We are happy to announce that Connor Gilbert, bass player in our “Free For All” and “Blue Train” ensembles, will receive a Spotlight Award from the San Diego Unified School District’s Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) Program. Connor is a junior at Mission Bay High School. Every year, San Diego Unified School District’s Visual and […]

We are proud to announce that 12-year-old conservatory student Taichi Okumura has been awarded first prize in the prestigious International Golden Classical Music contest and has been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall on November 1, 2020. Taichi plays alto sax in Rob Thorsen’s “Night Dreamers Ensemble” and attends Pacific Trail Middle School. Taichi is […]

We are thrilled to announce that our New Soil Ensemble, led by Gilbert Castellanos, has been selected to perform at the Monterey Jazz Fest this September! They are only one of two ensembles selected nation-wide to perform at this prestigious festival. They will perform on Sunday, September 27 on the North Coast Brewing Company Jazz […]

A HUGE congratulations to Nick Caldwell, a 13-year-old sax player in our program. He won DownBeat Magazine‘s award for Junior High School Honors Outstanding Performance, Tenor Saxophone! We are all so proud!

From April 5 to April 7, 2019, our “New Soil Ensemble” directed by Gilbert Castellanos competed at the Next Gen Jazz Festival in Monterey. This competitive, audition-only festival brings out the best of the best and this ensemble felt like winners just to be included. Two of our students took top honors: Zion Dyson won […]