Agoura Hills students unite for Eaton Fire relief
Agoura Hills students unite for Eaton Fire relief
An Agoura Hills 11th-grader is making music and reaching out to his contemporaries in the Los Angeles wildfire burn areas.
Brandon Gertz, a student at Agoura High School, is assembling young musicians and their teachers for “Out of the Ashes,” a benefit concert set for 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 18, at Sagebrush Cantina, 23527 Calabasas Road, in Calabasas.
It will be a powerful evening of music, community, and giving back to music programs in the Pasadena Unified School District affected by the Eaton Fire.
“Six years ago, the Woolsey Fire burned through our community damaging our high school and destroying sports equipment. We remembered hearing about people volunteering and helping to replace sporting equipment and how happy it made people feel,” Brandon said. “After the Palisades and Eaton fires, we realized how privileged we were to have these resources and we saw this concert as a chance to pay it forward and let other music students know they are not alone and that people care.”
Performers include Doc Step and the Expendables; Bob Hackett and the Phoenyx Big Band; The Chad Bloom Jazz Combo; and the Trailblazers Jazz Ensemble, the group Brandon founded in 2023.
“For members of our band, music is our social scene, a chance to be creative and an opportunity to master something difficult,” he said. “It’s important in so many different ways and we know that musicians at other schools feel the same way. We couldn’t imagine waking up one morning and having the school be gone, and our music programs destroyed. It would be impossible for us to have an impact trying to rebuild schools, but we felt like helping to rebuild music programs was something that was within our reach.”
The ensemble will be joined by Dan Stepenosky, superintendent of Las Virgenes Unified School District; Bob Hackett, Agoura High School’s band director; and Chad Bloom, the district’s visual and performing arts director.
The students in the jazz group most recently performed at the Camarillo Airshow and usually bring their music to senior living centers and nursing homes.
“Music provides a chance to be part of a team and hang out with friends, we get to be creative and we get to share it with the community.” Brandon said. “When I’ve been studying for hours, practicing my instrument is a welcome break and helps me clear my head.”
The suggested donation is $25. Proceeds from food and beverage sales will also go to Eaton Fire’s young musicians. For more information, visit trailblazersjazz.org.
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