Symphonic, Wind Ensemble, Wind Symphony, Jazz Band I - Curricular Ensembles
The bands at Mira Costa High School provide opportunities for musicians at many stages of musical development.  From the educational level repertoire of the Symphonic band, to the professional-level repertoire of the Wind symphony, all the students pursue a high degree of musical integrity when approaching any piece of music.
 
In the process of recreating art through performance, ensemble members learn about the composers and their compositional purpose, seeking the original intent of the music.  The focus across all the bands is the development of the students’ musical maturity to the point where they are able to receive the greatest benefits of music education. Every member is a vital component of the ensemble and is important to both the process as well as the product.

Located in the Los Angeles suburb of Manhattan Beach, the Mira Costa Symphony Orchestra is known for presenting diverse and quality programming, drawing from the major orchestral repertoire. In 2011 the Symphony earned Premiere Partnership status with the LA Philharmonic, and in recent years, the orchestra has presented numerous times at All-Southern California music conferences, and performed at world class venues including Beijing Concert Hall, the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, twice at Carnegie Hall, and twice at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Mira Costa's own Jazz I has entertained crowds of thousands at large concert venues in the South Bay of Los Angeles and been hailed by adjudicators from coast to coast for fantastic performances of collegiate and professional repertoire, placing prominently at major jazz festivals including taking the silver medal at America's largest and oldest high school jazz festival: the Berklee Jazz Festival in Boston, MA. Highly regarded alumni of Jazz I have gone on to study improvisation and performance at major universities and conservatories with leading jazz artists.

Led by Mr. Jeremy Miller, the Mira Costa Percussion Ensembles are well known for performing the highest quality percussion literature that pushes the boundaries of the art form. Major percussion artists and educators are consistently impressed with the high quality of instruction and artistry displayed by Mira Costa Percussionists, recently recognized with at 2014 WGI Regional Concert Percussion Championship while performing Mr. Miller's original composition "Race to the Summit". The Percussion Ensemble on this album is comprised of the members of the Wind Ensemble percussion section.

Joel Carlson is the Instrumental Music Teacher for the Bands at Mira Costa High School, a 2014 GRAMMY Signature Schools Gold Award winning school and one of three awardees to be recognized by the GRAMMY Foundation in 2014 as having one of the best comprehensive music programs in the nation. During his tenure at Mira Costa, the bands have grown in size, scope and excellence. From the Wind Ensembles to the Jazz Bands and the Marching Band, the Mira Costa Bands are consistently rated at the highest levels of musicality for their outstanding performances. A native Californian, Joel is a proud graduate of Thousand Oaks High School and the University of California, Los Angeles (BA, Music Education & Music Performance, oboe, 2003; MA, Conducting & Music Performance, oboe, 2005), and is a proud alumni of the Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps (2000-2002) where he was honored to be named as the 2002 Brass Player of the Year. Mr. Carlson enjoys the daily pursuit of helping each student to realize the fullest cognitive, collaborative, and creative benefits that music education has to offer. Mr. Carlson directs the three Wind Ensembles, the two Jazz Ensembles and the Marching Band.

Peter Park is the director of orchestras at Mira Costa High School. Mr. Park graduated from UCLA with high honors with a dual emphasis in music education and percussion performance. He earned his M.Ed. from UCLA’s School of Education & Information Studies while re-pursuing studies on his first instrument, the violin. During this time, Mr. Park earned top prizes in the Grancell Foundation Solo Competition and the Atwater Kent Solo Competition. As both a violinist and a percussionist, he has had the pleasure of performing with several outstanding orchestras, including the San Francisco Symphony, and the Tanglewood Festival Orchestra. Collaborations with internationally renowned conductors include Herbert Blomstedt, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Robert Spano, and Peter Oundjian.

Outside of teaching, Mr. Park has served as clinician, adjudicator, and guest conductor for several organizations and school districts throughout California, the Western States, the Midwest, and the South. He has been recognized twice by the PTA for outstanding teacher service, and was honored as Educator of the Year in Santa Monica as well as Music Teacher of the Year by the California chapter of ASTA. Mr. Park has a notable history of championing wide areas of music education, including the founding of Elemental Strings, a developmental youth orchestra program, the organization of the inaugural Violafest Los Angeles, currently held at the Colburn School of Performing Arts, and the mentoring of several apprentice teachers from CSULA, UCLA, and USC.

Mark McCormick maintains a diverse and active schedule as a collaborative pianist, music educator, and post-production sound editor. An accomplished musician, Mark holds B.S. and M.M.E. degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he studied piano and instrumental conducting. A native of Chicago, IL, Mark began his career as the general manager of the Fox Valley Symphony producing classical and educational concerts in the western Chicago suburbs. His first teaching position was at Waubonsee Community College as an adjunct faculty member teaching piano and arts appreciation classes. He later served the Naperville and Downers Grove public school districts teaching elementary general music, high school band, choir, and electronic music composition.

Jeremy Miller is a graduate of Boston’s Berklee College of Music and holds a degree in Performance and Professional Music. Born in eastern Pennsylvania, Mr. Miller began his music career as both a performer and private instructor. His marching career started as a member of the 12-time Tournament of Bands East Coast Percussion Champion Emmaus High School Marching Band and Drumline and continued to include the 2002 Tournament of Indoor Association Champion, Mid-Atlantic Percussion Society Champion and WGI Open Class Finalist Aftermath Independent Indoor Drumline, as well as the Drum Corps Associates Champion Reading Buccaneers Drum and Bugle Corps. Now residing in Los Angeles California, Jeremy has had numerous percussion and drumline teaching opportunities with Santa Monica High School, Hart High School, Pacific Palisades Charter High School, and Mira Costa High School. Mr. Miller continues to perform, teach, and record as a drum set player with numerous area artists in a variety of venues and genres, assists with instructing the Wind Ensembles, is the Percussion Caption Head for the Marching Band and the Director of the Indoor Percussion and Percussion Studio programs.