Music director Pete Nowlen has been a member of the UC Davis faculty since 1988 and the California State University, Sacramento, faculty since 1990. 

Nowlen has been a dynamic part of the northern California musical scene for nearly thirty years.  He is dedicated to renewing and sustaining classical music’s relevance in our society, and his career has led him to surprisingly diverse opportunities.

Currently, he holds artistic and musical director positions with the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band,  Symphony d’Oro, Camerata California Chamber Choir and Orchestra, the CalCap Chamber Music Workshop, and Sacramento’s VITA Academy. He is the director of the Wind Symphony of the California Youth Symphony in the South Bay and is Artistic Director Emeritus of Music in the Mountains. A long-time faculty member at Sacramento State in addition to UC Davis, Pete has mentored a generation of musicians and music educators for our region and beyond.

As a guest conductor, Pete has led performances of the Sacramento, Auburn, Camellia, Veridian, UC Davis, and CSUS Symphonies as well as the Sacramento Philharmonic. He has served as musical director for more than a dozen theatrical programs ranging from La bohéme, Magic Flute and Hansel und Gretel to Rocky Horror Show and Little Shop of Horrors.

A prize-winning French horn soloist, Pete came to Sacramento in 1987 to join the horn section of the Sacramento Symphony. He joined the Music in the Mountains Orchestra in 1989 and has performed frequently with the San Francisco Symphony, Opera and Ballet Orchestras and all of the prominent orchestras of the Bay Area and Northern California.  For several years he served as principal horn of the International Orchestra of Italy, performing and recording in Italy’s most prestigious festivals and venues.

Teaching Schedule

Mondays and Wednesdays, 4:00–6:00 pm