Antelope Valley Jazz Project

Throughout the duration concerning my professional career, I have consistently valued and expressed my affinity for applying my work experience as a musician, drummer, percussionist, and ensemble leader in order to provide community outreach within both the Antelope Valley region and now Greater Los Angeles. During my adolescence, I was provided the opportunity to lead my own ensemble entitled “The Antelope Valley Jazz Ensemble;” a performative entity dedicated to providing community outreach as well as local entertainment on behalf of community events, non profit organizations, and even various political congregations facilitated under both Palmdale and Lancaster City Council. My ensemble institutionalized a network, encompassing musicians that would perform under the AV Jazz Project while residing both in and beyond the Antelope Valley region. For four consecutive years, my ensemble provided free entertainment; culminating in jazz music and all its differentiated stylistic variants that explored the cultural traditions commemorating swing, Latin jazz, funk, pop, hip hop, Gospel, and rhythm and blues music. My entity pridefully contracted musicians from Antelope Valley College, the San Francisco Conservatory, the University of California, Los Angeles, California State University of Northridge, and Santa Monica City College. Together, our collaborative efforts facilitated performances for the 2022 Salva Festival, 2023 Heights of Greatness Leadership Institute, 2023, Antelope Valley YouthBuild Summer Festival, 2023 City of Palmdale Trunk or Treat Festival, 2024 Cesar Chavez Day Festival, 2024 Chamber of Commerce (hosted at the AV Fairgrounds), and the 2024 Antelope Valley Winery. While following this musical expenditure, I additionally performed as a conga player under the Leon Matalon Big Band Ensemble from (phone number hidden)4, in which we often performed for the Lancaster VA Center during the Christmas Holiday; under this experience, I was granted the opportunity to converse amongst veterans and express the glorification for jazz music and what this format of artistic expression symbolized towards our nation’s heroic servants from World War II through the timeline for the Paris Accord Treaties in 1973. Culminating all these previous experiences together, then allowed me to apply for the University of California, Los Angeles, Gluck Fellows Jazz Ensemble for the (phone number hidden)5 academic school year. This ensemble was a wonderful performance setting in which I was provided the opportunity to congregate amongst highly experienced musicians; to provide entertainment for nursing homes, retirement centers, VA centers, healthcare facilities, and various other community outreach environments within the greater Los Angeles area. The Gluck Fellows Jazz Ensemble allowed us to perform for the Tiverton Hotel, the Ronald Reagan Hospital, the Beit Shalom Assisted Living Facility, the Santa Monica City Library, the Hollywood Healthcare facility, and our year-end LAUSD presentation we will be conducting on behalf of this institution. By applying and continuing my philanthropic career here within the Gluck Fellows Jazz Ensemble, I will receive the opportunity to further develop my musicianship abilities, converse and grow my affiliations with the various assisted living facilities throughout the Greater Los Angeles area, and continually strengthen my school of music relationships so that I may successfully implement my own programs and philanthropic interests in accommodating the betterment for our elders, veterans, retired citizens, nursing patients, as well as all honorable audiences that fulfill inspiration to pursue jazz music. Attached below is where you fan find all of my professional jazz performance qualifications:

Cruz Anthony Herrera:
● Youtube Channel I: Cruz Anthony Drums Herrera
● Youtube Channel II: Cruz Anthony Herrera
● LinkedIn: Cruz Anthony Herrera
● Instagram: @cruzanthonyh
● Facebook: Cruz Anthony Herrera

URL Links:
● Youtube Channel I: <a href="https://www.gigsalad.com/external/redirect/aHR0cHM6Ly95b3V0dWJlLmNvbS9AY3J1emFudGhvbnlkcnVtc2hlcnJlcmEyMDM5P3NpPTZVZ3pPa1Njc0Y0dE1LZGg%3D">https://youtube.com/@cruzanthonydrumsherrera2039?si=6UgzOkScsF4tMKdh</a>
● Youtube Channel II: <a href="https://www.gigsalad.com/external/redirect/aHR0cHM6Ly95b3V0dWJlLmNvbS9AY3J1emFudGhvbnloZXJyZXJhNDE3Mz9zaT1fbmF4RFZMb2VWcDN4cWRQ">https://youtube.com/@cruzanthonyherrera4173?si=_naxDVLoeVp3xqdP</a>
● LinkedIn: (link hidden)
● Instagram: (link hidden)
● Facebook: (link hidden)

