Abigayle Gerdes, band director at Olive Peirce Middle and Ramona High schools, takes pride in all of her music students.
But this year, three of them — Ethan Worthen, Owen Windham and Alexander Osnain-Torres — hold a special place in the spotlight for ing the rigorous auditions needed to get accepted into music school after they graduate in June.
Gerdes said it is rare for high school music programs to have three students in the same year pursuing music in higher education, particularly smaller music programs like Ramona High’s. Only five other Bulldogs in the past eight years have chosen that career path, she said.
“Getting accepted into music school is different from other majors,” Gerdes said. “Students have to apply to the university and be accepted, then audition in front of the music faculty to be accepted into the school of music. That’s a pretty competitive process that they were all three successful at.”
Worthen, who plays the bassoon, earned two combined scholarships valued at $85,000 each of four years. The funds will pay his way to attend Northwestern University in Illinois and the campus’ Northwestern School of Music where he will focus his studies on playing the bassoon.
Windham, a trumpet player, was awarded a $52,000 scholarship spread across four years to major in music. The money will cover music expenses such as lessons and about a quarter of his tuition at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego.
Alexander Osnain-Torres, a flute musician, plans to major in musical performance at San Diego State University.
“I’m incredibly proud of their accomplishments,” said Gerdes, who has been teaching music for eight years at Ramona Unified School District. “All three of them are very talented, they are high-quality performers. The three of them are exceptional musicians and they will thrive anywhere they play.”
Worthen, 17, started playing piano when he was 5 years old.
“Neither my dad nor mom had played music,” he said. “They had me take lessons to their friend who was a piano teacher, but then I ended up being good at it.”
Worthen said he continued playing piano but also learned to play saxophone for the elementary school band. When he ed the Ramona High band as a freshman, he was encouraged to play the bassoon and took a liking to it.
“It was a natural reflex to the high school band because I had played music for so long,” he said. “I knew I could excel in it. My mom wanted me to play music with other people because I had played solo on the piano. I found out I enjoy playing with other people a lot more.”
Worthen also plays bassoon in the Civic Youth Orchestra in Escondido. One of his highlights was performing at Carnegie Hall in New York City with the orchestra last summer.
The Ramona teen also practiced and performed with other students from around California for an All State Wind Ensemble performance for the California Band Directors Association in Sacramento in January of 2024 and 2025.
Becoming a professional performer and classical musician in an orchestra has been his aspiration since his freshman year.
“The honest reason was I was good at it and I knew that I could probably do something with it and now I realize I can do something more with it,” Worthen said. “My goal is to be in a major orchestra. I’ll definitely have many opportunities to perform all across the globe.
“I’m going to the best music school so hopefully I can become the best in the world and make a living wage,” he said.
Windham, 18, also started learning to play music at a young age. When he was 11 and in the sixth grade, Windham said he chose to play an instrument instead of singing in a choir. He chose the trumpet because his dad, David Windham, used to play the trumpet and it seemed interesting, he said. He’s also learned to play the guitar and tuba.
Windham ed the Ramona High band as a freshman and has since become close friends with his bandmates.
“It’s really nice to have a set group of people with a common goal,” he said. “It really is a collaboration and we have to listen to each other all the time. That’s really helpful socially.”
Windham also played the trumpet in an Honor Orchestra with the California Orchestra Directors Association at Stanford University in December 2023.
“It was really fun and it was nice to have from Mrs. Gerdes during the audition process and from my friends while I was up there,” said Windham, who is also a guitarist and lead singer for “The Fish” rock band he formed with friends in 2021.
In addition to getting lessons and after-school tutoring from Gerdes, Windham has been taking private lessons for the past two years from John Wilds, a former trumpet player in the San Diego Symphony.
Windham said he chose Point Loma Nazarene because he likes the coastal campus and its music program has a small, close-knit environment that he found appealing. Windham plans to one of the university’s two bands that is comprised of music majors.
After graduating from the university, he hopes to teach music lessons to youths and adults and continue performing.
“I’m excited to have a little more responsibility in college,” he said. “It’s my decision to practice if I want to be good. If I want to progress on an instrument it’s up to me.”
Osnain-Torres said he was drawn to music as an excuse to take a break from his sixth grade class but discovered “a spark” when he played the flute. His interest in music grew at the encouragement of a high school student who showed him “the intricacies of music” during an All-District Band Day for elementary through high-schoolers when he was still a novice.
“I like the sound the flute has in the ensemble,” he said, adding that he also plays the piccolo and mellophone. “It flows over other instruments’ timbre in some cases and I really enjoy that about it.”
Osnain-Torres said he was undecided about whether to pursue art or music as a middle schooler, but by the time he was a freshman at Ramona High he settled on music and ed the high school’s band.
“I get to train my ear around the other players and can improve with people listening to me,” he said. “There’s a unique charm to playing music, but it’s even more unique when it’s in an ensemble.”
Osnain-Torres said he chose to attend San Diego State at the recommendation of Gerdes and his private music teacher, Pamela Martchev. He said he will major in musical performance to focus on improving his skills with the instrument. His ultimate ambition is to perform in ensembles and shows.
One of his memorable performances was with the San Diego Wind Ensemble at San Marcos High School last February.
“I’m looking forward to having the ability to practice more whenever I want,” he said of his visions for college. “There’s practice rooms at SDSU. I like to wander around the campus, it’s a very nice college. There’s probably people waiting to meet me and I’m waiting to meet them.”
Gerdes said she will be able to connect with Osnain-Torres at SDSU in her role as director of the university’s concert band. And she hopes to watch Windham perform locally at Point Loma Nazarene as well as visit Worthen at the Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference – the world’s largest instrumental music education conference – held in Chicago every December.
“These three students are really wonderful mentors to their peers in this program,” Gerdes said. “They were in leadership roles and have been for several years. They never let their success or talent get to them. They remained humble and helped out their peers so we could all succeed together.”
