Mira Costa’s music department wins Grammy Signature School Award
Mira Costa band students Kathrine An, Sarah Kennedy, Kaitlyn McQuown, and Eric Liu. Courtesy of Joel Carlson by Kathryn Cross The excitement began last August when Joel Carlson, Mira Costa High School’s instrumental music teacher and band director, was first notified that applications were now open for the Grammy Signature School awards bestowed by the Grammy Foundation each year. Carlson was one of 20,000 music department representatives nationwide to receive this notification. A few months later, he would be one of just 12 to receive a phone call that his school had actually won. Earlier this month, the Grammy Foundation announced that Mira Costa’s music department was recognized as a 2014 Grammy Signature School. As a top three Gold recipient, Mira Costa will receive $5,000 to benefit the high school’s orchestra, band and choir programs. “I have been applying for nine years and this is the first time since I started applying that we won,” Carlson said. “I was really happy since we got to be recognized nationally by the Grammy Foundation.” The Grammy Signature Schools are determined each year by a preliminary application process that requests information about the school’s…
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