Thank you for participating in the 2018 Popular Music Festival! We had 15 teachers enter 51 students who performed in recitals on November 3, 2018 at Grossmont College. The four recitals were filled with delightful music ranging from pop and rock to jazz, blues and ragtime.

The 3pm Jazz Improvisation Workshop was led by Yuko Maruyama, and the accompanists were Doug Walker on bass and Matthew Taylor on drums. Students Andrew D., Skylar L., Risa S., Eric T., Michael W., and teacher Claudia Smetona explored improvisation on blues and funk, Latin rhythms, and some jazz standards.

Studios Represented: Irina Bessonova, Miriam Cole, Kathy Kim, Amy Lee, Philip Lim, Brenda Martin, Yuko Maruyama, Leslie Olson, Carol Ong-Chen, Anna Savvas, Claudia Smetona, Anna Stal, Galina Talis, Irina Williams, and Dan Yu

A big thank-you to all the teachers, students and friends who came out and volunteered their time to make this event possible:

Irina Bessonova, Miriam Cole, Kathy Kim, Yuko Maruyama, Leslie Olson, Carol Ong-Chen, Anna Savvas, Risa Schapiro, Claudia Smetona, Irina Williams, Chutaphin Yeager and Dan Yu