Dr. Dan Castro, Senior Program Specialist
At the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, Dr. Castro has developed one of the premier high school music programs in the country where he has served as “Chair of the Music Department” for fifteen years. Most recently in 2006, the LACHSA Music Program received the prestigious Grammy Signature Schools “Gold” Award given to only seven high schools nationally by the Grammy Foundation. His students and ensembles continue to win awards at the national and state level. For his contribution to music, Dr. Castro has earned numerous accolades including Distinguished Teacher Award from the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars. Dr. Castro holds a Ph.D. from UCLA in composition.
Pat Bass, Gospel Choir and Vocal Jazz Ensemble
Ms. Bass has an extensive background in both commercial and gospel music. She toured as a member of the 5th Dimension for two years and currently performs her solo nightclub act throughout Southern California. Ms. Bass' theatre and stage experience include The Johnny Carson Testimonial, The Vikki Carr Show and The Merv Griffin Show. Her gospel credits include directing of The Divine Guidance Choraliers and Affirmation. Ms. Bass can currently be heard on a recent CD, Basic Instincts, by Henry Franklin. Other recent accomplishments include the Bravo Award for Musical Presentation; Director of the 1st Place Winning Vocal Jazz Ensemble at the 2007 Monterey High School Jazz Festival and Competition, Music Director of the Arts High Gospel Choir in Say It With Music, a celebration of Irving Berlin at the Mark Taper Forum and Choir Director at the Monterey Jazz Festival High School Competition. Ms. Bass is also presently jazz instructor at California State University, Los Angeles.
Nelly Ghazarian, Theory 2, Piano Ensembles
Ms. Ghazarian holds both Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in Piano Performance. She has appeared in solo and duo recitals and chamber music ensembles in the United States. In addition to recitals, Ms. Ghazarian has given numerous master classes in piano. In the past, she has taught music fundamentals and literature at the Marina Light Christian School. Besides teaching, she is very active in private instruction and with her concert career.
Jason Goldman, Jazz Band, Jazz Combo, Jazz Improvisation
Mr. Goldman has gained prominence as a saxophonist, composer and arranger in the fields of jazz and popular music. He has performed with jazz icons Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Christian McBride, Terence Blanchard, Clark Terry, Jimmy Heath, Phil Woods, Jon Faddis, Bobby Watson, Kenny Barron and Jim McNeely. He has performed with producer/singer Paul Anka, Wayne Newton, Chris Isaak, Michael Feinstein and Warner Bros./Reprise artists Reneé Olstead and Michael Buble. He has arranged for producer David Foster, Michael Bublé and American Idol contestant Clay Aiken. His arrangement of Smile, for Bublé’s Caught In The Act was nominated for a Grammy award. Mr. Goldman won the 2005 ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer Award. He was nominated for The Coca-Cola Company/NFAA's Distinguished Teachers in the Arts program in 2006 and 2003. He won the 2001 IAJE/ASCAP emerging artist commission honoring Dr. Billy Taylor. His debut album is The Jason Goldman Nonet – The Definitive Standard. He earned his B.A. at Berklee College of Music in jazz and film composition. He pursued post-graduate education USC, where he now teaches jazz.
Helen Goode-Castro, Chamber Winds, Wind Ensemble
Ms. Goode-Castro graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music, England with an Honors degree and a Professional Performers Diploma in Clarinet. She earned the Artists Diploma at the Royal College of Music. While in London, she performed with several European Orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata and Süd-Bayerische Philharmonie, Germany. Ms. Goode-Castro moved to L.A Los Angeles to study with Gary Gray at UCLA where she obtained an MFA in Clarinet Performance and then began studies at USC on a DMA with Yehuda Gilad and Michele Zukovsky. She freelances regularly with Mozart Camerata, Santa Barbara Symphony, Redlands Symphony, Inland Empire Symphony, California Philharmonic, Long Beach Symphony and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She was a finalist in the Boosey and Hawkes Clarinet competition in Chicago and won a position with Sarasota Opera Festival Orchestra for 1996 and 1997. In London she performed The Tone Poem for Clarinet and Orchestra by Charles Fernandez with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. She is also on the faculty at California State University, Los Angeles and California State University, Long Beach.