Cruz Anthony Herrera Production House:
Pages 14-45 encompass every music education curriculum I have developed in my career as an educator. Here are the three curriculums in those pages
● Cruz Anthony Herrera UCLA Music Education Summer Curriculum (14-44)
● National CARES Mentoring Movement Jazz Studies Lecture I (45)
● National CARES Mentoring Movement Jazz Studies Lecture II (45)

Cruz Anthony
● Contact Information: (phone number hidden)
● Contact Information: (email hidden)
● Specializations: freelance writer,
Musician Background:
-Antelope Valley College Advanced Jazz Ensemble: (phone number hidden)2
● Drummer
● Percussionist
-Antelope Valley College Jazz Improvisation: (phone number hidden)2
● Drummer
● Percussionist
-Leon Matalon Big Band: (phone number hidden)4
● Conguero
● Played at Lancaster Performing Arts Center, AVC Theater Arts Department, Lancaster Veterans Home, Played a Celebration of Life ceremony
-West Coast Classical Jazz Ensemble: (phone number hidden)2
● Drummer
● Played at Palmdale Playhouse
-UCLA Global Intensive Jazz Studies: (phone number hidden)3
● Drummer
● Percussionist
● Studied jazz performance and attended global jazz studies lectures
-Heights Of Greatness Leadership Institute: 2022
● Drummer
● Performed jazz standards in a duo with piano/bassist
-Los Angeles Jazz Society: 2022-current
● 2023: Bill Green Mentorship Program (drummer)
● 2023: Jazz America Foundation (drummer)
● 2023: Catalina Bar and Grill (drummer)
● 2023: The Valley Jazz Club (drummer)
● 2023: Central Avenue Jazz Festival (drummer and percussionist- congas and bongos)
● Recipient of Musicians Spotlight Merit Award 2022
● Introduced and invited to play on stage with the Escovedo Family Orchestra for closing song

Musician Training:
-Peter Michael Escovedo: PM Production House
● 2020-current
● Drum Set and Percussion
-Professor Leon Matalon: Antelope Valley College
● (phone number hidden)4
● Jazz Performance, Ensemble Performance, Big Band Performance
-Professor Dave Tull: Pasadena City College
● 2023
● Drum Set jazz, swing, bebop, Latin Jazz
-Professor Clayton Cameron: University of California, Los Angeles
● (phone number hidden)6
● Drum Set jazz, swing, bebop, Latin Jazz
Community Outreach:
-Private Instructor for drum set and percussion (provides free lessons)
● Teaches drum set for kids at Sacred Heart Parish: (phone number hidden)4
● Teaches drum set and percussion for Sacred Heart Christmas Pageant: 2023
● Teaches bucket drumming for Sacred Heart Summer program: 2024
-Drumline Instructor (provides free lessons)
● Universal Unique Drill Team and Drum Squad: (phone number hidden)4
● Certificate of Appreciation from City of Palmdale for Black History Month: 2023
● Honored at Heights of Greatness Leadership institute: 2023
● Black History Month Celebration: 2023
● Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Leadership and Mental Health Seminar: 2023

Additional Information:
● National Spark Charity Award
● UCLA Regent Scholarship to pursue Global Jazz Studies at Herb Albert School of Music
● UCLA Optimist Grant to pursue Global Jazz Studies at Herb Albert School of Music
Herb Albert School of Music:
● Recipient of the Merlone Scholarship
● Recipient of the Herb Albert Foundation Scholarship
● Recipient of the Expected School of Music Award Scholarship
● Recipient of the Global Jazz Studies Scholarship

Herb Albert School of Music:
● Drummer for UCLA Jazz Combo 176A
● Drummer for UCLA Commercial Studio Music Ensemble 176H
● Drummer for UCLA African Latino Jazz Ensemble 176D
● Drummer for UCLA Contemporary Jazz Ensemble 176A
● Drummer/Percussionist for UCLA Ethnomusicology Advanced Chinese Ensemble 168A
● Percussionist for M6A Introduction to Musicianship Final Presentation
● Substitute Drummer for Jazz Combo 175A
● Volunteer accompanying Drummer for incoming freshman auditions (phone number hidden)5
● Mentor and Guest Presenter for National CARES Mentoring Movement (Jazz Studies)
● Drummer for Jordan Cierra Ensemble 2025 (Hotel Ziggy, West Hollywood concert)
University of California, Los Angeles Gluck Fellows Jazz Ensemble (phone number hidden)5:
● Tiverton Hotel
● Ronald Reagan Hospital
● Beit Shalom Assisted Living
● Santa Monica City Library
● Schoenberg Hall LAUSD Jazz Combo Presentation and Performance
● Los Ángeles La Playa Library

