2025 Spring Music Program

Spring Music Showcase 2025 Musical Director Sam Sotelo Vocal Ensemble Sunjana Banwait* Anaïs Cannieux Laura Nita Cate Pace Claudia Read Caitlyn Wagner Kazumi Watanabe Songwriting Class Kazumi Watanabe

Jazz Ensemble Sunjana Banwait^ Joshua Espiritu Jeremy Pedler* Kushal Rajiv Abraham Soto Cruz Ben Tarne Kazumi Watanabe^ Songwriting Club Hana Cohen Ava Lowe Claudia Read Caitlyn Wagner Kazumi Watanabe

Guest Musician Bill Ireton – Guitar

Lighting Design Kelly Kobata Hana Cohen

Sound Engineer Lee Ray

Lighting Operator Kelly Kobata

Guitar Performance Hana Cohen Rachel Cui Rai Fleizach Jacob Foland^ Davit Gasparyan Abigail Gerber Lucas Possley Sean Wilmot *Section Leaders ^Guest Musicians

Music Teacher Assistants Sunjana Banwait Ava Lowe

Album Cover Photography & Designs Mr. Willis’ Photography I students Kyah Babayan Shayan Bahrainy David Campbell Adam Cui Raechel Dinesh

Icy Du Kevin Joel Garner Avani Kumar Allison Li Joey Maggi

Avi Martinez Mason Nishimura Abinav Praveen Jacob Salgado Joe Zhou

Song List Riptide by Vance Joy

Middle School Ukes & Tunes

Bucket Mania by Chris Crock

Middle School Percussion Ensemble

Plastik Surgery by Chris Brooks Should I Finish This Song? By Hana Cohen

Songwriting Class/Club

Spring Into Summer by Lizzy McAlpine Sung by Ava Lowe Jive Samba by Nat Adderly Soloists – Ben Tarne/Kushal Rajiv

Jazz Ensemble Class

Blue Monk by Thelonius Monk Soloists – Josh Espiritu/Bill Ireton Prelude in G Minor by Sergi Rachmaninoff Jeremy Pedler on piano Blue Bossa by Kenny Durham Soloists – Abraham Soto Cruz/Bill Ireton Hip Hip Hop by Steve Shanely Soloists – Jeremy Pedler Unknown Love by Claudia Read

Songwriting Class/Club

Second Moon by Kazumi Watanabe Talk Shows On Mute by Incubus Ben Tarne

Guitar Performance Class

Radioactive by Imagine Dragons All The Small Things by Blink 182 Beautiful Day by U2 Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana Wild by Caitlyn Wagner

Songwriting Class/Club

Stay by Rihanna Sung by Sunjana Banwait Autumn Leaves by Joseph Kosma Soloist – Kazumi Watanabe Don’t Stop by Christie McVie True Colors by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly Soloist – Caitlyn Wagner Somebody To Love by Queen Soloists – Claudia Read/Anaïs Cannieux

Vocal Ensemble Class

Music Showcase Performers `Thank you for joining us tonight and supporting our talented music performers. Your presence encourages our students to continue pursuing their passion for music.

We hope you enjoy the show!"

Mr. Willis’ Photography 1 students had an exciting opportunity to collaborate with the talented Music Showcase performers this year! Each photographer worked closely with a performer to design a personalized album cover that captured their unique style and spirit. Students photographed then singers and musicians and used their newly learned Photoshop skills to bring the album covers to life—many of them diving into Photoshop for the very first time!

It was a creative, fun-filled project where new skills were learned, great connections were made, and the results are as impressive as the performances themselves.

Sunjana Banwait |12th Grade Sunjana is currently a senior and has been attending Oakwood for seven years! In this concert she will be singing with Vocal Ensemble, playing with the Jazz Ensemble, and singing a solo while accompanying herself on keys. Outside of being Mr. Sotelo’s TA, she loves playing/coaching volleyball, annoying her sisters, and watching corny movies. She hopes you enjoy watching all of our wonderful musicians tonight!

