Tristan Arnold

In addition to leading the Preparatory Orchestra, Tristan Arnold is Orchestra Director of the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in San Francisco and Artistic Director of the Napa Valley Youth Symphony and occasional freelance bassist. He holds a Master of Music degree in conducting from San Francisco State University and a Bachelor of Music degree in music education from Northwestern University.

He began his musical studies on violin at the age of six, later adding trombone, tuba and double bass to his repertoire. Arnold developed his skills through the Santa Rosa Symphony’s Training Young Musicians program (including as a member of the Preparatory Orchestra), and performed with the SRS Youth Orchestra at a 2002 performance in Carnegie Hall.

After receiving has Bachelor of Music degree in 2006, Tristan returned to the Bay Area to teach orchestra and chorus at James B. Davidson Middle School in San Rafael, also adding Steel Pans to his pedagogical arsenal. At San Francisco State, he served as interim director of the University Wind Ensemble and as assistant director of the University Orchestra. 

Since 2011, Tristan has been a teacher in the San Francisco Unified School District, rebuilding a mothballed music program at Lincoln High School for four years before accepting a position as orchestral director at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, a public arts high school.