Andy Butler

Andy Butler received his Bachelor in Performance and Bachelor in Education from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and his Master Degree in Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory. He is the Principal Bass of Opera San Jose, the Fresno Philharmonic and the California Symphony. Butler also holds the titled chair of Assistant Principal Bass with the Santa Rosa Symphony and the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra. He is a regular member of the Marin Symphony and Oakland Symphony. Butler also substitutes for many orchestras in and around the Bay Area, including the San Francisco Symphony, Symphony Silicon Valley, the Modesto Symphony and the San Jose Chamber Orchestra. During the summer, Butler is a participant in the Music in the Mountains Festival and the Sun Valley Summer Symphony. He is actively involved in teaching, as well as performing.  His positions include: Double Bass Professor at Saint Mary’s College, chamber music coach at The College Preparatory School, coaching staff member at Berkeley Youth Orchestra, string faculty of the Sun Valley Summer Music Workshops, and bass instructor for the Home of United String Ensembles (H.O.U.S.E) program and Oakland Symphony’s M.U.S.E program, both of which serve students in the Oakland Public School System. During the winter and spring of 2019, Butler led the Santa Rosa Symphony String Quintet for numerous educational concerts and string master classes throughout the greater North Bay.

More recently, his four-part miniseries Double Bass Dimensions, which explores the bass in a solo capacity playing familiar tunes, was released by the California Symphony.

Photo by Susan and Neil Silverman Photography