Eileen Holt, Music Fundamentals
Ms. Holt is Principal Flute of the Riverside County Philharmonic. She has also served as Principal Flute with the San Bernardino Symphony, the Desert Symphony, and the Redlands Symphony. She has performed with the Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra and the Long Beach Opera. She is a member of Calico Winds, a professional wind quintet and on the faculty of the Birch Creek Music Festival in Wisconsin. Ms. Holt is also a professional vocalist, having performed with the Los Angeles Music Center Opera, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and can be heard on many film sound tracks, including Independence Day and Batman and Robin. Ms. Holt joined the Conservatory in 1997.
Fung Ho, Strings Chamber Music
Mr. Ho served as Concertmaster for the West L.A. Symphony Orchestra from 1992-2001 and was Concertmaster for the Burbank Chamber Orchestra from 1992-97.He now serves as the Music Director and Conductor of the Olympia Philharmonic and Olympia Youth Orchestras in the Greater Los Angeles Area. He moved to Los Angeles in 1984 from New York City where he served as Concertmaster for both the Brooklyn Chamber and Queens Philharmonic Orchestras. He has made appearances as guest conductor for performances at USC and CSULA. Solo and chamber music recitals were also given in New York, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Minnesota.
Besides keeping a busy schedule performing, Mr. Ho also maintains a studio of young and talented violin and viola students. Fung Ho was President of the Los Angeles Section of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA with NSOA) and also served as President of the West San Gabriel Valley Branch of the Music Teachers Association of California (MTAC). Mr. Ho holds a Masters Degree in Violin Performance from the Manhattan School of Music in New York where he studied with the late Carroll Glenn after receiving degrees from the St. John's University in Minnesota, and Long Island University. Later on, in Los Angeles, he studied pedagogy and repertoire with the late Noumi Fischer.
Currently, Fung Ho is on the faculty of CSULA and the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts where he serves as the Conductor for the String Orchestra and Chamber Music Coach. He also served on the faculty of the International Institute for Young Musicians during the summers for 8 years. In the summer of 2001, he was invited by the Music Office of the Hong Kong Government to be the guest conductor at the Hong Kong Youth Music Camp and a well-received concert with the Hong Kong Youth String Orchestra that was presented at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre on July 29, 2001. Mr. Ho has also given master classes in the US as well as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. Many of his prize-winning students have gone on to further their musical studies in music conservatories all over the country.
Susan Larson, Theory 1, Piano Ensembles
Ms. Larson, pianist, received her Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in piano performance from California State University Los Angeles. Ms. Larson has performed solo recitals in the United States and Europe, and is active in duo piano and chamber music. In addition to performance, she continues to teach piano privately. Before joining the Arts High faculty, Ms. Larson developed and directed the elementary and secondary music program for a private school in the Los Angeles area. Ms. Larson is a sought after soloist, accompanist, and clinician. She has presented numerous master classes, and has taught piano and music theory in summer youth camps.
Alan Mautner, Orchestra, String Ensemble, Chamber Strings
A cellist for 20+ years, Mr. Mautner has performed with the Pacific Symphony Redlands Symphony, Riverside Symphony, and has been the principal cellist of the Mozart classical Orchestra, the Valley Cultural Chamber Orchestra and the Indian Wells Desert Symphony. He has played in orchestras for McCoy Tyner, John Tesh, Dionne Warwick, Barry White, and the Goo Goo Dolls. He performed on You’ll Be In My Heart by Phil Collins, winner of an Oscar for the best song in 1999. He performed with his string quartet in Frankfurt, Germany and with his piano trio, Trio du Bois, at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. In 2000, he was the featured continuo player with the Calabasas Chamber Orchestra at St Chapel in Paris. He has been a guest conductor of the Pasadena Summer Youth Orchestra. Currently, he is the cellist of the Del Gesu Quartet, a member of Vio-fonik, a string trio dedicated to performing contemporary and jazz compositions and a Professor of Cello at Concordia University. He has taught at Arts High since 1990.
