Students

Since I can remember, music has been a huge part of my life. My grandfather David, a trumpeter and my inspiration, introduced me to the great music of Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, and Duke Ellington. As I started school at Hilltop Junior High I joined the band as a clarinetist and took private piano lessons but once I started high school at Hilltop Senior High, I immediately fell in love with the Alto saxophone and decided to take it all the way. In my third year of high school I became the Drum Major of the Hilltop Marching Lancers. I led my band to high placements in many parades/field competitions. Later in the year as we were getting into the concert season, I met the infamous Derek Cannon as he directed our Sweetwater District Honor Jazz Band. Playing under his directing really made me consider about attending Grossmont College and after playing under him again in my senior year of high school, I knew Grossmont College would help me gain many skills and knowledge to become the musician I know I can be.

Being a student here at Grossmont College is great. All of the professors here are incredibly talented and know what they are talking about. In Derek Cannon’s Theory 1 class you get the theoretical aspect of music explained clearly to you and still have a great time with plenty of laughs and fun activities. Besides the theory/music history classes they have many amazing ensembles. The Jazz Big Band, led by extraordinaire Paul Kurokawa, and the Afro- Cuban Band, led by Derek Cannon, always keeps me on my toes with the exciting, challenging music to perfect my reading and technical skills on my instrument. These marvelous professors constantly push me to my best and will never let me fail.

After I finish my musical education at Grossmont I plan to transfer to California State University of Long Beach to pursue my Bachelor and Master’s degree in Jazz Performance. Once I finish my education I would hope to earn my living as a phenomenal jazz saxophonist by presenting many outstanding performances and albums. Music = Life and I’m going to live it to the fullest.

Joshua Sanchez, music major in vocal performance 

I am a 26 year old voice major currently studying at Grossmont College. In retrospect, attempting to make sense of how my life has led me thus far would be as impossible as it is irrelevant. However, it has been requested that I divulge at least a bit of information about myself. At the age of two, it was discovered that since birth, my hips had been dislocated. Being undetected for this prolonged period, it served as a catalyst for symptoms of what I now know to be Spastic Cerebral Palsy. During my childhood, I became regarded as a perpetual dreamer transforming my surroundings into whatever I deemed fit at the time. However, the constant sight of domestic violence and substance abuse left me with an insatiable longing to escape. Instead of watching Sesame Street I watched MTV, instead of building forts out of Legos, I built stages. After seeing footage of KISS Live in Japan, I embarked on a long journey down a rabbit hole with seemingly no end--if anyone finds it please let me know!

In Richard Wagner's opera Die Walküre, the hero Siegmund while relating his story quotes the lines: "Whatever I saw to be right, others saw to be wrong. Whatever I saw to be wrong, others saw to be right." As years progressed I decided at the age of twenty that I wanted to be an opera singer. It is safe to say that without singing I would have never become who I am today. This decision however, led to many heated arguments with family members. Many times I was told that I would never make it. It was not until I stepped into the Music building at Grossmont that I found the place that I needed to be all long. My being surrounded by teachers who thrive on being inspirational and their students made all those years of being a “black sheep” worth it. There is not a day that goes by now that I wake up uninspired. I have learned that being disillusioned is not something people should feel encumbered by, but rather they should learn to enjoy it to the fullest!

Day by day I feel as though my dreams are slowly becoming a reality. This sensation is further intensified by acknowledging that such wonderful people are accompanying me on this journey. Whenever I reach the point of singing in the world's great opera houses (notice the words "can't" or "maybe" are not mentioned) I will have my teachers to thank. I want them to know that a piece of them will always be with me wherever I go--never even begin to conceptualize the meaning of doubt. Fate after all would be much less interesting if it came without a sense of humor. Just spend a little time with us and you'll see what I mean.     

Rebecca Curtis, music major in jazz vocal performance

I've been singing my entire life and growing up in a musical family, I was always exposed to different styles of music. My mom, who has been a constant source of support and knowledge, was a professional jazz singer in Puerto Rico when I was a child, and although I never had formal training, she was the one who helped to develop my musical ear through fun harmony exercises and challenges.

