Meet Jean-Paul Balmat of Mission Bay High School Music Program

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jean-Paul Balmat.

2017 San Diego Unified School District High School Teacher of the Year and CMEA Jazz Educator of the Year, Jean-Paul (JP) Balmat, has built an internationally recognized program at Mission Bay High School. His award winning ensembles have been invited to perform throughout California, New Orleans and most recently, Japan.

Jean-Paul is an accomplished educator, performer, composer and arranger. As a professional saxophonist, he performs regularly in San Diego. He is artistic director of the Euphoria Brass Band and his recordings and compositions have been nominated for San Diego Music Awards the last four years. Most recently he performed with Grammy Award Winning Musicians Oscar Hernandez and Javier Cabanillas. He was also selected to perform in the San Diego KSDS 88.3fm Jazz Orchestra under the direction of world-renowned trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos.

Jean-Paul entered the jazz scene at the age of thirteen when he was asked to perform with the San Diego Youth Swing Band. This ensemble included some of San Diego’s most talented young jazz musicians. While attending Mission Bay High School, Jean-Paul found his love for performing traditional jazz and teaching through his experiences in the music program with educator Rey Vinole. These passions lead him to San Diego State University where he studied music education and jazz saxophone.

After graduating SDSU Jean-Paul returned to Mission Bay as their new musical director. In the past 11 years, Jean-Paul has built a music program at Mission Bay High School that offers a truly diverse and rewarding experience for his students. He currently directs Concert Band, Orchestra and Choir as well as renowned jazz ensembles including Mambo Orchestra and The Preservationists.

Jean-Paul’s top jazz ensemble, The Preservationists, is one of the nation’s premier traditional youth jazz bands. The band has been featured at the House of Blues, Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Petco Park, the Jazz Educator’s Network Conference, the Ocean Beach Music and Arts Festival, Thanksgiving Jazz Festival, San Diego Jazz Party and the Sacramento Jazz Festival among others. The band’s last three releases have been featured on two of the country’s finest jazz radio stations, KSDS San Diego and WWOZ New Orleans.

In 2016 the band traveled to New Orleans for a third time to perform at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park and the iconic Preservation Hall. They also had the honor of recording with New Orleans’ legend, trumpeter Wendell Brunious, on their latest album “Live in New Orleans.” In April of 2017 the Preservationists traveled and represented San Diego in its sister city Yokohama, Japan to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of sister city relations.

Jean-Paul hopes to continue his work with Mission Bay High School, offering all students the opportunity to grow as creative individuals, promoting arts advocacy and leadership through performance and music.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
My first year at Mission Bay was a huge struggle. I was asked to build a program from nothing. The music program had been cut two years before I arrived at the school. I took in students that had never played an instrument before and formed ensembles. Through the years my numbers grew as more students became interested in the program. After 12 years we have grown to offer 6 different ensembles at the school.

Another struggle was dealing with lack of funding for arts education and education in general in our state. After 3 years of building my program with very little financial support from the school or district I received a pink slip. This was the case for many arts educators in the district. This was a huge blow for many of us. I was very fortunate to be reinstated after budget negotiations were finalized. I feel things have stabilized now but it is always a worry in the back of my head to know that I can be let go even after all the work I have put in.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Mission Bay High School Music Program story. Tell us more about the business.
The music program is most well-known for our Jazz Department. We offer a little of everything: Band, Orchestra, Jazz and Choir. We also offer very unique ensembles that focus on the traditional jazz of New Orleans (Preservationists) and Salsa Music (Mambo Orchestra). These ensembles have really set us apart from all other schools.

Our students have the opportunity to travel the globe performing. They lead their own ensembles, often working as professionals while still in high school. Many of our students go on to pursue careers in music.

We are most proud of the connection we have with our community. Our students perform over 100 shows a year and our community comes out and supports both in attendance and financial contributions. Without their help we would not be able to purchase new instruments, technology and classroom supplies. We have worked hard to build this partnership and know it will keep music alive in Pacific Beach for a long time.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Not much. Getting the position right after college was very fortunate but every step after has been planned and purposeful. I believe we have worked extremely hard for everything we have accomplished.

Contact Info:

• Address: Mission Bay High School Music Program (Room 113)
  2475 Grand Ave
  San Diego CA 92109
• Website: www.missionbaymusic.com
• Phone: 858-273-1313 x113
• Email: jbalmat@sandi.net
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/missionbaymusic

Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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