Before touching her lips to her trumpet mouthpiece and leaning into the opening notes of “Billie’s Bounce” by jazz legend Charlie Parker, Allie Molin issued an apology.
It’s allergy season, she said, and she was having to drink a lot of water. The tumbler at her feet gave testament to that need.
No matter.
Meet the Artists of the Year
Dance: Piper Rovsek, Newport Beach
Theater: Isabella Kim, Fullerton
Film and TV: Noah Villanueva, Irvine
Vocal music: Madison Becerra, Fullerton
Fine arts: Helen Zhang, Irvine
Media arts: Jennifer (Doyeon) Kim, Yorba Linda
Allergies or not, Molin confidently swung through the two numbers — her second piece Johnny Green’s jazz ballad “Body and Soul”— performed for the judges tasked with choosing the Artist of the Year for Instrumental Music.
They dug her.
And, later, they gave Molin the top honor over 15 other high school musicians.
“She’s a jazz cat,” pronounced Gary Gopar, who chairs the department of music at Cypress College and is a well-traveled jazz musician who plays the same instrument.
As a young woman in the world of jazz, Molin, 18, is also a rarity, something else the judges noted.
“How many Allies are there out there?” said Sarah Koo Freeman, a cellist who lectures in the music department at UC Irvine’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts.
Molin has already had a major taste of the recognition that looms in her future.
Last September, she was selected as a top high school female jazz musician and performed on stage at the Monterey Jazz Festival with five other honorees in the Next Generation Women in Jazz Combo.
Molin called it “one of the most impactful musical experiences in my life” in her Artist of the Year written statement.
“This experience enabled me to perform with an all-female jazz group for the first time in my life, as well as exposing me to more music written by female composers and getting to work with and learn from fellow women in jazz.”
She cites bassist Katie Thiroux, who directed the Monterey Festival jazz combo performance, along with saxophonist Alexa Tarantino and trumpeter Summer Camargo as inspirational figures she would like to emulate.
Molin has played trumpet since fourth grade, in both classical and jazz ensembles and orchestras. She is a senior at Orange County School of the Arts.
People tell Molin she sounds like a classical musician playing jazz and vice versa. She appreciates her training in both genres.
“I don’t have that boundary of ‘I don’t have the technique’ for that,” she said.
Molin has a clear vision of a busy future: Study jazz trumpet in college; perform and tour with jazz big bands; start her own jazz ensembles; write and record original music; and mentor other young musicians by teaching.
Trumpet is her voice, she said.
“Other than singing, it’s one of the purest ways I can take what’s inside of me and put it on the outside.”
Instrumental Music finalists
In addition to Artist of the Year, the judges selected four finalists from the 16 semifinalists who showcased a variety of genres — classical, jazz, rock, pop, rhythm and blues and composing.
Amicus Carrasco of Irvine, a senior studying at Portola High School, is an instrumental music finalist for Artist of the Year in 2025. (Photo courtesy of Heidi Carrasco)
Amicus Carrasco, Division 2: Carrasco’s specialty is digital music, composing electronic tunes for personal music releases and undertaking audio designs for theatrical shows at Portola High. His parents exposed him to a wide variety of music; his passion for digital music stems from listening to video game soundtracks in middle school. A senior, Carrasco, 17, said he will attend Irvine Valley College to study digital art and music, then transfer.
Jackson Olsen of Ladera Ranch, a senior studying at Tesoro High School, is an instrumental music finalist for Artist of the Year in 2025. (Photo courtesy of Kevin Homma)
Jackson Olsen, Division 1: Olsen revealed that his submission for Artist of the Year was a last-minute thing but, boy, was he glad he did it. “I’m super happy to be here and very honored,” he told the judges. A jazz piano player, Olsen, 18, is in jazz and wind ensembles and concert band at Tesoro High, along with serving as drum major for the marching band. The judges noted the joy and love that radiated as he played. Olsen looks to attend a college with a good jazz program.
David Wong of Irvine, a junior studying with private instructor Kathy Oh, is an instrumental music finalist for Artist of the Year in 2025. (Photo courtesy of Chiko Wong)
David Wong, Division 1: He picked up the oboe in sixth grade, training mostly in classical music. He’s principal oboe for the Colburn Youth Orchestra, which the prestigious Colburn School in Los Angeles deems its premiere orchestral ensemble. But Wong, 16, also finds it fun to play jazz and loves to listen to J-pop, short for Japanese Pop. He’s got another year before college, where he plans to continue studying music and play oboe in orchestras and ensembles.
Kyle Yeung of Irvine, a junior studying at Pacific Academy, is an instrumental music finalist for Artist of the Year in 2025. (Photo courtesy of Oliva Wong)
Kyle Yeung, Division 1: Yeung, 17, has studied piano with the Juilliard School Pre-College Program since he was 11 and one day plans to compete in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. In other words, he’s serious about finding a path as a concert pianist. A junior at Pacific Academy public charter school, Yeung is also a violinist and a composer. He played both instruments for the judges and included one of his own piano compositions. Dennis Kim, a violinist who is concertmaster for Orange County’s Pacific Symphony, declared Yeung the best instrumentalist: “He’s first, second and third, and the next person is fourth.”
The judges
Special thanks to the judges who helped evaluate students this year.
The judges who evaluated the 120 instrumental music nominees and chose the 16 semifinalists were:
Mark Aguero, Wallis Annenberg High School
Kevin Bachelder, Tarbut V’Torah
Joslynne Blasdel, University High School
Alexander Gellatly, Orange High School
Judy Huang, Private Music Teacher, Music Teacher Association of California
Heide Janssen, Executive Producer, Artist of the Year
Young Kang, Private Music Teacher, Music Teacher Association of California
Jim Kollias, Beckman High School
Jackson Lai, Fountain Valley High School
Diane Lee, University High School
Ashley Song, Fairmont Preparatory Academy
Jacob Sustaita, Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra
The judges who interviewed the semifinalists and chose the four finalists and the Artist of the Year were:
Kenneth Foerch, Associate Professor, Vanguard University
Randy Goldberg, Director of the School of Music, Cal State Fullerton
Gary Gopar, Music Department Chair, Cypress College
Heide Janssen, Executive Producer, Artist of the Year
Dennis Kim, Concertmaster, Pacific Symphony; Assistant Professor, UC Irvine
Sarah Koo Freeman, Lecturer in Cello and Chamber Music, UC Irvine; Visiting Professor, UCLA; Cello Faculty, Colburn Community School of Performing Arts
Matthew Tresler, Music Department Chair, Irvine Valley College
Binh Vu, Music Department Chair, Santiago Canyon College
Shawne Zarubica, Managing Director, Pacific Symphony Youth Ensembles
Division 1 students have had more than five years of instrumental music training in school and/or privately. Division 2 students have had less than five years.