I always had a love and appreciation for music but also divided my extra time with sports and I always knew I would be involved with one or the other in some capacity. I earned a full-ride scholarship to play college basketball at UC Berkeley, but it wasn't until I completed my undergraduate degree there and returned home that I was presented with an opportunity through a long-time friend to work as a professional singer. Since it was the first band I ever worked with, the leader of the band, Kamau Kenyatta, really took me under his wing and helped to mold me and he taught me so much. After five years, he has been and continues to be a good friend and mentor to me.

As I started building my repertoire and becoming more comfortable on stage, I began getting work with other bands; however, as I continued to work with many of San Diego's great musicians, I felt that I was lacking something. I didn't like fitting the stereotype of being just a vocalist who didn't really know anything about the elements of music. I wanted to become a musician, and after working with Derek Cannon on a couple gigs, I knew that I wanted to go back to school and I knew that Grossmont was where I needed to be.

Ayaka Ozaki, music major in percussion performance

Erin Santos, former music major in guitar performance

Music has always been a part of my life but it was at the age of 15 when I realized I really had a passion for it. I started taking piano and guitar lessons from teachers who were former Grossmont College music students. Studying music under such inspiring and knowledgeable musicians made me realize the Grossmont College Music Department had something great to offer. My guitar teacher Anthony Cutietta, encouraged me to enroll at Grossmont to pursue my passion for music and study classical guitar under Fred Benedetti.   

I really enjoyed the years I spent at Grossmont. The teachers were always passionate and enthusiastic about helping students learn and become successful musicians. I had many wonderful opportunities at Grossmont including: studying guitar with Fred Benedetti, one of San Diego’s finest guitarists, participating in Master Classes with guitarists Robert Belinic and Jason Vieux and performing at La Jolla’s Neuroscience Institute through the La Jolla Music Society, participating in the guitar ensemble, performance studies classes and the Advanced Student Recital, as well as preparing me to teach and perform for professional paying gigs. All the things I have accomplished would not have been possible without the wonderful professors and opportunities available at Grossmont.

I am currently attending the University of California, Santa Cruz and studying classical guitar with Mesut Ozgen. In the past year at UCSC I have participated in the Concert Choir, Guitar Orchestra, West Javanese Gamelan, Early Music Consort ensembles, as well as student senior recitals. Playing in these ensembles has led to many wonderful opportunities like performing with solo guitarists Peter Constant and Marion Schaap (Z.O.O Duo) from the Netherlands in the Guitar Orchestra, working with the famous Indonesian composer Nano Suratno in the West Java Gamelan, and playing continuo in the Early Music Consort and performing Handel’s oratorio Jeptha in San Francisco with UCSC Orchestra and Chamber Singers. I had the opportunity to attend a Flamenco workshop with visiting Flamenco guitarist Juan del Gastor from Spain and a guest lecture by the legendary pianist Frank Glazer and participated in Master classes with Ben Vederey, Peter Constant, Marion Schapp, and Elisabeth Le Guin. UCSC has provided a challenging but rewarding music program with many great opportunities. I plan to graduate from UCSC with a Bachelors of Music degree in 2009 and then hope to pursue a Masters of Music degree from SDSU. 

Jose Serrano, former music major in guitar performance

José’s future goals include the upcoming release of his next two CDs – more Latin jazz and a compilation of cover songs by artists whom he counts among his influences, the Beatles, Wes Montgomery, Earl Klugh and others. 

Says José, “One of the benefits for me of pursuing a musical education is the chance to inspire young talent to take formal training in music and to show anyone it is never to late to learn.”

Timothy Poulin, former music major, composer

Tim writes: "Upon entering Grossmont College, I decided to take a music theory course to see if it could help me understand a little more about the piano music that I was playing and trying to notate. It was the best decision of my life. Dr. Tweed’s music theory classes had rigorous standards drawn from excellent books; I was soon able to get answers to questions that had previously blocked my creativity, such as how to move to different keys and back in songs and how to add more interest to pieces I had already written by using different types of chords. The Grossmont College Music department offered me a musical environment that was open to different musical tastes. This point cannot be emphasized enough since this acceptance at Grossmont remains in stark contrast to many other music institutions whose values are intolerant of musical genres that reside outside a narrowly defined academic ideal of music. As a student at Grossmont, I was able to freely explore music that I love without pressure from professors to only appreciate their aesthetics. Teachers like Derek Cannon, who teaches jazz & afro-cuban studies, Fred Benedetti, who teachers guitar and creates arrangements of Beatles songs for his guitar ensemble, and Dr. Randall Tweed, who coordinates the production of multi-ensemble concerts, showcase the diversity of not only the music department, but the professional talents and resources of the city at large. Grossmont College was a great preparation for many aspects of my later music education because it introduced me to working with computer music technology. Entering Grossmont, I had almost no experience with computers and was reticent to use them. At this time in 1997-1998, I saw computers as a necessary evil for word processing. However, Dr. Tweed emphasized technology use in music and required us to use music notation software and ear training software, which both prepared me for university expectations of computer competency and helped me to write music more rapidly and legibly.

