OCSA Garn Family Jazz Studies Program

09/18/2026

The Garn Family Jazz Studies Program had a visit from true jazz royalty yesterday, as world renowned, award winning jazz drummer, Jeff Hamilton and his Trio, with Jon Hamar on Bass & Tadataka Unno on Piano spent the afternoon with our students giving them the most valuable masterclass! Thank you Jeff Hamilton & Trio!
Much gratitude also to our generous underwriter Mr. Jeff Randolph who made this masterclass possible for our conservatory!
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09/16/2026

Join us at The Drake, Laguna Beach, on Mon Sept 28th at 6pm as they feature this amazing quartet of our own jazz students. Allow yourselves an evening out and book a table and enjoy some great music
with Lexie Shehab, vocals, Emmet Althoen, piano- Gabriel Tong, bass- Kilan Lam, drums.
Make your reservations at
(949) 376-1000

09/03/2026

Let’s enjoy AJO’s fantastic performance led by Dr. John Reynolds, from the Season Finale in May:

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

08/28/2026

Proud of alumni & current jazz students Miri & Lake partaking in NYO Jazz touring to China this summer. Click the link and watch Miri being interviewed on Chinese tv.

At a time when China-U.S. headlines are often dominated by trade, technology and rivalry, a group of young Americans is bringing a different kind of conversation to China — through jazz.

08/18/2026

Our fantastic jazz students already active; here a clip of the Wackerman Combo playing at Laguna Festival of the Arts earlier today.

08/05/2026

Congratulations on our new Instrumental Music team under the direction of Dr. John Reynolds

05/26/2026

Fantastic end of year concert & award evening for the Jazz Conservatory. Congratulations to all of our amazing jazz students on a great year and an extra congrats to all of our award recipients👏👏
Warm Thank You to our 3 fantastic band directors Dr. John Reynolds, Mr. Nathan King & Mr. Branden Brown and to our entire jazz faculty; we are so grateful to all of you!
Thank you for all the work you put into this conservatory and our students❤️
It’s been an amazing year!
Glad also to see so many jazz alumni attend the concert!!
Have a wonderful summer everyone, and remember to tag us in your social medias

05/23/2026

05/04/2026

OCSA Ambassador Jazz Orchestra brings home an amazing 2nd place in the Essentially Ellington finals in New York!
AJO was also awarded the two top soloist awards of the evening, to Miri Izenberg & Pedro Fregoso!
We are immensely proud of our jazz students under direction of Dr. John Reynolds , who have worked tirelessly this entire year to perfect their art while getting ready to be selected for this competition.
These young musicians have shown us that they are on a high music level, but also that jazz is about so much more than that. Dr. Reynolds often emphasizes how much it matters that the students care about each other and have a good time together, for the music to swing on stage.
AJO has truly shown to have both; a high level of music skills and a great bond in the group that swings on stage. Great job Dr. Reynolds!!
Thank you Jazz at Lincoln Center for this supportive educational program, and as always, thank you Julie Keenan Garn , Teren Shaffer and Orange County School of the Arts and our donors and supporters from home that made this journey possible for our students.

AJO Awards 2026 Essentially Ellington NYC:
Outstanding Rhythm Section
Outstanding Brass Section
SOLOISTS:
Outstanding Piano: Emmet Althoen
Outstanding Doubler, Banjo & Guitar: Oliver Shiwota
Outstanding Trombone: Jonah Jiang
Outstanding Trombone: Owen Ramos
The Snooky Young Award (Outstanding Lead Trumpet): Pedro Fregoso
The Ella Fitzgerald Award: Miri Izenberg
CONGRATULATIONS to all our award recipients!

/ Photos by Ulrika Molin

05/02/2026

Competition day yesterday was fantastic and we are so proud of our young musicians in OCSA AJO for that amazing performance!
It is an unbelievable feeling to be in the room, with all the bands giving such a warm reception and applause to each other. The supportive environment, and creative education program, Wynton Marsalis & JALC have created and continues to give through EE is un-parallelled.
We are so grateful to be part of this and wish to congratulate all the other 19 bands around us, they all sound fantastic!