Avani Kumar | 9th Grade Album cover Design Avani is a Freshman and has attended Oakwood since Middle School. Her inspirations were Kali Uchis and Billie Eilish for the album covers she created. She enjoyed the editing and designing process the most, as she was able to see her visions come to life in Photoshop.our wonderful musicians tonight!

Ava Lowe |12th Grade Ava is a senior and has been performing in the Spring Showcase since freshman year. One of her biggest passions is singing and sharing her emotions through music, and she’s grateful that Oakwood gives her the resources to do that. What Ava loves most about music is that it requires no stress to create or perform, and it has brought her happiness for many years.

Ava wants to thank her friends and Mr. Sotelo for their support.

Avi Martinez | 9th Grade Album Cover Design Avi had an amazing experience photographing and creating the album covers for her artists, and enjoyed the artistic aspect of picking fonts, colors, backgrounds, and creative song names! She hopes you all enjoy their awesome performance.

Cate Pace |12th Grade Cate is a senior at Oakwood and has been singing since second grade.

She’s been in choirs for seven years, including Oakwood’s Harmonettes, Vocal Ensemble, and various church choirs. After high school, she plans to attend BYU-Idaho to become a registered nurse. Cate also enjoys playing guitar, songwriting, acting, and spending time with friends. She’s excited for this performance and hopes you enjoy the show!

Ryan Willis | Instructor Album Cover Design Ryan has taught Photography at Oakwood for three years and has over 25 years of experience in the field.

He specializes in portrait photography. While creating Cate Pace’s album cover, he was inspired by Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS—her second Rodrigoinspired design.

Jake Foland |11th Grade Jake is an 11th grade student who has been at oakwood for almost 7 years. He loves to play guitar and has been in the guitar class since his 9th grade year. He picked up the guitar with no experience and has been learning more and more.

Jake’s favorite part about creating or performing music is working with his classmates and getting the song to sound perfect and enjoyable for his audience to listen to.

Joe Zhou | 9th Grade Album Cover Design Joe is in 10th grade, and this is his first year at Oakwood.

He was inspired by a TikTok and, after discussing with Jake, decided to use that idea for his album cover. Joe enjoyed learning about photo editing and picked up a lot of new techniques for designing covers.

Benjamin Tarne |11th Grade Ben is an 11th grade student who’s performed in music at oakwood since his freshmen year. Now in jazz ensemble here at oakwood, he plays guitar, and makes attempts at singing.

Even when he should be focusing, Ben has his headphones on, and hopes that tonight you can enjoy the music as much as he does

Joey Maggi | 9th Grade Album Cover Design Joey is a freshman at Oakwood. His inspiration for the album cover was the album “Sunburn” by Fuel.

Joey’s favorite part of making the album was the creative process of customizing the cover and seeing it all come together in the end.

Hana Cohen |10th Grade Hana Cohen is a 16-year-old sophomore in the guitar class and co-president of the songwriting club.

She’s performing an original song and has played piano for years, recently adding guitar and drums. Hana has also studied ballet, jazz, and tap since age three and has performed in theater in and outside of Oakwood. She thanks her family and friends for their support— thanks for coming!

Avi Martinez | 9th Grade Album Cover Design Avi had an amazing experience photographing and creating the album covers for her artists, and enjoyed the artistic aspect of picking fonts, colors, backgrounds, and creative song names! She hopes you all enjoy their awesome performance.

Joshua Darren Espiritu |10th Grade Joshua is a sophomore and has been at Oakwood since his freshman year. He’ll be performing on the alto saxophone in the Jazz Ensemble. He’s been playing sax and involved in music since middle school. What he loves about performing is sharing the joy of great music with others. He hopes you enjoy the concert and all the hard work everyone’s put in for tonight!

