"Scott has been with my son for the past two years while he played with the San Francisco youth orchestra, and his teaching is nothing short of fantastic. My son has grown incredibly as a musician under his tutelage, and was offered admission to four major music schools, including Thorton, Boston Conservatory, Eastman, and Manhattan in the fall of 2020. Scott is kind, focused, and comprehensive in his teaching style. He takes the time necessary to encourage and develop deep practice techniques, which translates to improved confidence and brilliant playing. I highly recommend Scott as a teacher to any budding or advanced musician.”

— Parent of student

“I can’t say enough positive things about Scott’s teaching and influence on my playing and approach to performance in general. His teaching style is both micro and macro. Addressing small physical details I hadn’t noticed in my own playing while keeping me focused on the big picture of making music. Scott brings humor, focus, and enthusiasm to every experience I’ve been fortunate enough to have with him.”

— Keith Johns,
SF Bay Area Professional Trumpeter

"Scott Macomber's professionalism and work ethic led me towards the beautiful art of musicianship. He listens to me as a peer, frequently praising me (an amaetur) for all my insights; each lesson is predicated upon the sharing of musical self-discovery.  I love how Mr. Macomber questions my playing methods and shares his own tips that I can apply during practice. Having his observant ear and feedback helps me to leave each session thinking differently about my horn playing.  Since I began in third grade, no teacher has wildly ignited my passion for trumpet playing like Scott. I praise him for his dedication to his students and mentoring a young adult like myself."

— Tyler Smith,
College student

“It is a pleasure to study trumpet with Scott.  He provided invaluable help with my orchestral parts as well as exposing me to new etudes and exercises.  Scott helped improve  the technical as well as the interpretive aspects of my playing.  He is a great person, wonderful teacher and fantastic trumpet player. I have never had a better teacher in my 50 years as a trumpeter and give him my highest possible recommendation.”

— Chris Rumery, MD,
Juilliard ‘79

“The lessons are always significant, full of paradox.  You have to master technique and ignore technique, interpret a phrase but trust the music to speak for itself, and play pianissimo with a full, radiant sound, to mention just three.  Most paradoxically, you have to unlearn everything you've learned and just make music.  The experience reminds me of things I've learned about Zen.  If you are at all skeptical, three minutes listening to Scott play the trumpet would dispel your skepticism.”

— Kas Zoller,
Student

“I am an 81 year old bugler with Bugles Across America and perform live Taps at military funerals as well as remembrance ceremonies. Scott is my trumpet teacher who has helped me immensely in performance preparation and most importantly how to produce a good rich sound, which portrays true emotion for the occasion.”

— Ron Acquistapace,
Student

“Scott Macomber is an excellent musician, colleague and teacher.  I have known him and worked alongside him in many professional situations over the past eighteen years and continued to be impressed with his dedication to the task at hand;  his deep interest in music and musicians and  his professional attitude and musicality.  In short, Scott is the kind of colleague that everyone wants.

We have made recordings together and he has always been totally prepared and has listened to advice given by directors and producers.  We have played together as a duo in many hundred events and I have never felt anything less than admiration for his ability to handle stressful situations and be professional yet personable. 

Scott has acted as soloist and contractor for many orchestral events that I have directed.  The ensembles he has created have been of professional and congenial musicians and the results have always been good.

I have witnessed him teaching and coaching a variety of age groups and would have complete confidence in his ability to teach a child of mine or a student I was advising.  When coaching small and larger groups he manages to make salient points whilst, at the same time, boosting morale.  In this way he manages to get the very best from each person.”

— Simon C. Berry,
Director of Music & Liturgy,
St. Dominic's Catholic Church

"My daughter never wants her lessons to end! Scott possesses a rare talent, creatively and positively infusing his professional musical expertise in students. Our family trusts Scott to masterfully present his comprehensive mind-body music instruction patiently to our daughter. Since 2019 and despite 4 work-directed domicile relocations across the country, Scott's unparalleled and adaptive instructional skills, most often delivered via virtual instruction, prepared our daughter to win auditions in her pursuit of a trumpet performance degree. There is no one we trust more than Scott to navigate the musical performance path ahead!"

— Diane Butler,
Advocate and Former University Adjunct Professor