This session explores the collaborative process between a composer and a music director of a Title I school, resulting in an original piece tailored to the students’ interests, cultural backgrounds, and musical abilities. The clinicians will discuss how student identity informed compositional decisions and how the director’s insight shaped musical accessibility and authenticity. The project culminated in two performance experiences: a professional recording premiered at a senior composition where students saw their school and stories represented on a prominent stage, and a live performance conducted by the composer at their school’s Spring Concert. Attendees will gain insight into inclusive, student-centered composition, composer-educator partnerships, and strategies for empowering underrepresented student populations through meaningful musical creation.
Target Audience
Ensemble Directors
Additional Notes
Clinician Info
Esbeyde Sanchez
Esbeyde Sánchez is a music educator currently teaching at Jackie Robinson Academy K-8 in the Long Beach Unified School District. She leads general and instrumental music for grades K–5, as well as middle school band, orchestra, jazz, and choir. Esbeyde is the current mariachi ensemble director at the Bob Cole Conservatory at CSU Long Beach, where she earned her degrees in violin performance and music education. Recently, she completed her Master’s in Music Education at Boston University. Esbeyde has experience teaching across all levels, both with mariachi and traditional ensembles. Passionate about inclusive music education, Esbeyde advocates for music access and equity for students that come from marginalized communities by serving in several leadership roles at her school site and advocating for student needs at the district level.
Ethan Arroyo
Ethan Arroyo is a Salvadoran-American composer, arranger, conductor, and music educator. He holds undergraduate degrees in music composition and music education from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at CSU Long Beach and is on track to earn his Single Subject teaching credential in music by 2026. Originally from the Antelope Valley, Ethan relocated to Long Beach to pursue a program that supports both creative and educational growth in music. As a composer and performer, Ethan has engaged with a wide range of musical styles and perspectives, shaping a versatile voice grounded in technical, expressive, and harmonic writing. His music education training includes meaningful fieldwork in surrounding school districts, where he strengthened pedagogical content knowledge, formed professional partnerships, and built strong rapport with students and colleagues. Ethan is passionate about collaborative, student-centered teaching and believes in using music as a tool for cultural connection, creative expression, and community building.