Alumni Feature: Khaled Jean

Hi! My name is Emilia and I am a voice teacher and columnist here at Great Neck Music Conservatory.

This week, GNMC welcomed back a very special guest. Khaled Jean walked through our front door and what happened next looked much like a greatly anticipated family reunion.   I had a chance to sit down with Khalead and learn about the many ways in which he continues to make our school proud. When Khaled first began taking lessons at Great Neck, he studied piano but upon entering High School, he had to pick a band instrument and immediately fell in love with the Saxophone. At this point, he began taking Classical Saxophone lessons while continuing his piano studies. Khaled received perfect scores in the NYSSMA competition and was featured on Great Neck Music Conservatory High Honors concert at Carnegie Hall. When the time came to apply to college, Khaled knew he wanted to pursue the Saxophone.

He spoke in depth to me about his relationship with GNMC and his special bond with our directors Pippa and Vadim who supported him the whole way and even accompanied him to college auditions.   After auditioning at Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, he was accepted to study with the well renowned Dr. Robert Young. During this time, he discovered a passion for audio engineering and graduated this year with a degree in Business of Music with a Concentration in Classical Saxophone. Khaled is now focusing on audio engineering and record production and helping young students who have to make recordings for applications and other purposes. We are excited to announce that he will return during the year to help our students with their application recordings.

Check out this video of Khaled performing at his senior recital at the Crane School of Music!