Emmanuel Munda, Music Technology
Mr. Munda graduated from Arts High in 1996 as a dual major in both Vocal and Instrumental music, playing the Saxophone. Since then he has performed in the musical Song of the Rice, Song of Life; A Tale of Japan, at its world premiere performance at the Kennedy Center. He was featured in Fox’s “Power Rangers Turbo” series and filmed a couple of martial arts films. His theatrical performance in The Song of the Rice earned him a nomination to compete in the 2000 American College Theater Festival in Las Vegas. Mr. Munda has a Bachelors of Arts degree in Broadcasting (film and television) from California State University, Los Angeles, He currently runs his own production company as well as a record label, Six Sixteen Records. He recently co-produced an album for Hope Carr (Arts High ’93) called the The Journey on Predestined Records. At Arts High he is also the resident sound engineer and technical expert, and is involved in productions for the Theatre and Dance Departments.
Danielle Ondarza, Brass Ensemble
Ms. Ondarza is an active performer in the Los Angeles area. She has played principal horn with Michael Buble and Diane Reeves, and has performed with Natalie Cole and Frank Sinatra Jr. She also performs regularly with orchestras in the Los Angeles area, including Opera Pacific, the California Philharmonic, Mladi, Redlands, and Downey Symphonies. Ms. Ondarza is involved in production and arts administration as well, assembling and producing annual concerts for the Wild Ginger Philharmonic, the Young Musicians Foundation, and the annual fundraiser for the University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music. Ms. Ondarza’s studied under Richard Todd, Vince de Rosa and Jerry Folsom. She graduated with honors from the University of Southern California, Flora L. Thornton School of Music and is an alumna of the Henry Mancini Institute.
Thom Sharp, Film Scoring, Theory 3
Emmy award-winning composer Thom Sharp was born and raised in southeastern Ohio's Appalachian foothills. He received his BM from Ohio University where he wrote for and conducted one of the jazz ensembles. After college, Thom taught briefly in the public school system in Ohio and then moved to California. He studied composition and arranging at the acclaimed Grove School of Music before launching his career as a professional composer, arranger and orchestrator. Mr. Sharp has written for the New Christy Minstrels, Joe Sample, Wilton Felder, Harry Connick Jr. and others. His television and film credits are extensive. He wrote the music for Ping and orchestrated on the movies When Harry Met Sally, and City Slickers. He has written for numerous animated television series, including Aladdin (for which he won an Emmy), Little Mermaid, Toonsylvania, Casper (for which he was nominated for an Emmy) and the award-winning New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. He also currently teaches Advanced Harmony, Film Scoring, and Orchestration at California State University, Fullerton, and UCLA Extension.
Walter Smith III, Jazz Theory, Reading Ensemble, Jazz Combos
A graduate of Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Mr. Smith received a Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship from International Association of Jazz Educators, the NFAA Young Talent Award, a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts medal and a scholarship to Berklee College of Music for his BA in Music Education. He earned his MFA in Jazz Performance at Manhattan School of Music. In 2006, his debut recording was released by Fresh Sound New Talent label. He has appeared on stage and/or recorded with Roy Hargrove, Terence Blanchard, Darren Barrett, Eric Reed, Makoto Ozone, Jason Moran, Joe Sample, Bob Hurst, Antonio Hart, Joe Lovano, Bill Pierce, Eric Harland, Ralph Peterson, and Terri Lynne-Carrington. He toured with the Sean Jones Sextet, Christian Scott, Jason Moran, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. He performed on two Grammy-nominated recordings: Christian Scott’s Rewind That, (Best Contemporary Jazz Album) and Michael Buble’s Caught in the Act, (Traditional/Pop). He performed on recent releases by trumpeters Christian Scott and Sean Jones and Drummer Kendrick Scott. He just completed the two-year program of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.
Bill Wysaske, Jazz Theory, Percussion Ensemble, Lab Band, Jazz Combos
Mr. Wysaske earned his Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies at the University of North Texas and attended the prestigious Henry Mancini Institute. In 2000, he began a world tour with Singer/Producer Steve Tyrell and joined Michael Bublé’s band a short time after. He is featured on the DVD/CD Come Fly with Me by Michael Bublé. TV appearances include The Today Show with Katie Couric, Ellen DeGeneres, Craig Kilborn, Larry King Live, Wayne Brady, Extra, QVC, Dateline NBC and various international programs. He has also worked with a number of artist including John Clayton, Randy Brecker, Norah Jones, The Count Basie Orchestra, Paul Anka, John Beasley, Pete Christlieb, Plas Johnson and Lew Soloff to name a few. He won an American Gold Record, Australian Platinum Record, UK Platinum Record and Canadian Gold Record (Michael Bublé Debut). His endorsements include TAMA Drums, Bosphorus Cymbals, Vater Percussion, Aquarian Drumheads and Brady Drums. He was the featured artist in Drumscene Magazine in July 2004, in Modern Drummer 2005 and DRUM Magazine in 2005. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern California.