David Campbell | 9th Grade Album Cover Design David is a ninth grader at Oakwood, where he’s finishing up his first year. His album cover was inspired by the anime album Eight, which sparked his interest in cool, creative visuals. He had the most fun designing the layout and learning new tools in Photoshop during the project

Rai Fleizach |10th Grade Rai is a sophomore and has been part of the Oakwood community for 10 years. In this year’s Spring Showcase, he’ll perform on guitar with his Guitar Performance classmates—his second year in the program. Outside of school, he enjoys soccer, hanging out with friends, and trying new foods. Rai plays on Oakwood’s soccer and volleyball teams. He loves electronic and alternative music and is excited to perform. Enjoy the show!

Kishan Mistry | 9th Grade Album Cover Design Kishan is a 9th grader at Oakwood and has been here since 6th grade. He chose the album cover Swimming by Mac Miller, thinking it perfectly matched Rai’s personality.

Kishan enjoyed shooting Rai and vice versa. They especially loved shooting the albums because they got to know each other better.

Davit Gasparyan |10th Grade Davit, a 10th grader at Oakwood, has been attending for 3 years. They’ll be showcasing their talent in Guitar Performance at this year’s Spring Showcase. Davit began playing guitar as a freshman and has grown passionate about it ever since.

Outside of music, they enjoy gaming and swimming. At Oakwood, they’ve really enjoyed classes like math and memorable moments like earning good grades.

Kevin Joel Garner | 9th Grade Album Cover Design Kevin Joel’s inspiration for his album cover was the usage of mirroring, or “cloning” his subject. He enjoyed layering his subject in such a “clone” layout, and he learned how to arrange and brush up his works, adding a more refined look.

Laura Nita |10th Grade Laura is currently in tenth grade, having joined Oakwood in sixth grade during the pandemic. She is in Oakwood’s vocal ensemble; though she has been singing in a choir for about half of her life, she decided to join the vocal ensemble as a way to gain experience with different styles of music and voice and sing in a smaller group that places more emphasis on individual voices.

Beyond singing, she enjoys drawing, writing, coding, and random trivia.

Icy Du | 9th Grade Album Cover Design Icy worked hard and made great progress in Photography this semester. Her album cover was inspired by one of her favorite bands, Rocketman.

Orange Coffee is one of their most well-known songs, which inspired her to recreate the album cover. Her favorite part of the project was finishing the photo in Photoshop—it was very satisfying to complete.

Jeremy Pedler |10th Grade Sunjana is currently a senior and has been attending Oakwood for seven years! In this concert she will be singing with Vocal Ensemble, playing with the Jazz Ensemble, and singing a solo while accompanying herself on keys. Outside of being Mr. Sotelo’s TA, she loves playing/ coaching volleyball, annoying her sisters, and watching corny movies.

She hopes you enjoy watching all of our wonderful musicians tonight!

Shayan Bahrainy | 9th Grade Album cover Design Shayan is in 9th grade, and has attended Oakwood for 12 years. The part he very much enjoyed was adding droll track titles. In this project he learned to complete his work ahead of time, since his scratch disk (in Photoshop) was a major obstacle in this project.

Claudia Read |10th Grade Claudia is a sophomore who’s been at Oakwood since sixth grade. She’s in the vocal ensemble, guitar club, and co-president of the songwriting club.

She loves music, theater, horseback riding, languages, tidepooling, and time with her loved ones—including her adorable cats. She’s grateful for those who support her musical endeavors and for those who inspire her songs..

Thanks for coming to the Spring Showcase!

Avi Martinez | 9th Grade Album Cover Design Avi had an amazing experience photographing and creating the album covers for her artists, and enjoyed the artistic aspect of picking fonts, colors, backgrounds, and creative song names! She hopes you all enjoy their awesome performance.

Anaïs Cannieux | 9th Grade Anaïs is a freshman at Oakwood School.

If you attended Newsies last year, you might recognize her as “Katherine.” For the past three years, she was a member of the Harmonettes and is excited to continue her singing journey in Vocal Ensemble. Outside of school, she competes in dance with Lana’s Dance Studio and enjoys experimenting with instruments. Anaïs thanks her friends and teachers for their support. Thank you for coming!

