Bio

Starting with the trombone in 4th grade with the goal to pick the loudest instrument to annoy his sister with, Cal’s hopes and dreams were quickly dashed when his parents bought him a practice mute. While disappointing, he continued to play, spending his lunches in middle school practicing in the band room and slowly falling in love with the trombone.

Continuing to do so into high school, he helped bring the newly emerging band program at Grover Cleveland High School from complete obscurity to winning the SCSBOA 1A Championships in his senior year. While there, he was the low brass section leader for two years and drum major his senior year. Outside of school, he spent four years playing with the CSUN Youth Philharmonic and three years in the LAUSD All City Jazz Band, where he had the opportunity to play at the Hollywood Bowl and the Central Avenue Jazz Festivals.

After attending UCSB for two years, studying under Bill Booth, he transferred to CSUN, studying under Paul Radke.

After recently graduating, he is currently the low brass tech for Grover Cleveland High School and teaches private lessons. During his free time, Cal enjoys playing video games, watching horse races, taking long walks (preferably by duck ponds), and keeping up with the latest weekly anime.