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 Home > The Band
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Harold Pannell (Lead/Background Vocals)
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Harold Pannell's musical background and influences are very diverse. He started out as many do in the church choir, where he sang and participated in many plays starting at the age of 5. Harold maintained his interest in music through high school in the 70's by playing guitar for various rock bands. From there he started singing in R&B groups in the mid-80's covering mostly 70's and Motown groups. His influences are Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole, Marvin Gay, Will Downing, Kevin Mahogany, Al Jarreau, and George Benson. Harold has made guest appearances with Janet Beaman & Te"Naj, The John Cole Blues Band, Sunny Miles and Smiles, The Mark Cassara Band, as well as Paradigm Shift and Wycliffe Gordon.
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Harold Pannell
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Annamaria Manso (Lead/Background Vocals)
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Annamaria has been with Half Ton for over a year now and has added a whole new dimension to the band. Her many years of experience singing in soul and funk bands lends to a very unique collaboration of male and female singers for HTH. Annamaria is originally from NYC and resides here in Rochester now. She is a lead teacher and mentor for the Rochester City Schools. Although teaching is her career, music is her passion with many years of experience singing in jazz, soul, funk, rock, and pop bands. Her influences include Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Aretha Franklin, and Chaka Khan.
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Annamaria Manso
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Kire Najdovski (Lead Guitar)
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Kire Najdovski, is a native of Macedonia, Europe. He started playing guitar at the age of 9. When he was 14, Kire started playing professional gigs. During his music career, he has been part of the best Macedonian Bands and has toured in Europe. His background includes numerous live concerts and countless club gigs. In 2006, he moved in the US and is currently living in Rochester, New York. In the past 3 years, he has been playing with many local bands. His discography includes 6 albums with various bands. At the moment he is working on his solo album.
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Kire Najdovski
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Stephen Siegel (Keyboards - Background Vocals)
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Stephen, a U of R graduate, returned to Rochester in 2004 to work with the folks at Ashly Audio. He has studied both Saxophone and Piano starting at an early age, and has played in many jazz, pop and R&B bands. Stephen is a fan of the jazz, fusion and funk bands of the 70's and 80's including Chicago, Tower of Power, Chase and Earth Wind & Fire, as well as more blues-oriented artists like Buddy Guy and Clarence Gatemouth Brown. Other influences include Billy Preston, Charlie Hunter, Ray Charles and the Neville Brothers.
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Stephen Siegel
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Brian King (Baritone Sax - Lead/Background Vocals)
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As one of the five founding members of The Half Ton Horns, Brian is currently a band director at Athena Middle School in Greece, NY. He has earned a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Music Education from Nazareth College and is currently working towards his Educational Leadership Certification at The University of Rochester. Brian's musical experience ranges from World Champion Drum and Bugle Corps as a member of the Empire Statesmen to performing with such artists as Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Joey Dee and the Starlighters, Phil Naro, Nik and the Nice Guys, Tone Loc, The Candyman and others. He has also been affiliated with productions of Maynard Ferguson, John Berry, David Clayton Thomas to name a few. Brian plays drums with HTH on occasion as well as other projects around town as his formal musical training is as a percussionist.
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Brian King
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Bryan Bricco (Alto/Tenor Sax, Background Vocals)
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Originally from Canandaigua, NY, Bryan teaches instrumental music in the Penfield Central School District. He received his Bachelor's degree in Music Education and Music Performance with a Jazz Studies minor from The Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam and a Masters of Music from Nazareth College. Being an active performer, Bryan plays with The Greater Finger Lakes Jazz Orchestra, The Eastman Music Educator's Jazz Ensemble, The Hochstein Music Educators Wind Ensemble, and The Penfield Rotary Jazz Band. His primary teachers have been Matthew Sintchak, Randall Hall, Timothy McAllister, and Bret Zvacek.
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Bryan Bricco
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Tyler Gauldin (Tenor Saxophone)
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Tyler is a current student at the Eastman School of Music working towards a Bachelor's degree in both Music Education and Classical Performance. Other than being a full time student he has been a part of many other performing groups such as Dubblestuff(original band), The Greece Jazz Band, Eastman Youth Jazz Orchestra, Tanglewood Youth Wind Ensemble, New City Band, and the Russell Scarborough Big Band. He has also worked with artists such as Matt Cattingub, Louis Nash, Bob Sneider, Jeff Campbell, David Baker, Bill Cunliffe, and Jeff Clayton.
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Tyler Gauldin
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Dave Seeley (Trumpet/Flugelhorn - Background Vocals)
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Dave is currently employed as a special education teacher. In addition to holding a Masters of Science Degree in Special Education, Dave also has studied trumpet performance and music at Nazareth College and SUNY Stonybrook. Dave has been involved in the Rochester music scene for many years, having performed with local bands as well as sharing the stage with several national recording artists. Dave resides in East Rochester, NY.
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Dave Seeley
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Jimmy Steele (Trumpet/Flugelhorn - Background Vocals)
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Jim is currently employed as an elementary band director in Medina, NY. Jim holds a Bachelor of Music and Masters of Music degree from Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY and has been teaching music for over 10 years. Jim is also currently the Horn Caption Head for The Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps. Jim resides in Brockport, NY.
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Jimmy Steele
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Jared Streiff (Drums/Background Vocals/HTH Music Arranger)
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Jared received his undergraduate and Master’s Degree’s from Nazareth College of Rochester in Music Education. Although his major instrument of study was Percussion, he also minored in trumpet and piano with a concentration in Jazz and Performance. During this time, he studied with Kristen Shiner-McGuire, David Mancini and Rich Thompson on Percussion and Drum-set, as well as Dr. Paul Smoker on Trumpet. Currently Jared enjoys teaching at Hilton High School as a Band Director as well as being the music arranger for the Half Ton Horns. Despite his busy schedule, he still finds time to perform with The Half Ton Horns and other various artists and groups.
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Jared Streiff
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Sheldon Tripi (Bass)
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Sheldon started playing bass at age 13, by listening to Iron Maiden. He played along with recordings of Steve Harris until his fingers bled. During that time he also began studies with Geoff Perry of Gamalon, who introduced him to Jaco and everything jazz. In high school, Sheldon performed in the pit orchestra, which led to the jazz band. From there he attended Nazareth College, where he studied classical bass under Deborah Dunham, principle bass in the RPO and Michael Griffin, assistant principle bass in the RPO, and achieved a Bachelor in Music Education. His interest in jazz and funk continues to grow as he plays with many local musicians and bands around Rochester. He has performed on seven albums in the past 10 years and currently plays with The Brad Batz Group, M.Six, The Half Ton Horns, and Al Chez & The Brothers of Funk Big Band.
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Sheldon Tripi
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