Kyah Babayan | 9th Grade Album Cover Design Kyah is in ninth grade and has been attending Oakwood since sixth grade. Her inspiration for the album cover is CNTRL by SZA. She enjoyed collaborating with the performer and learning more about Photoshop!

Rachael Cui | 9th Grade Rachael is a 9th grade student currently doing very well in Guitar Performance. She will be performing at the Spring Concert, playing songs practiced in class. This is her second year learning guitar, but she has been playing piano since she was seven— making this her ninth year studying piano.

Adam Cui | 9th Grade Album Cover Design Adam was inspired by an album he liked and chose to recreate its cover for this project. His favorite part was collaborating with the performer. Through the process, he learned new Photoshop skills—and really enjoyed it!

Abigail Gerber | 9th Grade Abigail is a 9th grader who has attended Oakwood since 2nd grade.

She’s part of the Guitar Performance class and has been playing guitar for almost a year. She enjoys learning new chords and creating music with her classmates. In her free time, Abigail loves crocheting, practicing martial arts, and skateboarding.

Avani Kumar | 9th Grade Album Cover Design Avani is a Freshman and has attended Oakwood since Middle School. Her inspirations were Kali Uchis and Billie Eilish for the album covers she created. She enjoyed the editing and designing process the most, as she was able to see her visions come to life in Photoshop.our wonderful musicians tonight!

Lucas Possley | 9th Grade Lucas is a 9th grader in the Guitar class and has been playing since he was 10 years old. He enjoys the sound of the guitar and loves to play.

Outside of music, Lucas likes playing basketball, and his favorite class is weight training.

Shaan Gill | 9th Grade Album cover Design Shaan Gill is a freshman and in his first year at Oakwood.

Shaan’s inspiration for the album cover was flames because it matched his guitar.

Shaan enjoyed photographing Lucas because he found himself talking to Lucas while photographing and learned to take control of poses.

Kushal Rajiv | 9th Grade Kushal is a 9th grader who will be playing flute in the Jazz Ensemble during the music showcase. He’s been playing for almost 3 years, starting in middle school. He enjoys seeing his progress and recently discovered a love for improvised soloing. His favorite class is history, which he finds both interesting and entertaining. His main interest is chess which demonstrates his drive for improvement.

Mason Nishimura | 9th Grade Album Cover Design Mason is a freshman at Oakwood, and he has been at Oakwood for one year.

His inspiration for the album cover was a 60’s flute album from American jazz flautist Herbie Mann. Mason’s favorite part of the design process was actualizing his album cover idea through Photoshop.

Abraham Soto Cruz | 9th Grade Abraham likes to play the trombone and has been playing since sixth grade. He enjoys playing soccer and volleyball during the school season.

His favorite class is Algebra 1 because it’s fun and not too hard. He enjoys music because it’s something different.

He also likes French—it’s fun and interesting to learn a new way to speak. He finds it fascinating how every language works a bit differently.

Jacob Salgado | 9th Grade Album Cover Design Jacob Salgado is a freshman at Oakwood and is very much enjoying his first year.

His inspiration for the album cover was an old 80’s album made by Glen Miller. Jacob’s favorite part of designing was photographing the performer and collaborating with his peers.

Caitlyn Wagner | 9th Grade Caitlyn is a ninth grader who loves singing, dancing, theater, and all things musical. She has been singing ever since she was little and plays the flute, the guitar, and the ukulele. Caitlyn has written many songs on her guitar and ukulele and will be singing one of her original songs for the Spring Concert.

She will also be performing with the Vocal Ensemble. She is looking forward to performing many different songs for our Spring Concert.

Raechel Dinesh | 9th Grade Album Cover Design Raechel is a freshman at Oakwood, and has been here for 4 years. She wanted to make an original, so she worked with the artist to create their unique cover. The photoshop was Raechel’s favorite part of the process, though it did require some youtube tutorials.

Kazumi Watanabe | 9th Grade Kazumi is a freshman at Oakwood and has been attending since kindergarten.

