About Brian Brancato

Hello! My name is Brian Brancato. Music has been a big part of my life since I started playing trumpet in 5th grade. I began playing guitar soon after that, but focused primarily on the trumpet all through middle and high school. After graduating from Fairport High School in 2014, I went on to the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, where I earned my Bachelors and Masters degrees in Music Education. Throughout my time there, I played in just about every ensemble available to me and gained valuable experience playing in a wide range of genres and settings. I also developed an interest in music production, which has augmented my experiences as a songwriter and a music listener.

My first year of teaching was in the Rochester City School District as an itinerant music teacher between two high schools. I worked with a diverse student community at each school, teaching guitar and piano at James Monroe High School, and teaching instrumental lessons at the Leadership Academy for Young Men. When the in-person school year was truncated by the pandemic, my students and I transitioned into the online environment of Zoom and Google Classroom. We also worked on a composition project using the online digital audio workstation, BandLab, so that students could create their own beats and songs!

I moved to Troy at the end of 2020 and have been excited to start teaching music again! Music is such an incredibly powerful medium for self-expression and for connecting with other people; I look forward to being able to share this with my students here at Music & Arts through our brass instruments lessons together!