![\"Trombonist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/PRN-L-Alex-Iles.jpg\")
Trombonist Alex Iles will be the guest musician during Coastal Communities Concert Band\u2019s 43rd anniversary performance on March 7. (Diane Allancraig)<\/p>\nWith a program featuring a mix of well-known American favorites and music from south of the border, the Coastal Communities Concert Band will celebrate its 43rd anniversary with a performance in Rancho Bernardo.<\/p>\n
The concert will begin at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 7 in Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church.<\/p>\n
Since several of the pieces on the program are heavily focused on the band\u2019s trombone section, Conductor Mitch Fennell has invited Alex Iles to perform as a soloist for four of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlex is one of the preeminent recording artists in Los Angeles,\u201d Fennell said. \u201cHe has worked at the studios on many records and movie scores, such as for John Williams. He is very well known and it is exciting to have him as our trombone soloist.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iles\u2019 career has included working with a wide range of artists, including Josh Groban, Henry Mancini, Harry Connick Jr., Paul McCartney, Prince, Meghan Trainor, Hans Zimmer, Johnny Mathis, Ray Charles, Barbra Streisand and The Tonight Show Band.<\/p>\n
He has toured as lead and solo jazz trombonist with Woody Herman and Maynard Ferguson, was an original member of Gordon Goodwin\u2019s Big Phat Band and performed for numerous awards shows including The Emmy and Golden Globe awards. Soundtracks he has contributed to include \u201cStar Wars: The Force Awakens,\u201d \u201cFrozen,\u201d \u201cLa La Land,\u201d \u201cUp,\u201d \u201cThe Incredibles,\u201d \u201cAvatar\u201d and \u201cTransformers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trombonist Alex Iles will be the guest musician during Coastal Communities Concert Band\u2019s 43rd anniversary performance on March 7. (Diane Allancraig)<\/p>\n
Since 2002, Iles has been the principal trombonist of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pasadena Symphony and L.A. Chamber Orchestra. Iles has been a regular member of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra since 2014 and taught as a faculty trombone and jazz instructor at several universities, according to his bio.<\/p>\n
Fennell and Iles have worked together on various projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a really nice guy, easy to work with and extremely talented,\u201d Fennell said of Iles. \u201cThe audience will love him. The band certainly does.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first selection featuring Iles will be \u201cSambezi\u201d from \u201cConcerto for Trombone\u201d by Philip Sparke.<\/p>\n
Iles said it was a piece he was not familiar with, which made him look forward to learning the music.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is spirited and something fun to prep,\u201d Iles said<\/p>\n
Iles, who grew up in Arcadia, said he started playing trombone as a fourth-grader, an instrument assigned to him by his school\u2019s music director because he was tall. He stayed in band through high school, but did not consider music as a career. Instead, he majored in economics at UCLA and after graduation worked in the insurance industry.<\/p>\n
But throughout college and after he kept playing the trombone, along with other low brass instruments, with various groups.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really enjoyed music and a lot of people were encouraging me,\u201d Iles said.<\/p>\n
While saying he was \u201cnot a natural talent,\u201d Iles said he saw that hard work paid off and more gigs kept coming his way. He also branched out by playing traditional jazz and contemporary music in addition to classical, which \u201chelped me with studio work, because I could go in any direction, drawing on my experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n
For example, Iles said he recently got to explore his musical funny side by doing \u201csilly stuff\u201d while performing music for a cartoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day is varied,\u201d Iles said of his decades-long music career. \u201cWhat I enjoy most \u2026 is that I get to play with amazing people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sharing his love of music with younger musicians that he works with or teaches is also meaningful, he said.<\/p>\n
The other concert selections featuring Iles as soloist will be \u201cThe Way We Were\u201d by Marvin Hamlisch, \u201cMoon River\u201d by Henry Mancini and \u201cTrombonology\u201d by Tommy Dorsey.<\/p>\n
Iles said he especially likes the \u201830s style \u201cTrombonology\u201d because it is among the few pieces that Dorsey wrote for himself. \u201cIt is fun to hear \u2026 Dorsey was pretty inspiring. People remember him from the Big Band era, but we trombonists remember him \u2026 as a trombone player.\u201d<\/p>\n
The entire trombone section will be featured in the concert during \u201cSweet Trombone Rag\u201d by Al Sweet.<\/p>\n
The concert will open with \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner,\u201d which will be followed by the Latin-themed selections. In addition to \u201cSambezi\u201d they will include \u201cThe Sinfonians\u201d by Clifton Williams, \u201cIzana\u201d by Manuel Morales Martinez and \u201cLibertango\u201d by Astor Piazzolla.\u201d<\/p>\n
The concert will close with another Latin-themed selection, \u201cOs P\u00e1ssaros do Brasil\u201d by Klees Vlak. Fennell said the title translates to \u201cBirds of Brazil.\u201d It has three movements, \u201cP\u00e1ssaros Coloridos\u201d (Multi-Colored Birds), \u201cPomba Triste\u201d (Sad Pigeon) and \u201cOs P\u00e1ssaros no Carnaval\u201d (The Carnival Birds).<\/p>\n
\u201cThe three movements to the piece are at various tempos, slow, fast and Latin party music,\u201d Fennell said.<\/p>\n
When selecting music for the 90-minute concert, Fennell said he was looking for a combination of light classical and popular.<\/p>\n
The band has around 60 members from all walks of life, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA few are working professional musicians, some are former teachers, others work in business but play because of their love of music,\u201d Fennell said. \u201cOur oldest is I believe 99 and the youngest 16.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Conductor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/PRN-L-Mitch-Fennell.jpg\")
Conductor Mitch Fennell has been leading the Coastal Communities Concert Band for 10 months. (Courtesy of Mitch Fennell)<\/p>\n
Fennell, who is also a trombonist, has been conducting the band for about 10 months. He is professor emeritus and retired director of bands and coordinator of wind studies at California State University, Fullerton. He joined the CSUF faculty in 1986 and during its tenure conducted the University Wind Symphony, Symphonic Winds and University Band. He lives in Brea.<\/p>\n
While the band is based in Encinitas, Fennell said it plays in venues across North County as its members live throughout the area. It presents eight concerts per year, with one being a benefit concert for Meals on Wheels. It also gives two concerts at The Glen in Scripps Ranch.<\/p>\n
After the Rancho Bernardo concert, two more are planned for this season. Its April 11 \u201cSalute to Young Musicians\u201d is a scholarship program, will include 32 students and be held at San Dieguito High School. The season will close on June 27 at Carlsbad Community Church with a salute to the United State\u2019s 250th anniversary, Fennell said.<\/p>\n
Tickets to the March 7 concert are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and free for students. They can be purchased with cash only at the door, in advance at cccband.com or by calling 858-761-8421.<\/p>\n
Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church is at 17010 Pomerado Road.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With a program featuring a mix of well-known American favorites and music from south of the border, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204201,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[94578,94580,94579,94577,74,76,75,94576],"class_list":["post-204200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-coastal-communities-concert-band","tag-concerts-in-rancho-bernardo","tag-concerts-in-san-diego","tag-rancho-bernardo-community-presbyterian-church","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-trombonist-alex-iles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}