Jazz Festival Shop Members

lobo

Workman Instrumental Music

Workman Jazz Festival

Friday March 29, 2024

Register Below!
A festival like no other. We promise to treat you right, and we have some wonderful adjudicators providing input for you, and working with your students. Our festival features a non-competitive, no-ratings format, and all bands receive on stage clinics from the full adjudication panel. Rather than have two superior performances leave here a tenth apart, we offer you the opportunity to receive a highly educational experience.

All groups will receive a 45-minute performance slot in which to set up, perform, and receive a clinic with all three adjudicators. Our festival is unique in that all our educators will work as a team to clinic your group together as a team on stage. We bring in fully qualified educators, but each one has a primary background - Brass, Woodwinds, or Rhythm Section.

Omar Vidaña

Saxophone Ninja

Omar Vidaña graduated in 1999 from John Glenn High School in Norwalk, CA. He then attended Cerritos College, and studied under Dr. David Betancourt, Ken Foerch and Billy Frenzel. In 2005, Mr. Vidaña transferred to CSULB with a full music scholarship, and studied under James Barrera, Jay Mason, Dr. Joan Albuquerque and John Carnahan.

Mr. Vidaña is currently director of bands at Bellflower High School, and has earned superior ratings at SCSBOA festival for concert band symphonic winds every year of his tenure. He has led the Marching Band to an SCJA championship and 15 SCSBOA championship appearances winning the bronze medal three times in 3 different divisions. In 2014, Mr. Vidaña was chosen as the Bellflower High School Teacher of the Year. In 2016 -2019, 2021 & 2022 the Bellflower Buccaneer Brigade went undefeated in both the SCSBOA and CSBC field circuits and was given the privilege to attend one of the most prestigious parade competitions in the nation, the Arcadia festival of bands. Mr. Vidaña still finds the time somehow to frequently perform with his band Cumbia Brava which is one of the most popular versatile local bands in Southern California.

Brian McNair

Brass Wizard

Brian McNair was director of instrumental music at Alta Loma High School for 25 years. He began his career teaching elementary and junior high music. At Alta Loma High School, Mr. McNair directed three Jazz Ensembles, Symphonic Ensemble, Concert Ensemble and the Marching Entertainment Corps. He recently retired and is now serving as a jazz clinician to four high schools, a junior high, and also directs the Riverside Community College Tuesday Night Jazz Ensemble.

Throughout his tenure at Alta Loma, Mr. McNair’s ensembles consistently garnered top performance awards including the most outstanding soloist, top high school performer, jazz combo and big band awards of excellence at the Reno International Jazz Festival. He built a music community and instilled in his students a love of music. He served as the director of the SBCMEA Honor Jazz Ensembles and was the director of the Chaffey District Honor Jazz Ensemble from 2012 – 2018. He has served and still serves as a clinician and jazz festival adjudicator. He feels very fortunate to be involved with a community of incredible educators that always assist in helping young musicians reach their potential.

Gary Pratt

Double Bass Prophet

Gary Pratt has led a distinguished career as a music educator, performer, conductor, adjudicator and arranger, and is an Emeritus Professor of Music at California State University, Northridge, where he served as chairman of the CSU Northridge Wind Area, Director of Orchestras, and Director of Jazz Studies. His guest conducting engagements have included performances in both Europe and Japan, and his noted versatility as a music educator has made him a highly sought-after clinician and guest conductor of jazz ensembles, orchestras and concert bands.

Throughout his career as a professional Jazz Bassist, Mr. Pratt has performed and/or recorded with such legendary jazz artists as Louie Bellson, Lionel Hampton, Snooky Young, Conti Candoli, Pearl Bailey, Bobby Shew, Don Menza, Blue Mitchell, Pete Christlieb, Cat Anderson, Bob Florence, Kim Richmond, Billy Mintz, Gary Fukushima, Mary Bond Davis, Sandra Booker, Cathy Segal-Garcia, Brian Swartz, Matt Otto, Clay Jenkins, Rob Lockart, and many others. Mr. Pratt has been awarded the California Music Educators Association (CMEA) Jazz Educator Award (2015), and is a recent inductee into the California Alliance for Jazz (CAJ) Hall of Fame (2018).

Fight On! Shout it out, Workman, shout it, Fight On! Let me hear you, Workman, shout it, Fight On! Shout it out, Workman, shout it out, come on, come on, Workman, let me hear you when you shout!