Eligible voting members should receive an email with voting information.
Voting runs through Friday, December 22, 11:59pm.
Candidates:
| Position | Candidate |
| Chair | Loïc Maestracci Loïc Maestracci, originally from France, is a seasoned brand strategist and marketer, boasting over 15 years of experience where technology, media, and culture converge. He recently concluded his tenure at Twitter, contributing to notable campaigns such as the NFL’s Thursday Night Football, FIFA World Cups, and NASA’s Mars landing. At Twitter, Loïc helmed large teams to build these global consumer campaigns that showcased the best of Twitter and delighted users and fans in sports, music and gaming. His career prior to Twitter included marketing roles at Starmaker Interactive, SOL Republic, Samsung, and other music and media technology firms.
In 2014, Loic founded Music Expo, a series of events in San Francisco designed to unite artists, producers, engineers, and industry professionals, eventually expanding to Miami, Nashville, and Boston. Music Expo has been a platform for promoting musical and production excellence, emphasizing diversity and inclusion by ensuring a minimum of 30% of speakers and attendees are women. Apart from his professional pursuits, Loic is a passionate music producer, known by the moniker Iguazúl. Since 2016, he has released various EPs and singles. He has served as a member of the Recording Academy, San Francisco Chapter, as a member of the Producers and Engineers Wing Committee, and also as a committee member for the Audio Engineering Society, SF Chapter. You can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/loicmaestracci.
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| Secretary | Valerie Tyler Valerie Tyler has been an AES member since 1992. She has served as Secretary of the AES since 2016, served as Governor from 2012-14, and has served on nineteen convention/symposium committees in positions including Convention Co-Chair, Workshops Co-Chair, Special Events Co-Chair, Tutorials & Master Classes Co-Chair, and Project Communications Manager. She has also served as an officer and committee member in the San Francisco and San Francisco State sections of the AES. Valerie studied music at UC Santa Cruz, the music/recording industry at San Francisco State University, and electronic music, digital audio, digital video, web design, and graphic design at College of San Mateo. She currently holds the position of Webmaster at College of San Mateo. She previously worked as an audio editor and live sound engineer. |
| Member at Large |  Rodney Boonlinkedin.com/in/boonaudio |
| Member at Large | Nahuel Bronzini Fantastic Negrito’s Grammy Award Winning albums “Please Don’t Be Dead” and “Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?” are known for their wide, lush, exciting, live instrumentation which Nahuel engineered with passion and precision. When R&B Legends Tony Toni Toné need string arrangements or studio time in the Bay Area, they call up Nahuel.
Well-versed in writing and recording string arrangements, horns, pop, folk, and chamber ensembles, Nahuel is a master of multifaceted disciplines that come together in every way to support the music and the elevation of each song beyond the concept of genre. Also, being a musician himself with ties to many Bay Area artists, his collaborative spirit both inspires and enlivens the local community. One notable example of this was his release entitled “The String Quartet Experience”, in which he wrote string arrangements for local singer-songwriters, and gathered everyone together for a filmed showcase that was simply enchanting. Nahuel is a graduate from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and from Escuela de Música Contemporánea (Argentina), and studied audio and acoustics at Universidad de Tres de Febrero (Argentina). He has served as Governor of the Recording Academy, San Francisco Chapter, as a member of the Producers and Engineers Wing Committee, and also as a committee member for the Audio Engineering Society, SF Chapter.
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| Member at Large | “JD” John David Early interest in sound and audio lead to interdisciplinary physics, music, CS and EE studies. JD completed a Bachelor’s degree in Physic and Music from Bates College in Lewiston Maine. Inspired by their special course in loudspeaker design, he began working in industry as a loudspeaker System Engineer with a/d/s/-Apogee Acoustics in 1997, then moved to Boston Acoustics in 1998 to serve first as Transducer Engineer for three years. This led to a role there as Systems Engineer and Project Manager at BA on their new Integrated Products team. In this role, led engineering teams from prototype development through to mass production, developing integrated home-theater products, high-end custom-install speakers and other high-fidelity systems.
In 2005, attracted by the lure of San Francisco and the Bay Area, JD commenced work as an Applications Engineer, Systems, at Dolby Labs, providing product development support and validation for licenses using Dolby audio patents in consumer products. After a transition to Applications Engineer, DSP Implementation in 2007, he took over as Manager and led that team for four years, focused on Dolby audio codec and post-processing algorithm implementation in SoC’s, DSP’s, Android/iOS and PC/macOS software libraries. In 2012, JD transitioned into Product Management at Dolby in their Cinema group, leading development for post-production studio software products used for Dolby Atmos content creation. In 2018, JD became a Sr. Product Manager at Antares Audio Technologies, makers of the famous (or perhaps infamous) Auto-Tune family of DAW plug-ins, and other unique studio tools. Currently he’s consulting through Chill Ops Audio. His hobbies include guitar, hand percussion, DJ performance and audio production, as well as outdoor sports and travel. He also provides independent professional services for home audio systems and PA systems design, and enjoys occasional work as a live-sound engineer for concerts and special events as well. JD has been a full member of the Audio Engineering Society for over 20 years, and the IEEE for 15 years.
