Music Faculty

FULL TIME FACULTY

John Knutson
Director of Choral and Vocal Jazz Program

John Knutson is Director of Choral Studies at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, CA. He is a former member of the professional vocal jazz ensemble Vocalogy, formed by Phil Mattson in 1998. Before moving to California, John taught at Southwestern Community College in Iowa. While at Southwestern, he performed all over the US and Europe with the award-winning vocal jazz group VoicesIowa. Prior to that John lived in New York City, where he taught vocal music at JHS #263 in Brooklyn, and performed with the acappella cabaret group, the QuintEssentials. The Cuesta College ensembles John directs have performed at the Jazz Education Network conference in New Orleans in 2017, and in Reno in 2019. They have been headliners at the Santa Cruz Jazz Festival several times, and also headlined the 2009 California Music Educators Convention. His classical choir received 2nd place at the Vokal Total Festival in Austria against professional choirs from Europe and Asia. Under his direction, the Cuesta Chamber Singers performed at the Festival International Choral en Provence in four times since 2008. Other prestigious performances include the American Choral Directors Association National Convention in Los Angeles, the Montreux Jazz Festival, and the International Association for Jazz Education Convention in Toronto. He directed the California All-State Vocal Jazz Choir, and in was named Cuesta College’s Teacher of the Year. John has served as a clinician at jazz and choral festivals in 18 states, and in five Canadian provinces. John has numerous choral compositions; his vocal jazz arrangements are available through UNC Jazz Press and Anchor Music Publications. John holds a Masters in Conducting degree from Northern Arizona University and a Bachelors in Piano Performance from the University of Minnesota. jknutson@cuesta.edu

Jennifer Martin
Director of Instrumental Music, Conducting, Low Brass, Music Theory, Guitar, Cuesta Wind Ensemble

Jennifer Martin joined the Music Faculty at Cuesta College in the summer of 2004 as the conductor of the Cuesta Wind Ensemble. In addition to her conducting duties, she coordinates the department's Applied Music program, teaches Beginning and Intermediate Guitar, and Music Theory. She served as the Performing Arts Division Chair from 2008-2016, and has served as the Coordinator of the Cultural and Performing Arts Center (CPAC) since 2009. Ms. Martin is also the Conductor of the San Luis Obispo Wind Orchestra and Central Coast Gilbert & Sullivan.  She has guest conducted wind bands and orchestras, and served as clinician and adjudicator in several states. Previous to her appointment at Cuesta, she was the Music Department Chair at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, NV, where she was the founding faculty of the Music Department.  In 2003, she received the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching for the state of Nevada.
jmartin@cuesta.edu

Ron McCarley
Performing Arts Division Chair
Cuesta Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Combos, Jazz Improvisation, Music Theory

Ron McCarley is the Director of Jazz Studies at Cuesta College where he has built the program up to include two big bands and eight combos.  His bands have received many awards under his direction.  He has been teaching college level jazz for 20 years and has judged at many festivals including the Reno International Jazz Festival and the Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival and presented at CMEA, JEN and NFA about jazz education.  A saxophone player and a doubler, he does studio work, appears as a featured artist and plays around Central and Southern California.  Some of the musicians he has performed or recorded with are:  Diane Schuur, Manhattan Transfer, The Temptations, Hanson, Adam Benjamin, Larry Koonse, Darek Oles, and Charlie Shoemake. He recently recorded a CD of Brazilian chore music called Choro de Ouro.  He and his wife, Laura, live in Morro Bay with their four children.
rmccarle@cuesta.edu

George Stone
Recording Arts, Music Theory, Jazz Arranging and Composition, Jazz Piano, Jazz Trumpet

George Stone has enjoyed a substantial career in music performance, composition, arranging and education for 36 years. He directs the Audio Technology Program at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, CA, where he was a recipient of the Cuesta College Outstanding Academic Employee and Teacher of the Year award.

His 30-year career as a festival adjudicator and clinician has included the CMEA, CBDA, SCSBOA organizations, and he has appeared as guest composer/conductor at countless colleges and universities throughout the country.  He has conducted jazz honor bands in California, Nebraska, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, and most recently the Monterey Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.  He has adjudicated literally hundreds of jazz festivals everywhere and is commissioned regularly by all levels of performing bands to compose new music for jazz ensemble.  His compositions and arrangements are published worldwide.  

Prior to education, George worked as a musician and composer for live shows and television and has composed for CBS, NBC, HBO, The Tonight Show, Disney, Encompass Productions and Canterbury Productions.  He is an in-demand recording engineer and producer and performs regularly as a jazz pianist.
gstone@cuesta.edu

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PART TIME FACULTY

David Becker
Recording Arts, Music Appreciation, Saxophone, Clarinet

Dave Becker has been on faculty at Cuesta College since 2001. He instructs Recording Arts, Rock, World and Jazz Appreciation as well as Applied Music. Dave has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in music education from the University of Florida. He is an active professional musician on the Central Coast fronting music ensembles of various jazz genres. He has arranged for SLO Wind Orchestra, San Luis Symphony, Orchestra Novo and others. In addition to his past and current college teaching experience at Cuesta College, Allan Hancock College, Cal Poly, and the University of Pikeville, KY, Dave has also been a clinician at the Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Band Camp and other camps and schools throughout Florida and along the West Coast. Lately, Dave has enjoyed producing concerts featuring the music of great jazz legends such as Art Blakey and Charlie Parker as well as featuring several of his former students in his popular Saxophone Summits.
Dbecker@cuesta.edu

