Congratulations to our Mustang musicians who performed with the 2020 All-Southern Honor Bands and Orchestra at the annual SCSBOA Conference on January 18th. These accomplised student-musicians were selected through a competitive audition process that involved over a thousand highly skilled applicants from throughout Southern California!
This year's All-Southern honor musicians are as follows:

Symphonic Band
Brandon Bui, bassoon

Wind Ensemble
Trevor King, trumpet
Alexandra Runnels, French horn

Orchestra
Rachel Clinton, violin
Diya Dhawan, double bass
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Two of our very own amazing, music educators were honored yesterday at the SCSBOA Conference. Denise Haslop received the Distinguished Member Award and Peter Park received the Gold Award of Recognition!
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This year’s award winners represent the top 9.5% of applications across ten artistic disciplines.
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Selected from thousands of applications and representing artists from 44 states, YoungArts winners gain access to one of the most comprehensive programs for emerging artists in the United States.
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This year YoungArts awarded 686 of the nation’s most accomplished young artists from 40 states. Congratulations, Maggie!
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Congratulations, Audrey Lee!
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Last weekend Beach Cities Robotics Team competed in the FIRST LA Regional Competition. The team finished 2nd overall in a competition with 66 teams competing! The team’s 2nd place ranking enabled the team to advance to compete in the FIRST Championship in St. Louis, MO at the end of April. Click photo for pics and details.
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Four thousand students from schools of 13 different nations around the world competed over 3 1/2 days. Mira Costa is a "3 peat" champion from past years. Our team consisted of 40 students: 7 seniors, 18 juniors and 15 sophomores. When we go to NY we go to compete at one of the most elite and well run conferences in the world. Other groups tour, we take on the best and the brightest. Any country, any topic, any time.
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At a recent competition, Mira Costa's Dance Team received 1st place in jazz, small jazz and lyrical divisions; 2nd in hip hop. Caprina Benson and Samantha Lonergan won 1st place with their solos. These high scores qualified the Team for division champions in three categories! Now they have to figure out where to showcase their 5-foot trophy. Good luck in Nationals!
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Congratulations to Miriam Sachs, the first Mustang to both compete at and place in the state-level competition of Poetry Out Loud! As the Los Angeles County winner, Miriam went on to compete at the state capitol against 38 other contestants from counties all over California...and she was awarded 3rd place!
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Congratulations to our Mustang musicians who were invited to perform with the 2016 All-Southern and All-State Honor Bands and Orchestras. These accomplished student-musicians were selected through a competitive audition process that involved several hundreds of highly skilled high school students from throughout California. Click here for a list of our honor musicians.
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Congratulations to the twenty-four student musicians who performed in the Rotary Solo Music Competition Finals on Thurs., January 21. Each finalist advanced by performing in a competitive preliminary round earlier in the month. Click here for a complete list of finalists.
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Congratulations to Rachel Bloom (MCHS Class of 2005) for winning the Golden Globe award for Best Actress in a TV comedy!
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Costa girls joined Vox Femina, one of the premier women’s choruses in the United States with a demonstrated ability to perform highly eclectic repertoire, for the 3rd year in a row Sunday night for a brilliant performance.
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Congratulations to the MCHS Marching Band and Colorguard who had a fantastic performance at the Oxnard H.S. Tournament on Nov.7, with the band winning Tournament Sweepstakes (including all caption awards). Percussion placed 1st in the 4A division, while Colorguard placed second. What a great outcome for all their hard work!
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The Mira Costa Marching Band and Colorguard gave a stellar effort in their 2nd of 5 field competitions on Oct. 17 in their show : "Stratosphere Above the Clouds." They placed first in their 4A division for Band and Auxiliary and Percussion placed first in Sweepstakes!
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On both the US News and Newsweek rankings Mira Costa is listed in the top 500 high schools in the Nation! Mira Costa’s Newsweek ranking is 341. Mira Costa’s US News ranking is 375 and received Gold medal distinction. Click headline for more info!
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Mira Costa students, for the 5th year in a row, increased their performance on the ACT in EVERY category. Go Costa!
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Pooja Nagpal was selected by Girl Scouts of the USA to receive the prestigious Young Woman of Distinction Award (YWOD). Only 10 women are honored each year across the country with this award which is determined by their outstanding Gold Award project. Pooja and her family will travel to New York next month to receive her award.
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The emphasis is on empowering students to create authentic products that they can share with others beyond the classroom walls. Click headline for link to EdSurge story.
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We are proud to announce that rising sophomore PLEIA HALL achieved a perfect score on the 2015 National Latin Exam. Less than 1% of students across the globe attained this distinction. We are happy for Pleia and for her Latin teacher, Mr. Cook!
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Congratulations to Andrew Neal and Sara Kohrogi who were finalists in the NSSA (National Scholastic Surfing Association) High School National Championships held June 13-14, 2015 at Salt Creek. Sara finished 4th in the women's division and Andrew finished 6th in the men's longboard division.
