Jeffrey Willner
Jeff Willner began his teaching career in and taught Orchestra, Band and Competitive Marching Band at various high schools in the south bay and peninsula before landing at Paly in the fall of 2000. He has been there ever since. A trumpet player, Mr. Willner received his BA in Music Education at San Jose State University and his MA in Music Ed, at The Ohio State University. He also holds an MA in school administration from Santa Clara University.
Since college and while teaching Mr. Willner has continued playing trumpet in the San Jose Wind Symphony, San Jose Municipal Band and the Foothill Symphonic Winds under former Paly director Dave Adams. Mr. Willner has performed under some of the greatest band conductors of the past century including Dr. Vernon Read, Col. Arnold Gabriel, and Frederick Fennell, the band director of band directors.
While in high school, Mr. Willner spent two years in the Concord Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps, winning a national championship one of those years. That experience inspired his work with the Paly Pep Band for the home football games.
Over his nearly forty years as a music educator, Mr. Willner still gets thrilled every day by the sounds created by his students and the interactions that he is allowed to have with them musically and personally on a daily basis. Mr. Willner lives in the South Bay in a very old house with his wife Inger and their four children, twins David and Celia and other twins Anne and Isabel. Yes, everyone plays an instrument.
Greg Miller
Greg Miller teaches band and orchestra at Palo Alto High School, as well as band at Gunn High School. Greg began his teaching at career at The University of Akron gaining valuable experience assisting the conductors of the 3 concert bands, the marching band, as well as directing the basketball pep band. He has additional experience teaching public school in Ohio and has taught in Palo Alto since 2010.
Mr. Miller holds both a Bachelors and Masters of Music Education from The University of Akron. His mentor teachers include Robert Jorgensen, Galen Karriker, Laurie Lafferty, Ann Usher, Gene Milford, Edward Zadrozny, Tucker Jolly, and Scott Johnston. He is a Blended Certified teacher completing the training in the spring of 2019. He has presented multiple professional development sessions for regional conference as neighboring school districts. He served as the Innovation and Learning Representative for the CMEA Bay Section from 2019 – 2022.
Greg, a trombone player, currently performs with the San Jose Wind Symphony. He also performs at local churches, community theater, and school theater groups.
Greg lives with his wife, Carrie, daughter Aria, and son Grayson. In his spare time, he enjoys cycling, mountain biking, hiking, exploring new restaurants, and just spending time at home relaxing.