Stephanie Vlahos, Opera
A graduate of Yale University and the Juilliard School with degrees in music and theater, Ms. Vlahos has had a varied professional singing career ranging from the borscht belt to grand opera. She has worked in solo performance in diverging musical arenas with such luminaries as Pierre Boulez, Andre Previn, Van Dyke Parks, and Ry Cooder. Her voice has been featured in film and commercials. A recipient of the Chanel Diva Award, Ms. Vlahos is best known in Los Angeles for her work at L.A. Opera where audiences have delighted in her performances as Nicklausse in Tales of Hoffmann with Placido Domingo, as Hermia in Gordon Davidson's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, as Suzuki in Madame Butterfly with Maria Ewing in the title role. She has logged a total of 22 leading roles in opera and has appeared internationally in a number of operas and concert performances. Her chamber music work in the States includes Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire as an artist-in-residence at Duke University as well as Berio's Folk Songs and Ravel's Chanson Madecasses as guest soloist with the Seattle Chamber Players. Concert performances include work with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as solo artist in addition to a number of guest appearances with the St Paul Chamber Orchestra in critically-acclaimed performances of Weill’s Die Kleine Mahagonny under the baton of John Adams as well as the American premier of Kernis' Goblin Market as featured narrator. She has performed a number of works for broadcast on NPR syndicated and local radio. In addition to her classical engagements, Ms. Vlahos has garnered renown in Los Angeles and oversees as, according to the Associated Press, the "moonlighting Diva". Ms. Vlahos has completed a trilogy of cabarets. The first is devoted to the music of Kurt Weill entitled, Weill Thoughts. Her second foray was into the arena of French music hall entitled, Elle Qui Chante. Both cabarets have received kudos from the Los Angeles and the international press. Her most recent effort, entitled The Gangster Hour, was hailed by Variety as a "Cotton Club meets the Maltese Falcon...but what really sells is Vlahos and her incredible voice..." Her cabarets have been performed in the States and in Europe, most notably a sold-out concert tour of Greece where she also starred in a film by Nicholas Triandafyllidis, entitled, Black Milk, featured at the Cannes Festival. Ms. Vlahos is currently directing opera, cabaret, and theater performances. Above all, Ms. Vlahos is most proud of her creation of The Full Circle Opera Project; a one-of-a-kind experience in the art of opera for young adults. The project has been heralded by the L.A. County Supervisors as “groundbreaking” as well as acclaimed by Performing Arts Magazine whose editor-n-chief said of it “this is what arts education is all about!”. The project, whose current home is the L.A. County High School for the Arts, is a recipient of a grant from the Flora Thornton Foundation and has established itself as a wonderful paradigm for outreach as well as an effective initiation into classical singing given the groundswell of talent on the part of its alumni, many of whom now attend prestigious conservatories both in the United States and abroad. Ms. Vlahos is also a six-time awardee in Who’s Who in American Teachers and as such, is part of 1 per cent of the population of educators to be commended by her students. The Full Circle Opera Project is a project devoted to the dedicated outreach of opera to the community through high school students. Ms Vlahos is currently the theater and stage director for the Domingo-Thornton Young Artist’s Program and was among 30 other artists nationwide to be nominated for the prestigious United States Artists Grant in directing.
