Brass, Woodwinds and Mariachi Banda Teaching Artist

Cristian Murillo's background in music stems from his family and culture. Cristian's parents immigrated to the United States from a small town in Guanajuato, Mexico called Santo Tomas where the locals have a saying that goes, "you're either a soccer player, a musician, or you're nobody." As such, almost everyone who lives in Santo Tomas is a musician, and Cristian's family was no exception. Growing up, Cristian was surrounded by the music of his culture and family known as banda. Cristian's first music instructors were his father and uncles who began teaching him how to play the trumpet and read music from a very early age.

Cristian began performing with bandas at the age of 12, and he continues to do so to this day. With over 15 years of experience performing this genre of music, Cristian has performed and recorded alongside musicians from La Original Banda el Limon, Los Tigres del Norte, Banda Carnaval, and Jenni Rivera's banda.

Cristian graduated from San Jose State in 2023 with a Bachelor's in Music. Here, he performed as the principal trombone player for the San Jose State Symphonic Band under the tutelage of Tom Hornig. During his time at SJSU, Cristian also performed alongside the university's brass ensemble and trombone choir.

Cristian currently works as a general music teacher for Toro Park Elementary, assists with teaching the bands for Washington Union Elementary school, plays 3rd trombone for Banda Imperial de San Jose, CA, and is one of YOSAL's teaching artists.