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We are pleased to announce that the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars has selected Costa senior Julia McDermott as one of 20 students in the country to receive this honor in the visual and performing arts. Julia will be recognized in Washington, D.C. in June where she will also get to perform at The Kennedy Center. Congratulations, Julia!
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Andrew Anton, Kayla Elson, and Antonio Sellitto were selected to the 2015 California All State Honor Choir. In late March, our Mira Costa singers joined with 130 others from around the state for a weekend of intensive rehearsals, culminating in a beautiful concert. Congratulations to our outstanding singers.
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Leonard Chong, senior violinist and concertmaster of the Mira Costa Symphony Orchestra, recently performed at the Music Teachers National Association Performance Competition in Las Vegas, NV. Competing in the Chamber Music Strings category, Leonard was joined by his brother and Mira Costa alum Erick Chong on cello, along with pianist Isabella Ma. To qualify for the National Finals, contestants had to advance from the state and regional division rounds. As the 1st place winner, Leonard’s trio received a $3,000 prize, as well as the distinction of being the first group from California since 2003 to advance to the finals round, let alone winning the competition.
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Mira Costa was recently named Best School at the Pacific Coast Championships at Berkeley MUN February 27 - March 1. Just days later, Costa won Best School at the National High School MUN conference in New York March 4-7. Top winners in Berkeley: Katie Shalvarjian, Fran Caflisch, Natasha Brunstein, Walker Heintz, Eva Abramson, Tooba Wasi, TJ Ford, Catherine An and Risha Rohera. Top winners at NHSMUN: Momo Bolsajian, Sarah James, Rachel Waxman, Erin Clifford, Louis Yudowitz, Haley Kay and Maggie Hackney.
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The first ever Mira Costa National Ocean Science Bowl team competed in the Los Angeles Regional Surf Bowl on Saturday at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where they beat Peninsula by a score of 66-26 on their way to the 8th round and finishing in 5th place behind some very stiff competition. This is the farthest that any first year team has made it, and we look forward to doing even better and building the program in the following years!
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Mira Costa student Isabelle Connor placed 3rd All Around in her division at the USA Rhythmic Gymnastics Invitational Feb. 14 & 15 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. She then went on to compete at the Moscow Grand Prix Juniors Tournament Feb. 19-23 in Russia. Congratulations, Isabelle!
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Julia McDermott and Darynn Dean were both named finalist winners in The Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight Awards in the non-classical voice category. They both will receive $5,000 and will each be singing a solo at The Walt Disney Concert Hall downtown at the awards ceremony on March 31st. They were the two winners out of 532 high school students from all over Southern California who competed in this category. It's an extremely hard competition to win and to have both winners in the same category from the same high school is unheard of. They both went through 3 rounds of auditions over 3 months. Darynn sings jazz and Julia sings musical theatre.
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Costa senior Phoebe Lyons participated in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Western Regional Final Sunday, January 18 and won in the Upper High School Classical Women Category. Phoebe will now be going to the NATS Finals to compete on July 7, at University of North Carolina in Greensboro. Founded in 1944, NATS is the largest professional association of teachers of singing in the world with more than 7,000 members in the United States, Canada, and nearly 30 other countries. Congratulations, Phoebe!
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Congratulations to Kevin's Warehouse, this year's undisputed MCHS Dodgeball Champions! Bringing home the trophy for Kevin's Warehouse: Trevor Franklin, Reese Alexiades, Dylan Tyrer, Rollie Nichols, Jackson Michalski, Ty Conrad and Tommy Bothwell.
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Darynn Dean was selected as a Young Arts Finalist and will be traveling to Miami, Florida, to participate in the National Young Arts Week January 4-11, 2015. She will participate in master classes in the area of Vocal Jazz. This nationally recognized programs offers exceptional educational opportunities and scholarships for the finest high school talent. Additionally, for the second year in a row, Darynn has been selected to sing in the GRAMMY All-Star Vocal Jazz Ensemble. She is one of eight singers, one of two altos, chosen nationally to participate in this ensemble and perform during the GRAMMY week festivities, including singing at the closing party the night of the GRAMMY Awards. Congratulations to Darynn!
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Mira Costa High School senior Ryan Cosner received a very special honor on September 24 when it was announced that he is one of only 125 musicians across the nation selected to perform with the United States Army All-American Marching Band. Over 1,300 marching band students were nominated for this honor. Only four from California were selected and Ryan is one of them. This is the first time that a Mira Costa High School student has been inducted into this national marching band. Ryan was selected for his exceptional musicianship, marching achievement, character, and leadership. Ryan is a very popular leader of the Mira Costa bands as a Drum Major of the marching band and trombone player in the Jazz Band, Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra. At the award celebration, his fellow band members burst into song and applause to congratulate him. Ryan receives an all-expenses paid trip to San Antonio to perform during half-time of the US Army All-American Football game on January 3, 2015.