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| Member at Large | Topher Farrell As an Audio Engineer, Sound Designer, Producer & Editor, Topher has spent over two decades shaping the auditory landscape. A graduate of the Art Institute of Seattle’s Audio Engineering program in 2003, his education straddled the realms of analog traditions and cutting-edge digital techniques, laying the foundation for a multifaceted career.
Since founding ProFound Sound in 2002, Topher has worn numerous hats—Audio Producer, Engineer, Musical Instrument Designer & Builder, and Content Creator. His skill set extends from precise microphone placement and cable construction to the creation of acoustically correct spaces. Proficient in Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Final Cut, Adobe CS and more, Mr. Farrell’s work spans Foley, sound effects, mixing, mastering, ADR, music production & composition, and audio restoration. In parallel, Topher has been an integral team member at Lollar Guitars since 2012, managing IT, web development, and network administration. His role involves everything from involvement with product design and maintaining the company’s web presence to intricate technical tasks such as server/network management and archival responsibilities. Beyond his corporate endeavors, Mr. Farrell co-founded Workout Muse, contributing as a co-founder & content creator. His innovative work in creating audio-visual programs for group fitness instructors showcases his adaptability and creative flair. Topher also took a decade-long detour into the world of craft chocolate and opened a successful bean-to-bar chocolate business that he ran from 2010 -2022.
Some production credits include:
Tracks – feature film: Post Production Sound Sweetening & Restoration, Sound Design. Collect All Four: Short film: Foley Artist, Sound Design, Final Mix Engineer. *Official selection for the Seattle International Film Festival Urbanworld – feature film: Sound Design, Location Recordist, Foley Artist, Editor, Final Mix Engineer. *Screened at the MTV film festival The Divine Invasion – Left Hand Army – Full length LP: Recording Engineer, Producer, Pre-Mixer, Composer. It’s Not You, It’s Me – Feature film: Sound Design, Location Recordist, Foley Artist, Editor, Final Mix Engineer. *Official screening at the Black Berlin Film Festival Harry Potter Knight Bus Tour – Shot & edited short videos for the Scholastic website. Credit: Video Producer / interviewer & editor. Conducted, shot and edited over 4,500 videos of Harry Potter fan interviews. This was a 12 week tour that stopped at over 40 locations from New York to Los Angeles. |
| Member at Large | Jean-Marc Jot Globally recognized audio technology innovator in consumer electronics and pro markets, lately focusing more particularly on spatial audio, hearing personalization and music technology innovation. I founded Virtuel Works to help accelerate the development and deployment of audio, voice and music computing technologies that will power future immersive experiences. Previously, I initiated and drove the development of novel sound processing technologies, platforms and standards for virtual and augmented reality, gaming, broadcast, cinema, and music creation – with Magic Leap, Creative Labs, DTS / Xperi, and iZotope / Native Instruments. Before relocating to California in the late 90s, I conducted research at IRCAM in Paris, where I created the Spat software library for immersive music creation and performance. Fellow of the Audio Engineering Society, regular speaker in industry and academic events. Authored numerous publications and patents on digital audio signal processing (see resume and sites.google.com/site/jmmjot). |
| Member at Large | BZ Lewis BZ has owned and operated Studio 132 since 1997, and currently out of his home in the hills of Oakland.. During that time he has produced/engineered music for hundreds, if not thousands of bands/artists in the Bay Area. He also composes music for fortune 500 companies, various TV shows such as World Poker Tour, People Magazine investigates, CBS news…well… every major network and a few minor ones as well.
BZ Lewis is a six time Emmy Award winner, a voting member of the Grammys, a BMI member writer and publisher, and is currently enjoying publishing deals with Media Creature Music and BOK music in L.A. When he’s not in the studio, BZ can be found hanging out with his wife and two kids and riding his Mountain Bike throughout the hills of Oakland, CA. |
| Member at Large | Jessica Livingston Diverse audio industry background, spanning radio, pro-audio manufacturing, audio education and multimedia. Award winning editor and writer with a BA in Media Management from CSU, Northridge, and continued studies in Technical Communications at UC Berkeley.
Over 15 years on the AES San Francisco committee, several as Chair, creating dozens of local meetings, lectures and events for Bay Area audio engineers, including the Bay Area AES Studio crawls. Two years on the AES Board of Governors, five years of chairing the technical tours for the AES conventions in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. Currently balancing a freelance media career and chair of the AES Membership Committee.
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