Student and Alumni Stories

The OCSA Ambassador Jazz Orchestra, led by Music Director and Conductor, John Reynolds, was honored as the third place band out of 15 finalist bands and several hundred applicant ensembles at the highly prestigious 2022 Essentially Ellington Jazz Festival in New York City, hosted by Jazz at Lincoln Center. Additionally, the band shared the stage with Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Many members of the band were also selected to win individual and section awards. To view their performance, please visit: https://bit.ly/3mCAKkk

Aydan Bevacqua (IM, ‘23)
Samuel Chung (IM, ‘25)
Mateo Cruz (IM, ‘24)
James Dechary (IM, ‘24)
Megan Etzel (IM, ‘23)
Auvin Hajian (IM, ‘23)
Trent Horio (IM, ‘22)
Miri Izenberg (IM, ‘26)
Kiana Kaminski (IM, ‘22)
Nhan-Tuan Luu (IM, ‘23)
Ryder Mendelson (IM, ‘23)
Allison Molin (IM, ‘25)
Ryan Nicolov (IM, ‘22)
Ian Shin (IM, ‘24)
Christian St. Marseille (IM, ‘22)
Leo Sui (IM, ‘23)
Connor Taing (IM, ‘23)
Luke Toner (IM, ‘24)
Nathan Tatsuta (IM, ‘24)

Annabelle Park (IM, ‘22) was accepted to The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) All-National Honor Ensemble.

Melody Chang (IM, ‘22) was featured in an article by the Orange County Register naming Orange County’s 125 top influencers for 2021. She was recognized for her impact in the community in regards to public health education. As a part of her Dragon Kim Foundation project, Melody conducted multiple workshops to teach public health using a book she wrote and published.

To read the full article, please click here.

Matthew Blam (IM, ‘24) was recently granted membership into the Young Composers Guild (YCG) upon recommendation by a panel of composition evaluators. The Young Composers Guild is the highest achievement that a Music Teachers' Association of California (MTAC) high school composition student can attain.

Michael Repper (IM, ‘08) recorded an album with the New York Youth Symphony, which had a single released by AVIE Records. The single is an excerpt from the adagio section of Florence Price's “Piano Concerto in One Movement.”

Nathan Tatsuta (IM, ‘24) was selected to participate in one of two editions of the 2022 NEA/Herbie Hancock Institute’s National All-Star Peer-to-Peer Jazz Quintet, one of the most educative and prestigious programs in jazz education. This program includes an all-expenses-paid weeklong performance tour with internationally renowned jazz recording artist Sean Jones in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.