She’s been playing piano for as long as she can remember, began writing songs in fifth grade, and more recently picked up guitar and ukulele.

For Kazumi, songwriting is a way to express her thoughts and feelings—or just something fun to dive into. She will be performing with the Vocal Ensemble and showcasing one of her original songs.

Allison Li | 9th Grade Album Cover Design Allison is a 9th grader, who has attended Oakwood since 8th grade. The original design that she replicated for the front of the album cover came from Lyn Lapid’s album cover for The Outsider. She enjoyed the process of photoshopping in the flowers and designing the back cover.

Sean Wilmot | 9th Grade Sean is a 9th grader at Oakwood and part of the Guitar Performance class.

He has played piano for nine years and began learning guitar this year. He enjoys tennis, and his favorite class is Algebra 2 Honors. Whether on piano or guitar, Sean values improving and expressing himself through music.

Abhinav Praveen | 9th Grade Album Cover Design Abhinav Praveen is in the ninth grade. What inspired him to make the album cover was the different ideas on google.

The part of the design process that he enjoyed the most was editing all of the photos in photoshop. What he learned was to change the background into cool designs.

Sam Sotelo - Upper School Music Teacher and Concert Director Morgan Hill native Sam Sotelo has been playing drums for over the past forty years and is well-versed in all styles of music. He studied percussion/drum set with Ralph Hardimon, Dan Sabanovich, Anthony Cirone, Taka Numazawa, Wally Schnalle, Ralph Humphrey, Joe Porcaro, Joey Heredia; African drumming with Kobla Ladzekpo and JoeCaploe; Afro-Cuban, Brazilian and Latin percussion with Luca Brandoli, Changuito and the great Tito Puente.

He spent most of his career in the Los Angeles music community doing sidelining work in film and has worked recording sessions with various artists such as the Yellowjackets. In addition, he has also worked in Post Audio Production for Film/Television and the Web. Aside from teaching at Oakwood, he keeps busy playing in various groups around the Bay Area.

Groups he’s played with are Michelle Pollace’s Latin Jazz Trio, Monica Marquis’s group, Bill Ireton, and Micaela Stites’ Soft Lights group. `

“Music is to the soul what words are to the mind.”

- Modest Mouse

Middle School Percussion Group

Front row (L-R): Io Nikas, Mateo Betancourt, Matthew Neunzig, Ronnie Ge Second Row (L-R): Ivan Shafer, Tyler Lao, Aaron Fu

Ronnie Ge | 8th Grade Ronnie is in 8th grade and enjoys playing instruments. In his free time, he also likes cooking and playing volleyball, soccer, and basketball. His favorite part about music is the creativity and how there’s no such thing as “wrong” in music.

Matthew Neunzig | 8th Grade Matthew is in 8th grade and loves playing the drums in Percussion. He started drumming when he was 6 years old and has gotten a lot better over the years. He’s been at Oakwood School for 10 years. Outside of music, he also really enjoys playing basketball.

Mateo Betancourt | 7th Grade Mateo Betancourt is a 6th grader, and this is his first year at Oakwood. He will be showcasing percussion, which he just started learning this year. Thanks to Mr. Sotelo, he’s picked it up quickly. One of Mateo’s favorite hobbies is playing basketball.

Tyler Lao | 7th Grade Tyler is a 7th grader and has been at Oakwood since 6th grade. He will be performing in the Percussion Ensemble. Tyler started playing guitar at age 8, and also enjoys playing piano, ukulele, drums, and basketball.

Ioannis Nikas | 7th Grade Io is a 7th grader at Oakwood and will be performing with the Percussion Ensemble.

He began playing music in 6th grade, starting with the Ukes and Tunes class with Mr. Sotelo.

Outside of school, Io plays competitive soccer for the OV Toros.