My excellent teachers at Grossmont College prepared me well for transfer to the College of Creative Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where I studied traditional composition under D. Jeremy Haladyna and electronic music under Dr. Curtis Roads. At UCSB I won second prize in the Corwin Music Competition for electronic music. I also collaborated with several students to create joint music recitals, wrote music for the Reel Loud Film festival, and had one of my pieces called God Loops, which parodies the importance of music composers, performed at my class’s graduation.

I was accepted into graduate studies in Electro-Acoustic Music Composition at San Diego State University in Spring 2007 where I have become very involved in electronic music concerts. It was involvement in performances led by Dr. Joseph Waters that helped me realize how important it is to collaborate, organize, and be involved in wide-reaching eclectic concerts; these skills have helped with my marketability as a collaborator on interesting projects. This knowledge prepared me to become a board member for the international concert series called NWEAMO (North West Electronic Arts & Music Organization) and also helped me to manage the annual Electronic Music Marathon each semester at SDSU.

Beyond all the other value added to my life at Grossmont, the most important knowledge I acquired from Grossmont College was an appreciation for the importance of good teaching. Teachers and students at Grossmont College care about you. That cannot be over emphasized because it gives hope and direction to students like myself that may otherwise have had smaller dreams or more vague conceptions of what they could do academically. Inspiration from this great teaching environment has made me realize that I want music teaching to have a central role in my professional life.

Currently, I teach private piano and music theory lessons, I’m a teacher’s assistant for the electronic music classes at SDSU, and I teach a few music technology classes there as well. My current music composition work involves both “traditional” orchestrated work and electronic interactive and generative music. I have just completed writing the score for a documentary on sharks and will be presenting interactive electronic works this year in San Diego, New York, and Miami. In the summer of 2008, I received the Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Scholarship, and after earning my Masters of Music from SDSU (Spring 2009) and teaching music locally for a few years, I plan to pursue a doctorate in Music composition."

Daniel Crawford, former music major, classical guitar performance

From the first day in the Grossmont Music Department I felt very welcome; all the teachers were very helpful and supportive. Looking back I now see that the quality of instruction that I received was extremely high, not only in the classroom but also on stage performing. The amount of performing opportunities at Grossmont is amazing. I was performing solo as well as in the Grossmont guitar ensemble on a weekly basis; many of these being formal performances in front of audiences. I feel that I was given a great jump-start into the intense pursuit of music study. Without Grossmont I would not be where I am today.

I am currently a Master's degree student at the School of Music at San Diego State University.  I performed for the Master Class of guitarist Antonio de Innocentes and plan to do many more in the upcoming year. During semester breaks,  I study with Fred Benedetti and Kristina Romero in San Diego. 

Daniel Crawford is a San Diego native and began playing guitar at the age of 11. After graduating from Helix High School in 2000 he enrolled at Grossmont College to Study Guitar under Fred Benedetti and George Svoboda. Privately he studied with Lori Corey and Fred Benedetti, currently he studies with David Tanenbaum while at school and Fred Benedetti and Kristina Romero when he is home in San Diego. Currently he is a junior at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

As a performer, Daniel Crawford performs avidly with the San Francisco Conservatory Guitar Ensemble; he also was a member of the Grossmont Guitar Ensemble. He has had multiple appearances with the Grossmont Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Randall Tweed and Brandon Muresan. He has also collaborated with various Duos, Trios and Quartets. Daniel plays numerous solo, and guitar and piano concerts with his partner Eva Nahli who is currently attending San Diego State University. Daniel Crawford has shared the stage with Robert Wetzel and Fred Benedetti.  In 2001 Daniel placed 2nd in the Women’s Committee of the Grossmont Community Concert Association Scholarship Competition and placed twice in the ASTA (American String Teachers Association) local competition.  Daniel also placed 2nd in the ASTA 2002 California State Competition held at Cal State Fullerton.