Francisco Castillo, Woodwind Ensemble
Francisco Castillo earned his Masters in Music in oboe performance from the University of Southern California, a Bachelors and Licenciatura in oboe, composition and orchestra conducting from the University of Costa Rica. He was the winner of the Costa Rica National Prize in composition, 1979, for his orchestral work TUPACK AMARU. In 1988 the Los Angeles Philharmonic Woodwind Quintet premiered his Woodwind Quintet, Op.22, No.1. As an Oboist, Francisco was a prize winner at the 34th Chamber Music Competition in Colmar, France, with the USC Graduate Woodwind Quintet and also won the first William Criss Memorial Award at USC in 1985. In 1998, after a very successful concert tour to China, Francisco was given an honorary membership to the Chinese Musicians Union and the Literary Society of Shingdao by the Chinese Musicians Union and the government of China for his teachings and help to Chinese students. Francisco is the principal Oboist with the Redlands Symphony, California Philharmonic Orchestra, Burbank Symphony Orchestra, The Chamber Orchestra of Pasadena, San Bernardino Orchestra and the Pasadena Pops Orchestra. He is the solo oboist with the Los Angeles Woodwind Quintet and the new age jazz group L.A. Reed Machine. Mr. Castillo has performed with many different orchestras including the San Diego Symphony, San Diego Opera, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mr. Castillo is also the Oboe and the Chamber Music instructor at Redlands University, La Sierra University, the Idyllwild Arts Academy and the Los Angeles High School for the Arts. He has been recognized as an outstanding oboe teacher and chamber music clinician. Many of his students have won major solo and chamber music competitions in the United States and have been admitted to the best universities and music schools.
Zanaida Robles, Choir Director
Zanaida Robles is proud to be a LACHSA alumnus. She holds a Master of Music degree from CSU Northridge where she was the graduate assistant to the director of choral studies for two years. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from CSU Long Beach where she was the first recipient of the four-year Dean's Scholarship for Distinction in the Arts. She has directed performances and lead rehearsals for such ensembles as the Paul Smith Singers, Coventry and Canterbury Choirs of All Saints Church Pasadena, the CSUN Northridge Singers, and the CSUN Matador Chorale. She served as Chorus Master for the CSUN production of Johann Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus” and assumed directorship of the CSUN Women's Chorale for the fall semester of 2004. Mrs. Robles has performed as a concert soprano soloist and ensemble member throughout the United States and parts of Europe. She is the soprano section leader and soloist for the Coventry Choir at All Saints Church in Pasadena and has sung professionally under the batons of such conductors as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Pierre Boulez, John Mauceri, Carl St. Clair, Marin Alsop, and Leonard Slatkin. A district finalist in the 2001 Metropolitan Opera Auditions and two-time award winner of the Artist of the Future competition in Los Angeles, she has also been honored to receive the CSUN Alpha Kappa Alpha Scholarship, the Young Musicians Foundation Gladys Turk scholarship, the Long Beach State New York Alumni Club Scholarship, two BEEM Foundation scholarships, the CSULB Theodore Presser Scholarship, the National Arts Recognition and Talent Search level I award for classical voice, two Charles Dolo Coker Vocal Jazz Awards, the KCET Emerging Young Artist Grand Prize in classical voice, and the NAACP ACT-SO national gold medal for music composition. She has taught piano and voice and is known for her work with organizations that promote arts exposure and education. Mrs. Robles is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, Chorus America, Southern California Vocal Association, American Composers Forum, National Association of Negro Musicians, Pi Kappa Lambda honor society, and Sigma Alpha Iota national music fraternity.
Kenny Dennis, Lab Band
Kenny Dennis began music career in the United States Army Band playing drums in three bands from 1948-1952. While serving, he met and performed with fellow musicians, (alto-saxopho nist) Cannonball Adderley, his brother, (trumpet player) Nat, and (pianist) Junior M an ce. After being discharged, he connected with junior high school mate, (pianist) Ray Bryant and became part of The Ray Bryant Trioalong with Jimmy Rowser on bass. They became the house trio at the famous North Philadelphia Jazz Club, “Blue Note” where they played for such notable jazz artist as J.J. Johnson, Kai Winding, Chris Connor, and Sonny Stitt. His career next took him to New York, where he worked with numerous artists including Miles Davis, Phineas Newborn, Billy Taylor, Erroll Garner, Charlie Mingus and Sonny Rollins. Kenny’s next stop was California, when Miles Davis recommended him to Ms. Lena Horne. Recording credits include recordings with such notable artist as Michelle Le Grande Miles Davis, Charlie Mingus, Nancy Wilson, Gerald Wilson and Langston Hughes.
Kenny's motion picture credits include The Fabulous Baker Brothers and Dead Ringer. His television credits include Designing Women, This is Your Life, Fantasy Island, 227, and Life After Life.
Mr. Dennis has been assistant director of the LACHSA Lab Band since 1997.
