Alan Tarpinian graduated from New England Conservatory in 1976 and moved to Germany for five years, where he taught at the Neubieberger Volkshochschule in Munich, recorded and performed all over Europe with various jazz artists. In 1982 Tarpinian moved to Eugene and has since performed in the Northwest with internationally renowned artists such as Mal Waldron, Herb Ellis, Charlie Rouse, Eddie Harris, Clark Terry, Mason Williams and the Smothers Brothers. He was the drummer for the Eugene Jazz Orchestra and currently plays with Caliente, a popular 13 piece Latin-Salsa group, in addition to private teaching. Tarpinian also appears regularly as a guest artist with the Eugene Symphony, the Western Oregon State College Jazz Orchestra and Oregon Festival of American Music.