Dr. Carlos Hernandez is a case for keeping music education in public schools. As a drum major and through learning orchestral instruments, he developed a passion for both music and education that has guided his life. “I got to pretty much teach a class my senior year of high school,” he shares. “And then that set the tone for what happened in college. I knew I wanted to get into education. I wanted to conduct, even before. I couldn’t wait to get to college—I couldn’t wait to finish college—I was just so ready.” Since May of 2024, he has worked with Bay Philharmonic as artistic administrator and youth orchestra music director and conductor, taking on the latter roles from Judy Lam and Marcella Schantz. (According to BayPhil’s website, Lam and Schantz will continue with the organization and provide support.)
Dr. Hernandez teaches young people with a style that’s detail-oriented but also gentle and playful. Among his own mentors and teachers, he mentions Cathy Benedict, who taught him at Florida International University (and now works as a music education professor at Columbia). “From the beginning of my undergraduate studies with her, we spent a lot of time talking through things.” He laughs, and admits, “Or I should say, she spent a lot of time listening to me talk!”
Benedict challenged Hernandez to be aware of broader contexts of social-emotional development and social justice. “[I] was coming into the kind of educator that I actually wanted to be. And it opened me up to the different ways that this could be done,” he says.
Now Hernandez describes the atmosphere he tries to cultivate as chamber music. “It’s all a small group of people getting together and doing their thing, where everyone’s equal and everyone’s voice is heard…That’s my approach with people of all ages I get to work with.”
One interesting aspect of Bay Philharmonic is that often students of different levels will learn and play side by side, and student musicians will even perform alongside professionals. Hernandez explains, “The hope is that there’s a camaraderie that goes with playing with someone that’s older than you, more advanced than you, and allowing that to be motivating.”
In addition to their own season opener “Music for the People” on Saturday, Nov. 9, the Bay
Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (BPYO) will also perform at this Year’s Bay Philharmonic Holiday Spectacular on December 15 alongside the professional orchestra.
Hernandez knows that his students pursue music at different levels and for different reasons, so he tailors his approach rather than taking one authoritarian stance toward the whole group. “Something that we’ve been making part of our rehearsals is time to develop socially, so that we’re also nurturing our EQ [Emotional Intelligence] and not just our performance abilities on instruments.” The orchestra happens to include many homeschooled students. For them, the program is an especially meaningful chance to socialize with other kids of different ages and backgrounds in a shared music community. Hernandez says, “Getting to know each other…Social development is important to nurture. Especially when some folks are not in a school setting.”
For the future, Hernandez sees a Bay Philharmonic that expands its educational offerings (in addition to pro orchestra and youth programming) to include a “community chamber orchestra” which will create an outlet for amateur community musicians to participate and perform, which calls back to Bay Phil’s roots as a community orchestra.
He encourages those interested in learning more about Bay Philharmonic, or even participating in some capacity, to reach out. “The same way we are sharing our stories and our music, we would love to hear about everyone, their stories, and the music of their individual lives.”
BPYO Season Opener: Music for the People
Saturday, Nov. 9
3pm
Irvington Presbyterian Church
4181 Irvington Ave., Fremont
Free event
Bay Philharmonic Holiday Spectacular
Sunday, Dec. 15: 3pm
Chabot College Performing Arts Center
25555 Hesperian Blvd., Hayward
Tickets: $25 – $89
