Ken Hustad has been working on the Central Coast as a freelance musician and bass instructor for over 30 years, playing orchestral and chamber music as well as jazz, rock, blues and country and working in theater and recording. He is co-principal bass for the San Luis Obispo Symphony, and plays in Orchestra Novo, the Santa Maria Philharmonic, Symphony of the Vines, Opera San Luis Obispo and the San Luis Obispo Master Chorale. He is bass instructor at Cal Poly and Cuesta College, bass coach for the San Luis Obispo Youth Symphony and the Orchestra Novo Summer String Workshop. Hustad plays with Jim Self’s Tricky Lix Band, the Royal Garden Swing Orchestra, the San Luis Jazz Band, the Mystery Trees, the Irene Cathaway Rhythm and Blues Band, the BarFlyz and others. Working with Cal Poly Arts, Hustad has performed and contracted ensembles for touring artists including the Broadway production of “Chicago,” Garrison Keillor, Pink Martini, Manhattan Transfer and Diane Schuur. His teachers have included Clifton Swanson, Buell Neidlinger, Paul Elison and Stuart Sankey. He holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in music and philosophy from St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota.