l to r: Matt Kornick, Chris Houston, Jonathan Skeen, Martin Valencia, Josh Mellott, Mike Bangs, John Deskin, Scot Osborne, Vince Luchetta; on top: Brandon Rinas

The CRAS grads pictured above are all employed by Sound Image in San Diego and have worked with some of the top names in music. Congrats to all who have turned their dreams and internships into audio careers.

Josh Valentine - 2003 Graduate
Aerosmith - Technician
Lenny Kravitz - PA Technician
Brian Wilson - Monitor Technician
Dropping Daylight - Monitor and FOH Engineer
Def Leppard - PA technician

Andrew Cawley - 2003 Graduate
Jimmy Buffett - Monitor Technician/PA Technician
Gwen Stefani - PA Technician
No Doubt - PA Technician/ Monitor Technician
Jacks Mannequin - Monitor Technician
Santana - PA Technician

Mike Bangs - 2004 Graduate
Aerosmith - Monitor Technician/ Crew Chief
Katy Perry - FOH and Monitor Engineer/ Production Manager
Kenna - FOH Engineer/ Production Manager
Boz Scaggs - Monitor Engineer
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Monitor Technician
Babyface - Monitor Engineer
Billy Bob Thornton - Monitor Engineer


Matt Kornick - 2004 Graduate
Jimmy Buffett - PA Technician
Jason Mraz - PA System Technician/Crew Chief
Santana - PA Technician

Chris Houston - 2009 Graduate
Sound Image Shop Technician

Martin Valencia - 2009 Graduate
Sound Image Shop Technician

Scott Taylor - 2009 Graduate
Sound Image Shop Technician

Jonathan Skeen - 2008 Graduate
Sound Image Inventory Manager

Brandon Rinas - 2005 Graduate
String Cheese - Monitor Technician
Rascal Flatts - Monitor Technician
Sound Image Contracting Division Design Engineer

Scot Osborne - 2005 Graduate
Crickett Amphitheatre - PA Delay Technician

Josh Mellott - 2007 Graduate
Bob Dylan - Monitor Technician
Crosby, Stills, and Nash - Monitor Technician

John Deskin - 2007 Graduate
Santana - Monitor Technician/PA Technician
Van Morrison - Monitor Technician
Jimmy Buffett - PA Technician
Jason Mraz - Monitor Technician
Salvador Santana - Monitor Engineer

Vince Luchetta - 2008 Graduate
Jimmy Buffett - Monitor Technician/PA Technician
Boz Scaggs - Monitor Technician
L.L. Cool J. - Monitor Technician
John Legend - Monitor Technician/ PA Technician

Roll your mouse over the gold and platinum records for more details about the grads who worked on these award winning releases from the top names in music.

Sixteen CRAS grads scored twenty-three Grammy nominations and two awards at the 2009 ceremonies held on February 8th in Los Angeles. The impressive list of winners who employed CRAS-trained audio pros in their sessions include Lil Wayne, Jennifer Hudson, Big & Rich, Sugarland, Beyonce, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss and Metallica. Congratulations go out to all our nominees along with Miguel Scott and Aaron Renner who won gold statues for Lil Wayne’s A Milli and Jennifer Hudson’s CD Jennifer Hudson.

John Brown recently finished the on-campus portion of his education at the Conservatory and is now interning at Sweetwater Sound. “My experience so far has been more than I ever expected it to be – the facilities, staff, and gear is amazing,” says Brown about the next step in his career. Sweetwater is an online audio and musical gear sales company with a brand new facility that cost more than $36 million to build from the ground up.

“We have 3 studios here at Sweetwater and I float between them on a daily basis taking in as many different experiences as I can,” says Brown. “

Studio A features The Digidesign ICON D Control Surface, Pro Tools HD, Apogee converters, multiple preamps and compressors from Focusrite and Avalon. John has helped on nearly 20 sessions since he’s been at Sweetwater. “We have recorded a dobro, violin, viola, cello, flute, fiddle, mandolin, sax, drums, shakers, piano, vocals and other intstruments.”

Interns and employees at the facility can take advantage of many in-house non-musical offerings including a hair stylist, movie/game rentals, workout center, a Warehouse and printing center among other things. All in all, life is looking rosy for Mr. Brown who is considering a sales position after being asked to stay on at the company after his internship.

Isaac Newman is a 2006 CRAS grad who carved out a niche as an audio pro in the burgeoning House of Worship market. He was recently featured in Church Production magazine in an article telling the story Isaac’s church, Temple of Greater Beth-El and their high-end audio installation. Just last year, the facility won “Best Design, Implementation and Operation: Video Equipment/System” at WFX (Worship Facilities Conference & Expo) in Houston. Click here to read the article.

Bryan Pringle graduated less than a year ago and has scored a great gig with Carnival cruises. His new job involves mixing and recording shows in a floating, state-of-the-art showroom. “The new ship I am on is highly advanced runs some complicated gear,” says Pringle. Playback for our 3 shows comes from an HD24, plus I’m mixing a 10 piece band.” Bryan is also managing wireless mics and mixes the shows on a Yamaha PM5D. “It is such an amazing digital console,” he says.

Pringle credits his CRAS education with giving him the ability to step into his new job with confidence. “I came to this ship with my background and education and made some changes to their show and got several compliments and questions about why I did what I did. It really is possible to get this kind of job after school.”

The Conservatory’s curriculum covers a broad range of audio skills, preparing grads for a variety of jobs in audio once they leave the program to start their careers.

CRAS grad Eddie Mapp has mixed FOH for Zakk Wylde, Evanescence and currently the Stone Temple Pilots. Watch him mix live on Presonus’ new StudioLive console which is a professional digital mixer with a multi-channel recording system and built-in effects.

In less than a year, 12/07 grad Greg Ruoff has parlayed his CRAS education into a successful career as a studio manager at Ocean Studios in Burbank California. Ocean has hosted some of the biggest names in the business including producer/engineer Jerry Finn, Amy Lee of Evanescence, Steve Berlin of Los Lobos and Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World.

The video below is June Nine tracking drums with engineer Todd Burke at Ocean Studios in August 2008