Young musicians will soon have a chance to train with professional jazz composers through a new program in Paso Robles. It’s sponsored by the owner of Libretto, a live performance venue.
Libretto hosts world class musicians who specialize in genres like Jazz, Blues, Classical and Opera. Now, owner Corey Jordan says he wants to expand his passion for music to mentoring young standouts.
He said he came up with the idea after hosting a student jam night.
“I think we had two [students] from Paso High and two [students] from Cuesta [College]. And we did it every month, and kind of started to build a little bit of a scene. And then this one we hosted last November was just over 35 students that showed up. And we've seen this kind of monthly commitment grow,” Jordan said.
He partnered with a Los Angeles-Based music school called the Rags School of music, led by award winning composer, Michael Ragonese. He said he wanted to bring its curriculum to the Central Coast.
“We wanted to do something to give back to the community and try to create an outlet or a platform to springboard both college and high school students… kind of into the next step of whatever their endeavors are for a musical career or career in entertainment,” Jordan said.
Jordan said he wishes a program like this existed when he graduated from Paso Robles High School. Since there wasn’t, he ended up moving to Los Angeles for a bit.
Classes will be taught by Michael Ragonese. The program is a five-week intensive after-school class for college and high school students. The deadline to apply is Monday, December 16th. Applications are accepted on Michael Ragonese’s website.