Music Program takes center stage on premier album

Palo Alto College’s Music Program produced and recorded its very first album over the summer, making Palo Alto College history and pushing the college’s music program in a positive direction.

The PAC Jazz Ensemble, Mariachi Palomino and Conjunto Palo Alto produced and recorded the album in Palo Alto College’s own state-of-the-art sound studio, located in the Performing Arts Center, under the direction of Dr. Armin Marmolejo, Juan B. Ortiz and Juan Tejeda.

Palo Alto College’s Recording Studio in the Performing Arts Center.

The album, which features individual pictures of each ensemble with the words “PAC Music Ensembles 2011” on the front cover and a picture of Palo Alto College’s Performing Arts Center lit up at night on the back cover, has tracks from each group. The first three are performed and recorded by PAC Jazz Ensemble, the next four by Conjunto Palo Alto and the final three by Mariachi Palomino.

The hope for the music program’s debut album includes gaining attention from not only the Palo Alto College community, but also San Antonio, Texas and beyond.

“We hope to shed more light on the department and give students a chance to show and record their talents,” said Dr. Armin Marmolejo, assistant professor of Music and director of PAC’s Jazz Ensemble.

Marmolejo said he hopes this album will bring attention to the school, and that the album will demonstrate that musical opportunity is available at Palo Alto College.

Promoting the college’s music program and helping to raise money for music scholarships is also a priority, as well as creating hands-on sound studio experience for the student musicians.

“They’re getting the experience of working and performing in a studio with an engineer, which is different than performing live,” said Juan Tejeda, an assistant professor of Music and director of Conjunto Palo Alto.

The musicians on the album also found recording the new album rewarding and unique. “It felt great to be in that studio,” said Sam Saenz, sophomore Music major at Palo Alto College and lead and third trombone player for the PAC jazz ensemble. “It was fun learning. I felt catered to and comfortable. It was just an all around great experience, one of the best in my life,” said Saenz.

Tejeda also said that the promotion of the music program was a big reason the album was recorded. They plan to use it to recruit young high school musicians who wish to further their musical education at Palo Alto College.

The music program also hopes to earn some money to put toward scholarships.

“We hope to raise a little money for our scholarships that we give young talented students,” said Tejeda. “We give scholarships in all three of the ensembles.”

Palo Alto College’s debut album may be found in the Music Department from the music instructors. The album is available not for a price but for a donation.

For more information on Palo Alto’s Music Program, contact Marmolejo (Jazz) at (210) 486-3227, Tejeda (Conjunto) at (210) 486-3229 or Ortiz (Mariachi) at (210) 486-3328.