Armando Castellano is a chamber musician, bilingual teaching artist, and arts advocate from the San Francisco Bay Area. As a French horn player he performs professionally in orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout the region. In addition, he manages and performs in his chamber ensemble Quinteto Latino, an organization that advocates for classical music by Latin American and Latino composers through performance and education. Audience interaction and development is the cornerstone to Quinteto Latino’s success in reaching diverse audiences and communities. Armando graduated with honors from San José City College and the University of California at Los Angeles where he studied with Bob Watt, before moving on to receive a Masters degree at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City where he studied with Erik Ralske and Jerome Ashby. He has taught throughout the Bay Area in both English and Spanish from pre-school to college and has performed in many of the Bay Area’s regional orchestras. He has spent much of the last 15 years organizing and performing chamber music, culminating in his current work as founder and director of the wind quintet, Quinteto Latino.

Diane Grubbe freelances throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a regular performer with Pocket Opera and has also appeared with the Stockton Symphony, Symphony Silicon Valley, Lamplighters, Festival Opera, and others. Drawn to the evolving tonal possibilities of the flute, Diane enjoys improvising as well as studying and performing new works. She often performs with the contemporary music ensemble sfSound, and has been a guest performer with Earplay, the Eco Ensemble, Santa Cruz New Music Works, and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. Diane holds Bachelor and Masters degrees in flute performance from San Francisco State University and the San Francisco Conservatory, respectively. Her instructors include Paul Renzi, Lloyd Gowen and Tim Day of the San Francisco Symphony; and Barbara Chaffe and Jim Walker of the San Francisco Ballet and Opera Orchestras. She has performed in masterclasses with Julius Baker, Heinz Holliger, Robert Dick and Robert Stallman.

Leslie Tagorda was born and raised in Hawaii, received a B.M. in Clarinet Performance from the Eastman School of Music and an M.M. from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. In her long career as musician, Leslie has worked as both educator and performer. In Hawaii, Leslie worked with the Royal Hawaiian Band, the Hawaii Opera Theater, and the Honolulu Symphony as a freelance clarinetist. In the Bay Area, Leslie has freelanced with regional orchestras including the San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Opera, Oakland East Bay Symphony, Sacramento Philharmonic, Sacramento Opera, Modesto Symphony, Marin Symphony, Monterey Symphony, California Symphony, New Century Chamber Orchestra and Left Coast Chamber Ensemble. Currently Leslie concentrates her musical time to chamber music including Quinteto Latino. When not busy with music, Leslie runs a branding and design studio, New Moon Creative Co. where she weaves astrology and design into strategies for small businesses and nonprofits to lead with purpose and impact.

Jamael Smith is a San Francisco-based bassoonist and educator. A dedicated performer of contemporary and chamber music, they are a member of the San Francisco Contemporary Players and Eco Ensemble; as a chamber musician, they perform as a member of Quinteto Latino and the Avenue Winds. They also serve as a core member of the conductorless chamber orchestra One Found Sound. They have performed frequently with the San Francisco Symphony and appear on multiple recordings with the orchestra, including Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (a 2023 Grammy nominee)  and Sibelius’ Fifth Symphony. Other regular engagements include the Santa Rosa Symphony, Berkeley Symphony, Opera Parallèle, among others.

A passionate educator, Smith serves as the Director of Wind Chamber Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the instructor of bassoon at San Jose State University. Primary teachers include Stephen Paulson and Seth Krimsky, with additional training at the Kent Blossom, Pierre Monteux and Bay View Chamber Music Festivals.

Kyle Bruckmann's work as a composer/performer, educator, classical freelancer and new music specialist extends from conservatory-trained foundations into gray areas encompassing free jazz, post-punk rock, and the noise underground. Beyond Quinteto Latino, his current ensemble affiliations include Splinter Reeds, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, sfSound, Eco Ensemble, and the Stockton Symphony.

Since moving to the San Francisco Bay Area from Chicago in 2003, he has performed as a substitute with the San Francisco Symphony and most of the area’s regional orchestras while remaining active within an international community of improvisers and sound artists, appearing on more than 100 recordings of various genres. He is now Assistant Professor of Practice in Oboe and Contemporary Performance and Program Director of Varied Ensembles at University of the Pacific.

Bruckmann earned undergraduate degrees in music and psychology at Rice University in Houston, studying oboe with Robert Atherholt and serving as music director of campus radio station KTRU. He completed his Master's degree in 1996 at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he studied oboe performance with Harry Sargous and contemporary improvisation with Ed Sarath.