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Guest conductor Dr. Tony Mazzaferro, who was born and raised in San Francisco and is completing his eleventh year as Principal Conductor of the Claremont Winds, leads Middle and High School student musicians during the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District's 60th Annual 'Stairway of the Stars' concert at the Santa Monica Convention Center on Thursday, March 25, 2009. The event spotlights the talents of the district's music students, teachers, and music curriculum.Twenty-six bands, orchestras, and choirs dazzled the audience. The ensembles that performed are the All-District Elementary Honor Orchestra, Choir, and Band; High School Jazz Ensemble; as well as the Middle and High School orchestras, choirs, and bands. Some of the musical selections included: “Pineapple Poll,” “He’ll Make a Way,” and “Cruisin’ For a Bluesin.”sin”.

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Pianist Alastair Edmonstone, 27, performs excerpts from Messiaen's epic piano cycle, 'Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jésus' (1944) (Twenty Gazes Upon the Infant Jesus) during a Santa Monica College Music Master Class at SMC Performing Arts Center -The Edye Second Space on Tuesday, March 24, 2009. Edmonstone studied with Mark Racz at Birmingham Conservatoire and with Stephen Drury at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he earned a Graduate Diploma and Master of Music degree. Currently he is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he is a student of Robin McCabe.

Acclaimed author of "Satchmo Meets Amadeus" and Associate professor of modern history at the University of Salzburg, Dr. Reinhold Wagnletiner, accompanied on piano by Tom McDermott, presents an "Informance" in music, words, and images on the history of Jazz and its wide-ranging impact on the global community, at Santa Monica College on Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The Caroling Company sing Christmas classics at the Third Street Promenade on Friday, December 19, 2008.

Saxophonist Josh Remington, 33, plays jazz at the Third Street Promenade on Saturday, November 8, 2008.

The Austrian folk group Knopferlstreich sing and dance at the Third Street Promenade on Saturday, October 25, 2008

(top) Karen Benjamin and Alan Chapman perform Broadway classics during the Upward Bound House's Welcome Home Gala fundraiser at at the Broad Stage on October 23, 2008. The event honored Dee Menzies, the Families and Faculty of Carlthrop School with the Humanitarian Award. (center) Carlthorp School 's Fourth Grade Students perform "Give My Regards To Broadway," during the Welcome Home Gala. (above) Master of Ceremonies, Leanza Cornet performs during the closing ceremony. UBH is a community-based 501 (c) (3) nonprofit social service agency located in Santa Monica California that provides affordable housing for homeless families with children and very low-income seniors. Founded in 1990, the non-denominational agency fulfills its mission through three programs. Family Place, a transitional housing facility for homeless families with minor children has graduated over 850 individuals, including over 525 children from the program into permanent, independent housing since opening in 1997. Senior Villa, an affordable housing facility for the very low-income elderly houses 90 individuals every night. And the S. Mark Taper Intergenerational Center, which brings together the three generations housed at Upward Bound House, where they interact and receive services that enable each resident to lead an enriched, empowered, and independent life.