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Mira Costa High School OrchestrasLocated in the Los Angeles suburb of Manhattan Beach, the orchestra program at Mira Costa High School began in the Fall of 2002 with a string orchestra of 19 students. Under the leadership of orchestra director Mr. Peter Park, the Mira Costa Orchestra Program has grown to involve over 150 student musicians.
Known for presenting diverse and quality programming, Mira Costa Orchestras prepare multiple concerts annually, drawing from the major orchestral repertoire. Since the Spring of 2010, they have premiered nine new compositions written expressly for them, including an original piece by GRAMMY and multiple Emmy Award-winning composer Lee Holdridge. Mira Costa Orchestras have presented numerous times at state-level music education conferences while performing at internationally renowned venues including Beijing Concert Hall, the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, Bella Concert Hall in Calgary, Palau de la Música de València, Palau de Música Catalan in Barcelona, and twice each at Carnegie Hall and Walt Disney Concert Hall. The advanced ensembles in the Mira Costa Orchestra Program have earned the highest ratings possible at every festival and contest they have taken part in. The music department at Mira Costa operates at a high level of artistic ambition and achievements. In 2012, the Mira Costa Orchestras were selected for a premiere status partnership with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In 2014, the Costa music program was awarded the prestigious GRAMMY Signature Gold Award for being a top three high school music program in the United States. In 2015, the California Department of Education designated Mira Costa High School as a Gold Ribbon School through the strength of its Performing Arts Department. The orchestra program currently consists of the Philharmonic Strings, Sinfonietta, Symphony and Chamber Orchestras. Due to the level of training, rehearsals, performance and professionalism taught to the students over the years in orchestra, many have gone on to play in prestigious college music programs either as a career or to continue as a hobby. |
Peter Park, Director |
Peter Park is the director of orchestras at Mira Costa High School. Mr. Park graduated from UCLA, earning a BA degree with a dual emphasis in music education and percussion performance. Afterwards, he earned his M.Ed. from UCLA’s School of Education & Information Studies while
re-pursuing studies on his first instrument, the violin. During this time, Mr. Park earned top prizes in the Grancell Foundation Solo Competition and the Atwater Kent Solo Competition. As both a violinist and a percussionist, he has had the pleasure of performing with several outstanding orchestras, including the San Francisco Symphony, the Santa Barbara Symphony, principal positions in the American Youth Symphony and Debut Orchestra, and a summer fellowship with the Tanglewood Festival Orchestra in Western Massachusetts. Outside of teaching, Mr. Park has served as clinician, adjudicator, and guest conductor for several organizations and institutions throughout the United States. He has been recognized twice by the Parent Teacher Association for outstanding teacher service, and was honored as Educator of the Year in the city of Santa Monica, as well as Music Teacher of the Year by the California chapter of the American String Teachers Association. Mr. Park has a notable history of championing wide areas of music education, including the founding of Elemental Strings, a developmental youth orchestra program, the organization of the inaugural Violafest Los Angeles, currently held at the Colburn School of Performing Arts, and the mentoring of several apprentice teachers from local Southern California universities. |
Richard Elegino, Artistic Consultant |
Richard Elegino is a Tokyo-born violist and member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 1980. He has studied with Fumiki Asazuma, V. Barstow and L. Kievman. When not performing with the LA Phil, Mr. Elegino tours Japan annually, presenting free chamber music concerts at local elementary and middle schools, schools for children with special needs, and hospitals. He has also been a member of the Astre Quartet for over ten years.
He founded the Ohta Pacific Chamber Players in 2003 and served as their conductor/director for five years. His conducting credits include the 9-11 Memorial Concert in Jodo Shu Temple, and Japan’s Great Earthquake Charity Concert in the City of Cerritos. Since traveling to El Sistema in Caracas, Venezuela with Gustavo Dudamel in 2012, Mr. Elegino has expanded his passions for music education by instructing in YOLA (Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles), and in Japan’s version of El Sistema in Fukushima and Iwate. The Mira Costa Orchestras have benefited from Mr. Elegino’s vast experience and expertise since the Fall of 2011 when the Mira Costa Symphony began a two year premiere-status partnership with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. |
Student Leadership
2024 - 2025
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