Joshua Cavanaugh, music major in vocal performance 

Joshua is currently a Senior Vocal Performance Major at Chapman University studying under Dr. Peter Atherton.  He is scheduled to Graduate with a bachelor's degree Fall of 2010.  During his time spent at Chapman so far he has had the privilege of singing in both the University Choir which is made up of over 90 students, and a 30 student chamber choir called, University Singers, under the direction of both Joe Modica and Dr. Stephen Coker.  He has also had a number of solo opportunities, singing lead roles in the opera program as well as singing a few solos with choir and orchestra. In opera he has played Fredrik from "A Little Night Music" by Stephen Sondheim, Matthew in "La Divina" by Thomas Pasatieri, and Buff in Mozart's "The Impresario."  He has sung the baritone solo in Ralph Vaughan William's "Fantasia on Christmas Carols" and the Bass solo in Bach Cantata no. 80 "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" both with choir, conducted by Joe Modica, and orchestra under the direction of Maestro Daniel Wachs. In his first year at Chapman he put on a Junior Recital where he sung songs by Schumann, Finzi, Vaughan Williams, and the aria "Donne mie la fate tanti" from Mozart's "Così fan tutte."  This year he has already been a part of the solo quartet in "Fern Hill" by Corgliano with choir and orchestra and is scheduled to sing the Bass solo in the Agnus Dei portion of Puccini's "Messa di gloria," as well as being scheduled to perform a Senior Recital including works by Dowland, Faurè, Korngold, Rachmaninoff, and Barber.

Upon graduating from Valhalla High School, I began attending Cuyamaca College with the intention of working toward Engineering.  I participated in some other activities as well including playing on the Cuyamaca College soccer team and singing in the Grossmont Master Chorale under the direction of Dr. Randall Tweed.  After realizing a degree in Engineering did not suit me, I turned to music and was welcomed quite graciously into the music department at Grossmont Community College. I have been singing since I learned to talk, and music has always run in the family, so I figured it was the best possible solution. As time went on and I was immersed in music, I found out I was right.  This was not only the best possible solution for me, but the only solution.  Music was not only something that came easy to me, but it was enjoyable even on the most difficult level. The teachers at Grossmont were extremely passionate about their work, which was not just to educate, but to instill an excitement about music into the hearts of their students.  They were able to balance teaching as well as performing paid "gigs" and seemed to love what life had dealt them, which in turn encouraged their students even further to appreciate music.  During my time at Grossmont I received private voice lessons from Jennifer Michael as well as Janelle DeStefano.  Both of whom helped to sculpt my voice in ways I never thought possible. Without the two of them guiding me along the way I never would have been ready to sing half of what was thrown at me.  I was able to sing a few solos with the choir as well as doing individual songs by different composers such as Mozart, Caccini, Marcello, Arne, Weill, Vaughan Williams, etc. during master class and group recitals. Also during this time I received an Honorable Mention in the 2005 NATS Competition and was hired to sing in the San Diego Opera Chorus for their production of "Aida." The skills and opportunities I received at Grossmont prepared me extremely well to transfer to the university level, and gave me all the tools necessary to succeed at Chapman.  I cannot thank the teachers at Grossmont College enough not only for passing on their extensive knowledge, but for helping share their passion and love of music with me. They pushed me in so many ways and helped me get to where I am currently. Without their guidance and passion, I would not have become the musician, nor the man that I am today.

After Graduation I plan on pursuing a Master's Degree, and possibly Doctorate, that will allow me to teach both Music Theory and Aural skills at the Junior College or University level. I would love to follow in my Junior College professor's footsteps and share my love for music with the next generation. I also hope to find a job singing in an opera chorus in the future, and hope to be able to sing different solo gigs as well.  I truly want to balance both teaching and performing just as my teachers at Grossmont College did.  They have figured out a way to do what they love across the board and I can't think of a more exciting and fulfilling way to make a career.