Idona Cabrinha
Class Piano 
Idona Cabrinha earned her B.A., from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; M.M., (Piano Performance and Pedagogy), Northwestern University; additional studies: Westminister Choir Conservatory of Music, Vallejo Conservatory of Music:  Student of Sylvia Wang, William Spiller; masterclasses with David Buechner, Peter Takacs; pedagogy studies with Francis Larimer; Suzuki pedagogy studies, early childhood educator; extensive experience as pianist and accompanist in West Coast and Chicago areas;  former adjudicator in Chicago area; awards and honors:  Dorothy L. Pound Award, Northwestern University School of Music Grant, First Place Winner Allied Arts Competition; former Performance Syllabus Chair North Shore Music Teacher's Association; former faculty member: Northwestern University Academy; former lecturer, Class Piano, DePaul University  School of Music.
Idona_Cabrinha@cuesta.edu

Marcy Irving
Music Appreciation
Marcy Irving comes to the Central Coast from Reno, Nevada, where she directed the College Singers and taught Music Appreciation, Fundamentals of Music and Private Voice at Truckee Meadows Community College. Marcy has an M.M. in vocal performance from the University of Nevada, Reno, and a B.M. in vocal performance from California State University, Northridge. She spent many years singing professionally in the L.A. area including seven seasons with the Gilbert and Sullivan Company, Opera a la Carte. Marcy is a member of the Cuesta Master Chorale, and has also sung with the Pacific Repertory Opera. She is thrilled to be teaching Music Appreciation for Cuesta College at both the San Luis and North County Campuses.
MIrving@cuesta.edu

Dylan Johnson
Music Appreciation

Dylan Johnson has taught music appreciation at Cuesta College since 2008.   He is also the director of jazz combos at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.  Johnson graduated with honors from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music (M.M. Jazz Studies) and Berklee College of Music (B.M. Jazz Composition/Performance), and is a Cuesta College alumnus.

As an in-demand bassist on the Central Coast, he has performed with Orchestra Novo, San Luis Symphony, Lompoc Pops Orchestra, and the San Luis Chamber Orchestra, as well as regular performances with Inga Swearingen and Charlie Shoemake. Johnson often accompanies touring jazz artists such as Ernie Watts, Pete Christlieb, Gary Foster, Bob Sheppard and others.

He returned to California after spending years in New York City, playing with jazz luminaries John Abercrombie, Adam Nussbaum, Shunzo Ono, Ray Vega, and others. Recent recordings include "Unity," featuring Randy Brecker and Ada Rovatti.
Dylan_Johnson@cuesta.edu

Inga Swearingen
Music Appreciation, Musicianship
Inga Swearingen received her bachelor of music degree from California State Polytechnic, San Luis Obispo and her masters in choral conducting from Florida State University. Ms. Swearingen has performed over a dozen times on Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show, "A Prairie Home Companion,"  won first place and audience award at the Montreux Jazz Festival Shure Vocal Competition, and has been a featured soloist in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. She also teaches voice and improvisation privately.
Inga_Swearingen@cuesta.edu

Cassandra Tarantino
North County Choir Director
Cassandra Tarantino has her Master’s degrees in Choral Conducting from San Jose State University and Performance Flute from California State University, Northridge.  Her Bachelor’s Degrees are in Church Music and English Literature from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. Mrs. Tarantino has participated in music festivals as a flutist and conductor at the Oregon Bach Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Apple Hill Chamber Music Festival in New Hampshire, Abeyrstwyth Music Festival in Wales, and Morges Chamber Music Festival in Switzerland.  She took sabbatical in Northern Ireland to study Classical and traditional music and the Irish-Celtic Language. In 2005 Mrs. Tarantino was hired by Cuesta College to begin a choral program at the campus in Paso Robles. The Cuesta Concord Chorus has since become a thriving community of singers that regularly performs locally and tours throughout the US and Europe. Since 2005 Mrs. Tarantino has conducted, taught private flute and voice, music theory and music history at Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, California.  In 2013, Mrs. Tarantino co-founded with Marcy Irving the Central Coast Gilbert & Sullivan Company, a community-based opera company.  In 2017 Mrs. Tarantino was hired as the Director of Music at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, San Luis Obispo. In 2021 Mrs. Tarantino completed her Level III Sommelier Exam through the International Sommelier Guild and is the Sommelier for CASS Winery in Paso Robles, California. Folk music and dance are a passion for Cassandra, and you will often find her playing and dancing traditional Irish, English Country and Contra Dance music. She loves to play with her menagerie of animals, garden, and travel the world with her ever supportive and awesome husband, Dr. Jon E. Tarantino, (supra genius).
Ctaranti@cuesta.edu

Michael Walker
Music Theory, Class Piano
Michael Walker is an Adjunct Professor of Music at Cuesta College. A former Cuesta College student, he received his B.A. in Piano Performance at Humboldt State University and both his M.A. and Ph.D. in Music Theory at the University of Oregon. His compositions include several works for solo piano, including 15 Two-Part Inventions and various orchestral and chamber works. 
Michael_Walker1@cuesta.edu