Dr. Walter Simonsen
Marching Band Director
Color Guard/Winter Guard
Percussion Line
Dr. Walter Simonsen is a native of Southern California and has spent over 25 years as a professional musician and educator. He earned his BM in Jazz Studies from the University of North Texas and his master’s and doctorate of musical arts in Jazz Studies at the University of Southern California, where he also served as the assistant director of the USC Marching Band. As a performer, he has worked with many acts, including Radiohead, Dream Theatre, Steve Miller, Bob Florence, Bill Holman, Michael Buble, and Brian McKnight. He has also performed at the Grammy Awards, Academy Awards, and Golden Globes. Dr. Simonsen is well known for his marching band designs and has created music and drill for over 100 marching shows for high school and college marching bands, including at the University of Southern California, University of California Los Angeles, Mt. San Antonio Community College, and East Los Angeles City College. He continues to lead his own projects, including The Red Light Brass Band, Trumpetology, The Walter Simonsen Deforestation Project Big Band, Speed of Light, The West Coast Edition, and The Walter Simonsen Swing Syndicate.
Tim Orindgreff
Jazz Band
Concert Band
Symphonic Band
Tim Orindgreff is a multi-instrumentalist (Saxophones, flutes, clarinets, guitars, keyboards), a composer, and a producer originally from Wichita, Kansas. Tim attended Boston’s Berklee College of Music and then graduated from Kansas State University. He moved to California to pursue a career in music in the late 90’s. Tim has performed, written and recorded with countless artists: Eric Clapton, James Brown, The Black Eyed Peas, Sheryl Crow, Macy Gray, Fergie, Herbie Hancock, Earth, Wind and Fire, and many more. Tim is a resident of South Pasadena and began his teaching career in South Pasadena after the birth of his two children.
Jorge Padrón
Orchestra
Jorge Padrón is currently the orchestra director at South Pasadena Middle and High School and a doctoral student at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music. He is also the principal conductor for the Claremont Young Musicians Orchestra and the assistant conductor of the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra. He has taught teacher preparation courses at USC and Pepperdine, was a site conductor for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s YOLA program, and directed the district-wide honors orchestra for The Harmony Project. Prior to moving to Los Angeles, Jorge was the orchestra director at Miami Palmetto Senior High School where he taught orchestra classes along with elective guitar courses, AP Music Theory, and sponsored the high school’s competitive mathematics teams. As a result of his work in the educational community, he was recognized by the Village of Palmetto Bay and the Miami-Dade County School District for his “exemplary public service.”