Scholarship Winners

San Diego Jazz Party Scholarships

Please consider supporting the San Diego Jazz Party Scholarship Program

The San Diego Jazz Party Scholarship Fund was established in 2017 by Dan Reid. It was Dan’s vision to create a Scholarship Fund to encourage young jazz musicians to pursue higher education to expand their talents and follow their dreams of furthering mainstream jazz to the world. This scholarship program was the first of its kind for the SDJP in the years of entertaining patrons and other guests with mainstream jazz in San Diego. Being able to observe young people succeed in the world of jazz was near and dear to his heart. The San Diego Jazz Party Scholarship Fund will be his lasting legacy.

As finances permit, The San Diego Jazz Party awards scholarships to students who attended High School in the San Diego area and are enrolled as full time undergraduates studying Jazz at any College or University in the United States.

Evaluation criteria include:

Musical ability and stage presence Financial need Academic achievement

Scholarships will be awarded to new or continuing students as funds are available. Children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews of San Diego Jazz Party Board Members are not eligible for the scholarships. San Diego Jazz Party is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization chartered under federal and California law. Contributions are fully tax-deductible. San Diego Jazz Party Scholarships are derived from donations, grants, bequests and fundraising activities of the San Diego Jazz Party

Thank You from The Board of Directors of the San Diego Jazz Party

The San Diego Jazz Party organization awards scholarships to promising young musicians to allow them to pursue their dreams of furthering world-class jazz to the world. This year’s recipients have shown great musical talents at young ages in guitar, saxophone, clarinet, flute, piano, trumpet, violin, and vocals.

Christian Rodriguez

Christian Rodriguez attended Mission Bay High School. He started playing guitar at the beginning of his freshman year when he was 14. He also played the violin in middle school, and banjo in high school. Rodriguez studied with Jaier Batiz in the beginning and later on studied with Martinez Castro before he died.

He later joined Young Lions’ Jazz Conservatory and studied with Ian Buss and Gilbert Castillnos. He also studied with Mark Dresser at the UCSD Jazz Camp in 2018, and most recently, with Tommy Collins and Endea Owens. He is currently attending two colleges to pursue two majors.

San Diego Jazz Party Scholarships

Tiger Diep

Tiger Diep, a graduate of the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts, has been playing the saxophone since the age of 11. Aside from the saxophone, he doubles on other instruments as well such as the clarinet, flute, EWI (electronic wind instrument), and the piano. Tiger is grateful to have had amazing teachers and mentors such as Jeffrey Benedict, Gilbert Castellanos, Julius Tolentino, and John Reynolds who have helped him up to this point. In the fall, Tiger will be attending New York University to study privately and receive instruction from Mark Turner, Joe Lovano, Chris Potter, and Dave Pietro.

Although his passion lies in jazz, Tiger has played and appreciates other genres such as Rock, Indie, and R&B which, according to him, has been extremely helpful in his development. He loves all kinds of jazz from the big bands of Duke Ellington to Maria Schneider, the seminal small groups of John Coltrane and Oscar Peterson, the free jazz movement of Ornette Coleman, and fusion of the Brecker Brothers and Pat Metheny Group. He also appreciates jazz in the light that it is in today, moved in a different direction by Robert Glasper and Braxton Cook. Some saxophone players who have been most influential to him include Dick Oatts, Seamus Blake, Kenny Garrett, Cannonball Adderley, and Charlie Parker.

Sam Kredich

Sam Kredich attended Del Norte High school and played four years in their music program. He has been playing the trumpet since he was ten, but has also played and taken lessons for piano, guitar and vocals.

Outside high school, he participated in the International academy of Jazz as well as the Young Lions Conversatory under the direction of Gilbert Castellanos. Through his association with Castellanos, he was part of the opening group for a tribute to Mongo Santamaria and Jack Costanzo at Bayside Summer Nights at Embarcadeo Marina in July of 2019. He also was part of the opening group for the Roots of Rhythm concert at Copley Symphony Hall as part of the Jazz at Jacobs Series. Under the direction of Andy Geib, Kredich was in the Ambasadors of Soul, a high school funk group that travels around gigging in areas like Ocean beach and Balboa Park. He also attended the 88.3 Francis Parker Summer Jazz Workshop for five years, the Jazz Workshop at the University of North Texas in 2017, and the Berklee Brass Camp in 2018.

He studied under local musicians including Andy Geib, Michael Timson, Derek Cannon, Tim Saeger, Robert Totty and Gilbert Castellanos. He also was influenced by musicians from around the country including Mike Steinel, Rodney Booth, Billy Buss, Ed Soph, Charlie Lewis and Norman Bolter.

His music influences include Jacob Collier, Snarky Puppy, Clifford Brown, Freddie Hubbard, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Kamasi Washington.