Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Five possible paths for pianist Brenda Greggio

Young Lions alum prepares to make her move

Brenda Greggio, from classical to jazz to New York City.
Brenda Greggio, from classical to jazz to New York City.

Pink Trio pianist Brenda Greggio first caught my ear back in 2017, when she joined trumpeter and educator Gilbert Castellanos’ Young Lions Jazz Conservatory. She was coming from the world of classical music, but she had been learning jazz since she was 9 or 10. By 13, she could already play a blistering version of the Chick Corea tune “Spain.” Castellanos predicted that she’d be filling the piano chair for his advanced ensemble within the year, and that guess proved most prescient.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Now, five years later, Greggio is finishing up her senior high school year at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts in Paradise Hills. She’s already gigging around town as a bandleader, and she recently traveled to the east coast, where she spent a week and a half auditioning for five of the most noteworthy music schools in the United States.

Visiting in-person helped clarify her impressions of the various institutions. “When I first started thinking about college, The Manhattan School of Music was always my number one choice. I know a lot of people there, and I can tell they really enjoy it. Plus [trumpeter] Ingrid Jensen is the director of the jazz department, and I like that there’s a woman in charge. I met some of the other faculty and did my audition, and it was a really positive experience.” Happily, she was accepted, and plans to attend in the fall.

Although much remains undecided, she’s optimistic about her post-San Diego plans. “So in the next few years while I’m in college, first of all, I hope to learn a lot about being in the music industry, meeting new people, and making connections, of course. I also want to become more myself. I’m really excited after college to do some traveling, and then I’d like to become a teacher, a music teacher of some sort. And keep playing, of course.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader writer Chris Ahrens tells the story of Windansea

The shack is a landmark declaring, “The best break in the area is out there.”
Brenda Greggio, from classical to jazz to New York City.
Brenda Greggio, from classical to jazz to New York City.

Pink Trio pianist Brenda Greggio first caught my ear back in 2017, when she joined trumpeter and educator Gilbert Castellanos’ Young Lions Jazz Conservatory. She was coming from the world of classical music, but she had been learning jazz since she was 9 or 10. By 13, she could already play a blistering version of the Chick Corea tune “Spain.” Castellanos predicted that she’d be filling the piano chair for his advanced ensemble within the year, and that guess proved most prescient.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Now, five years later, Greggio is finishing up her senior high school year at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts in Paradise Hills. She’s already gigging around town as a bandleader, and she recently traveled to the east coast, where she spent a week and a half auditioning for five of the most noteworthy music schools in the United States.

Visiting in-person helped clarify her impressions of the various institutions. “When I first started thinking about college, The Manhattan School of Music was always my number one choice. I know a lot of people there, and I can tell they really enjoy it. Plus [trumpeter] Ingrid Jensen is the director of the jazz department, and I like that there’s a woman in charge. I met some of the other faculty and did my audition, and it was a really positive experience.” Happily, she was accepted, and plans to attend in the fall.

Although much remains undecided, she’s optimistic about her post-San Diego plans. “So in the next few years while I’m in college, first of all, I hope to learn a lot about being in the music industry, meeting new people, and making connections, of course. I also want to become more myself. I’m really excited after college to do some traveling, and then I’d like to become a teacher, a music teacher of some sort. And keep playing, of course.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Mary Catherine Swanson wants every San Diego student going to college

Where busing from Southeast San Diego to University City has led
Next Article

Too $hort & DJ Symphony, Peppermint Beach Club, Holidays at the Zoo

Events December 19-December 21, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader