Tom Terrell, CIC Class of 2004, is a professional musician and educator. He holds a B.A. in Trumpet Performance from the Herb Alpert School of Music at UCLA. Beginning the fall of 2021, Tom returns to his alma mater as the orchestra director at Long Beach Poly High School.
“CIC’s most powerful attribute was the diversity of its student body. All of my classrooms were expansively colorful and expressively rich in both culture and ideas. Exposure with such diversity fed my curiosities and left an imprint on my life, eventually following me on my travels and performances in 46 countries. Also, the program’s balance between academic rigor and liberating self-exploration seemed immaculately tailored for me. My life would have undoubtably turned out much different if I were a student in any other pathway, and to this day I champion the program that I refer to as “for the people, by the people”.”