trumpeter, having performed regularly throughout the states of Texas and Iowa. In February 2021, he received a Grammy nomination in the Best Contemporary Blues Album category for Live at the Paramount with the Ruthie Foster Big Band. In June 2021, Dr. Ruiz authored a series of Claudio Roditi transcriptions, which are available through qPress Music Publishing.

Dr. Ruiz has performed internationally at the Guatemala, Montreux, North Sea, and Taichung Jazz Festivals. He has shared the stage with the following musical acts: Justo Almario, Benny Benack III, Ignacio Berroa, Angela Bofill, Don Braden, Carmen Bradford, Tony Campise, Bryan Carter, Gary Clark Jr., John Clayton, Richie Cole, Kirk Covington, Martina DaSilva, Cornelius Eady, Ruthie Foster, Joel Frahm, Gerry Gibbs, Terry Gibbs, Al Grey, Andre Hayward, Jon Hendricks, Vincent Herring, Conrad Herwig, Norah Jones, Will Kennedy, Shelley King, Doug Lawrence, Chad Lefkowitz-Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis, Los Lobos, Jason Marsalis, Johnny Mathis, Buddy Miles, Butch Miles, James Moody, James Morrison, Michael Philip Mossman, Eddie Palmieri, Bernadette Peters, Tito Puente, Jr., Rufus Reid, Graham Reynolds, Joan Rivers, Joshua Redman, Bruce Saunders, Boz Scaggs, Maria Schneider, Mike Smith, The Temptations, Clark Terry, Jimmie Vaughan, War, Dale Watson, The Who, Mary Wilson and The Supremes, Carolyn Wonderland, and Red Young.

In addition to his performance schedule, Dr. Ruiz has presented clinics and performances at the Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conference, the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) and the Texas Bandmasters Association (TBA) Conventions. He has served as an adjudicator at band contests, jazz festivals, and has presented masterclasses at various school districts throughout San Antonio and Austin.

In May 2017, Ruiz made his recording debut as a leader, releasing his first full-length album entitled Premiere: A Collection Of Originals. Scott Yanow, acclaimed jazz journalist/historian and author, states the following concerning Premiere: "Adrian Ruiz is an impressive trumpeter who makes his recording debut as a leader on Premiere...In addition to being a fine showcase for the Adrian Ruiz Quintet, Premiere: A Collection Of Originals, is a fun set of creative jazz that is easily recommended." 

In July 2017, Ruiz was selected as a Schilke Artist! Since 1956, these hand crafted instruments are considered, to this day, to be the very best and the first choice for professional players around the world. For more information concerning Schilke Music Products, please visit their website: http://www.schilkemusic.com.  

Ruiz received his Bachelor of Music Studies from the University of Texas at San Antonio, Master of Music from Texas State University, and Doctor of Musical Arts in Jazz Trumpet Performance from the University of Texas at Austin. His principal teachers were Ray Sasaki, Dennis Dotson, Jeff Hellmer, Keith Winking, Jan Roller, and Andrew Gignac. Ruiz currently serves as Assistant Professor of Music, Director of Jazz Studies, at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, TX. Ruiz is formerly the Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where he taught the following courses: Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Combo, History and Styles of Jazz, Jazz Arranging and Composition, Private Jazz Improvisation, and Brass Methods.

Steve Mohacey is a San Antonio–based saxophonist, music educator, and jazz performer with a distinguished career spanning education, military service, and professional performance. A graduate of The University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Music Education degree and Performance Certificate, he received the DownBeat Magazine Student Music Award for Outstanding Performance in 1987. He also performed with the Disneyland All-American College Band and served as Music Director for SeaWorld of Texas.
Steve served 22 years in the U.S. Army Band, retiring as a First Sergeant. During his military career, he performed around the world for U.S. presidents, international dignitaries, and audiences across the globe. As a saxophone instructor at the Armed Forces School of Music, he trained musicians from every branch of the military, and his compositions and arrangements remain part of the military band repertoire.
Today, Steve is Associate Director of Bands at Boerne Middle School North in Boerne ISD. An active performer, he leads his jazz group, Ulterior Motive, and performs with the San Antonio Jazz Orchestra and The Powerhouse Big Band. Steve is honored to share his passion for jazz through performance, education, and mentorship.

 From El Paso, a part of a class of young musicians ready to make their mark on ATX, comes Demetreis Thornton. Drawing upon sounds reminiscent of Curtis Fuller, Steve Davis, Benny Golson, Slide Hampton, and Art Blakey, he specializes in jazz on the bass trombone, offering a unique perspective on jazz trombone unlike any other. Demetreis puts serving the music above all else, and has shared the stage with many luminaries such as Brad Goode, Quincy Davis, Brad Leali, and Nat Reeves to name a few. Since moving to Austin in 2023, he has hit the ground running and can be seen composing, arranging, educating, and playing with groups of all shapes and sizes in the Central Texas area, studying under the tutelage of Paul Deemer and Andre Hayward.

A mix of hard swinging bop, nuanced ballads, and feel good groove. Demetreis brings a modern sound steeped in the tradition of the masters before him. Exploring his own emotional complexities, from exuberant to melancholic moods, with melodic intricacy and great rhythmic poise, he is a familiar sight (and sound!) in all of Austin’s adored music venues.

Dr. Utah Hamrick is a jazz educator who holds a BME and MM from Central Michigan University and a DMA in Jazz Performance from the University of Texas. He is the Director of Jazz Studies at Texas State University, where he conducts the Jazz Ensemble as well as teaching jazz bass, graduate jazz history, and graduate jazz pedagogy. Under his direction the Texas State Jazz Ensemble has performed with jazz greats such as James Morrison, Gregg Bissonnette, Brian Bromberg, Conrad Herwig, Joel Frahm, Steve Houghton, and John Riley, and has been invited to perform at the TMEA conference, Denton Jazz Festival, the Notre Dame Jazz Festival and PASIC. 

Utah has been a freelance bassist in central Texas for the last 21 years, performing with a wide range of ensembles including numerous jazz groups, the Austin Symphony, Conspirare, and the Austin Chamber Music Center. For the last 14 years he has been performing with composer Graham Reynolds, including his work with Golden Arm Trio, Austin Ballet, Forklift Danceworks, the motion picture soundtracks for Bernie and All is Bright, and touring internationally with his opera Pancho Villa from a Safe Distance.  Utah has also performed with jazz luminaries such as Houston Person, Byron Stripling, Larry Ham, Bill Watrous, and Tommy Igoe, and with Willie Nelson for the opening of the ACL Live Moody Theater. He can be heard on the JazzBonez release Watch it! on Summit records, with Altin Sencalar on Reconnected from Outside in Music, Blu-Escape with Hank Hehmsoth on Time Space Fabrics Records, and the animated short The OceanMaker.