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Alex Luo, a freshman violinist and member of the Mira Costa Symphony, was one of four musicians selected to perform a featured solo with the Beach Cities Symphony Orchestra in late May. Through the “Artist of the Future” Competition organized by the South Bay chapter of the Music Teachers’ Association of California, Alex competed against some of the most talented student musicians from across the South Bay, spanning both the instrumental and vocal categories. According to Mr. Park who attended the concert, “Alex was the hit of the night. Getting to play a solo with an orchestra is a huge honor that only comes by every so often. He pulled off his performance with excellent skill, command, and artistry.” Congratulations Alex!
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CONGRATULATIONS to freshman PAIGE RICHARDSON for her outstanding achievements in diving. She placed 3rd overall in the CIF - Southern Section Diving Championships. Thank you for putting Mira Costa back on the diving map in athletics!
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Erick Chong, a senior cellist and member of the Mira Costa Symphony Orchestra, recently competed in the nationally acclaimed Spotlight Awards, sponsored by the Los Angeles Music Center. Over 2,300 talented student artists auditioned for this program in several categories, including voice, instrumental, art, and dance. 124 students advanced to the semifinals round, and then 16 were selected as finalists to perform in the awards show at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, hosted by Oscar-nominated actor John Lithgow. As a finalist, Erick earned the runner-up prize in the Classical Instrumental division that included a $4,000 scholarship award. Congratulations Erick for this distinguished achievement!
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Under the direction of Coach Richard Hernandez and Advisor Stefani Owen, the Mira Costa Winter Guard team won silver in Division Intermediate A at the Winter Guard Association of Southern California Championships in Huntington Beach on Saturday, April 12. The team placed second with a Twilight Zone-themed show and a score of 84.28. Their award-winning performance earned them a coveted invitation to the WGASC Championship Finals at UCI Bren Events Center on Sunday - a first for Mira Costa's team. Their final performance capped off an award-winning season and earned the team a 4th place overall win - beating out over 40 teams across Southern California. Congratulations to the team for their amazing achievement.
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Congratulations to the Mira Costa Competitive Concert Percussion Ensemble for their FIRST PLACE performance at the WGI (Winter Guard International) Western Percussion Championship in San Bernardino March 22 and 23. Saturday, the ensemble received a score of 87, which earned them 1st place in the scholastic concert "A" division. Sunday, the ensemble really turned it up during their performance by jumping up 3.5 points earning them not only another 1st place, but also a score of 90.5 becoming the first ever Mira Costa Band performance ensemble to break in to the 90's!
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For the second year in a row, Mira Costa’s Drama Department has won the Sweepstakes Award at the Fullerton College High School Theatre Festival. Approximately 60 Southern California high schools participated. The top award is presented to the school with the most overall points. In addition, Mira Costa took top honors in Musical Theater — which featured 49 entries — with a first-place win for a 10-minute scene from “Peter Pan,” their upcoming spring musical. Peter Pan opens April 25. Click headline for more!
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Costa’s Drama Department received 19 nominations and brought home five awards at the John Raitt Awards for Youth (JRAY) 5th annual awards show, presented by the Fullerton Civic Light Opera at the Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton on Sunday, April 28. Click here for a complete list of honorees.
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Last weekend, the Costa Model UN team dominated conferences on both coasts. In New York City, 40 delegates competed in the National High School Model UN conference; Mira Costa won top honors with the Award of Distinction. Out west, another team of 40 delegates took part in Berkeley Model United Nations 61st annual conference. Costa was named a Best School Delegation in addition to numerous other awards and commendations. Way to go, Costa MUN!
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Costa's Drama Department, under the direction of drama director/teacher Carol J. Mathews, took top honors at the Fullerton College High School Theatre Festival March 15 and 16, winning the Sweepstakes Award for best school. Approximately 65 schools and 2,000 students participated in this year's festival.
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Students won this prestigious award for designing, fabricating and programming "Eris," a robot which played a Frisbee and climbing game, "Ultimate Ascent," at the FIRST Central Valley Robotics Competition March 1, 2 & 3. Seven Mira Costa students participated on this award-winning team: Chris Golden, Milo Davis, Ryan Gulland, Erin Sagisi, Lauren Gulland, Brian Anschel and Arani Bhattacharyay.
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Fifteen Mustangs competed in the Science Olympiad during mid-winter break and came home with medals in six events: Chemistry Lab, Designer Genes, Disease Detectives, Fermi Questions, Forensics and Thermodynamics. Good luck to the team as they compete in State Finals on April 6!
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In December, a select group of Mira Costa students showed off its talents on a world stage. Debating in the actual United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) building, 15 Mira Costa Model United Nations delegates represented their school at Paris Model United Nations (PAMUN) 2012, an international conference put on from Dec. 7-9 by the American School of Paris. (click headline for complete story)
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