Aaon Fu | 6th Grade Aaron is a 6th grader and new to Oakwood this year. He’s part of the Percussion Ensemble and has been playing music for a few years. Outside of music, Aaron enjoys playing baseball and skiing. He really liked percussion class and also enjoyed the Rock Rap Pop class earlier this year.

Ivan Shafer | 6th Grade Ivan is in 6th grade and part of the Percussion group. He started playing instruments this year and loves playing guitar, bass, and drums.

Ivan also enjoys sports like baseball and loves learning about science.

Middle School Ukes & Tunes

Front row (L-R) Anika Jain, Gaving Garcia, Tara Wilmot, Brendan Kabelac, Naya Alhasan Second Row (L-R) Maria Titi, Sine Fleizach, Rahm Gangaswamy, Emma Taylor Brendan Kabelac | 8th Grade Brendan likes to play music and the rock rap pop ensemble group is the perfect place to learn new music and play with his friends on stage.

He recently started playing the Bass guitar and is playing it in the group. He hopes you enjoy the performance!

Naya Alhasan | 8th Grade Naya Alhasan is in eighth grade and has been attending Oakwood since first grade. She will be playing with Ukes and Tunes and is excited to be a part of it. Naya has participated in many music performances in the past and has even played the piano. She enjoys art and musical theater as well. Naya hopes you enjoy the show!

Sine Fleizach | 7th Grade Sine has been attending Oakwood School since kindergarten and has been involved in music since second grade. He will be playing with Ukes and Tunes and hopes you enjoy the Middle School performance in the High School Spring Music Showcase!

Rahm Gangaswamy | 7th Grade Rahm has been at Oakwood since fifth grade, and his talent being showcased is playing the ukulele. He’s been involved with music for about 8 years. Some of his favorite hobbies include basketball, video games, and music. Rahm especially enjoys classes like Ukes and Tunes and P.E.

Gavin Garcia | 7th Grade Gavin has been at Oakwood for 7 years. He will be performing ukulele for the high school opening and has also been playing keyboard bass. This is his first time playing uke. Outside of music, Gavin enjoys drawing graffiti and loves his favorite class— History.

Anika Jain | 7th Grade Anika is a 7th grader at Oakwood and has been involved in music since she was five years old.

She will be performing on the ukulele for the Spring Showcase. Anika loves traveling, roller coasters, and has enjoyed many fun moments at Oakwood Middle School socials and dances.

Emma Taylor | 7th Grade Emma is a 7th grader and will be performing with Ukes and Tunes. She has been taking piano and singing lessons for 6 years and has been playing the ukulele for about 6 months. On weekends, Emma attends weekly Japanese school lessons and also loves to bake. She hopes you enjoy the show!

Maria Titi | 7th Grade Maria is a seventh grader performing with Ukes and Tunes. She has been playing the ukulele for just one year and enjoys it. Outside of music, she enjoys crocheting and competitive alpine skiing.

Maria hopes you enjoy the show!

Tara Wilmot | 6th Grade Tara is in 6th grade and has been at Oakwood for four years. She is very excited to be part of Ukes and Tunes this trimester. This is her first trimester playing the ukulele, but she has been playing piano for six years. Tara also enjoys playing soccer. She hopes you enjoy the show!

Thank You! Thank you to everyone who has encouraged, inspired, and uplifted our students to reach new heights in their musical journeys.

To all the parents and families who have volunteered and donated to Oakwood’s Music Program, your contributions are deeply appreciated!

For their constant and continued support: Michelle Helvey, Head of School Isaac Berniker, Upper School Head and Principal Colleen Blanchard, Performing Arts Department Chair Oakwood Upper School Faculty and Staff For their assistance in making tonight’s program possible: Skye Taylor, Facilities & Technical Manager Ryan Willis, Digital Arts Teacher/Photographer Melissa Goulart, Administrative Director Kelli Frazer, Asst. Dir. of Development Leisha Babayan, Director of Communications Tere Casey, Asst. Director of Communications / Photographer Dana Bruning, Advancement Coordinator Rob Cohen, Videographer

High School Performing Arts

Middle School Performing Arts