Valencia College music students are making an impact on the music industry even before graduation from opening instrument repair businesses to touring the world with the United States Air Force bands.
Valencia College reached an enrollment record of 49,204 students in Fall 2024, making it the second-largest public community college in the state of Florida. Its East Campus is home to the Valencia College School of Arts, Entertainment, and Design (SAE) and offers a variety of A.A. and A.S. programs in fields such as music, visual arts, film, and theatre.
“[Valencia] has helped me connect with the right people,” said Gabbie Duarte, 21, a Music Performance major and owner of Cats Strum Guitars, a guitar repair and modification business based in Winter Park.
“I started [repairing] my friends’ guitars and friends of friends, and then at that point I was just like, ‘Well, maybe I should start running my own shop and advertising myself,’” Duarte said. She is currently working on custom paint jobs for two guitars for a client.
In nearby Orlando, Beau Hyde, 26, a Music Production major, has been creating music and performing with their new band, Beau and the New Friends.
“In taking production, music theory, and composition classes, I end up feeling inspired by the work and excited to apply the new skills I’m learning to my craft,” Hyde said.
Hyde began the Music Production program in Spring 2025 and noted “The staff seems generally very eager to help… I have yet to meet one apathetic professor.”
All the way at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, Gabriel Ottomanelli, 25, a Valencia SAE alumnus, works as an audio engineer for the Band of the West.
This regional band tours throughout the southern United States, South America, and U.S. territories. “I just got back last week from a concert band tour,” he said. “We were on the road for five days, finishing with a big gig in Austin, Texas.”
In addition to serving in the Air Force, Ottomanelli is involved in several bands and works as a freelance music producer. “If it’s something that is going to sharpen my skills and look good that an Air Force person worked on, the band will often cover the cost of me taking the time out to freelance,” Ottomanelli said.
“I found out about the Music Production program at Valencia and I transferred right away . . . I had a really great experience,” Ottomanelli, who graduated in 2023 with an A.S in Music Production and an A.S in Sound Production, said. “Just about any course that was offered in the music production department, I took,” he added.
Valencia’s Music and Music Production programs are built on a foundation of music theory courses, including Music Theory and Sight Singing and Ear Training. From there, students move on to more specialized courses, such as Sound Recording and Music Production as was the case for Ottomanelli.
“That class (Music Production) was the most rewarding to me,” Ottomanelli said.
Joe McBride, Senior Instructional Assistant in the Sound Production Technology program, says the program’s small class sizes foster hands-on, personalized learning, a key ingredient in student success.
“I like to inspire people,” McBride said. “And I like to see people do something with their lives.”