University of California, Los Angeles Masterclass Session Training Background:
● Duane Benjamin Gluck Fellows Honors Ensemble 01/10/25-03/11/25
● Robert Hertz Herbie Hancock Institute 03/11/25
● Bokoni Dyer Herb Alpert School of Music Undergraduate Studies Masterclass 03/18/25

Internship Experience:
● Power 2 Inspire Foundation intern (July 1- August 1: 2025)
● UCLA Christian Students Intern (August 1 - September 1: 2025)

Orchestra Experience:
● Nickelodeon Orchestra (Nick production of “Drama Club”)
Volunteering Experience:
● Lancaster Veteran Affairs Center: 2025
Cruz Anthony Herrera Reels:
Cruz Anthony Herrera Internship/Scholarship Reel
● URL Link: <a href="https://www.gigsalad.com/external/redirect/aHR0cHM6Ly95b3V0dS5iZS94ZFB6VWFDLXFTQT9zaT1WUEdhZkhnMXBGb0xGdk1u">https://youtu.be/xdPzUaC-qSA?si=VPGafHg1pFoLFvMn</a>
Cruz Anthony Herrera Professional Music Reel
● URL Link:
Cruz Anthony Herrera Professional Acting Reel
● URL Link:

Cruz Anthony Herrera Article Featurings:
● (link hidden)
● AV Scanner News: Cruz Anthony Herrera winner of the National Merit Award 2014
● AV Scanner News: Cruz Anthony Herrera High School Graduate Feature 2024
● AV Scanner News: Cruz Anthony Herrera Leader of AV Jazz Project Feature 2024

I have been an industry professional since I was twelve, with the intent purpose, on achieving early admission into the University of California, Los Angeles; Having been granted various opportunities to study under entertainment professionals including Peter Michael Escovedo, Dave Tull, and countless other experienced musicians who have performed with some of the greatest artists and mainstream ensembles in the world. I now continue studying my craft here at the Herb Alpert School of Music as a drum set and percussion major; In addition towards music, I have worked in countless other venues for both entertainment and community service. I have been involved in acting, as well as worked as a drum performance instructor, a former USA Swimming delegate positioned under the HOD representing Frog Aquatics Foundation, a former delegate for Palmdale City Library representing the Teen Advisory Writing Board, and now a high school graduate beginning my higher level educational career here at the University of California, Los Angeles. Now as I continue my higher educational career at UCLA on 3 academic scholarships and 4 music scholarships; I have gotten the incredible opportunity to participate in 4 internships, release my Worship singles entitled "You're Worth It All," "Unity," and most importantly found my own production house entitled "Cruz Anthony Productions."

Lighting Requirements
No direct front-blinders: Heavy front lighting blinds the drummer and blocks the view of the band.
Side and back lighting: Overhead wash lights and backlights create depth without causing glare.
Spotlight position: Front spotlights must angle from high above, never directly at eye level.
No moving lights on floor: Moving fixtures placed directly behind the kit leak light into the drummer's eyes.

Staging Requirements
Sturdy drum riser: Request a minimum size of 8ft x 8ft (2.4m x 2.4m) for standard kits.
Level and locked platforms: Ensure riser sections lock tightly together to prevent wobbling and splitting.
Heavy-duty drum rug: A clean, durable carpet prevents the bass drum and pedals from sliding.
Clear line of sight: Position the riser so you can see the bassist and lead vocalist clearly.
Accessible power outlets: At least two clean drop boxes near the riser for electronics and fans.
🔊 Sound & Monitoring Requirements
Stereo monitor mix: Stereo mixes provide accurate spatial imaging for drums and backing tracks.
High-power subwoofer: A dedicated sub behind or under the throne delivers the kick drum punch.
Separate click track control: Keep the metronome on a separate channel for independent volume adjustments.
Hardwired XLR line: Request a hardwired XLR drop if you use your own In-Ear Monitor (IEM) amp.
Gated microphone setup: Request noise gates on toms and snare to eliminate muddy stage bleed.