{"id":19787,"date":"2020-09-16T11:28:16","date_gmt":"2020-09-16T18:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=30000014928"},"modified":"2020-09-16T11:28:16","modified_gmt":"2020-09-16T18:28:16","slug":"andy-osman-poly-high-school-music-director-obit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/news\/andy-osman-poly-high-school-music-director-obit","title":{"rendered":"\u2018He completely changed my life\u2019: Beloved Poly music director Andy Osman dies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Longtime Poly High School music director and orchestra leader Andy Osman died on Sept. 4, days before his 60th birthday.<\/p>\n

Osman\u2019s passing came 16 months after a diagnosis of advanced pancreatic cancer, a period of time where the Long Beach community seized the opportunity to honor him. Among the celebrations of Osman\u2019s life and contributions was a well-attended renaming ceremony for the over 100-year-old Poly auditorium, which was renamed the Andrew Osman Performing Arts Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were really grateful that he had basically a living wake,\u201d said Brian Dokko, Poly\u2019s Director of Choral Activities for the last 18 years. \u201cInstead of being celebrated after he moved on, he got everything he deserved before he left. There\u2019s a lot of peace for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Andy<\/a>
Andy Osman. Courtesy Brian Dokko.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In his more than three decades of service, Osman taught thousands of Poly students and helped build the Jackrabbits\u2019 music program into a nationally recognized powerhouse.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe completely changed my life and so, so many others,\u201d said former Poly musician Mandy Wainfan. \u201cNo words can do it justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Osman was hired in 1983 to take over what was, at the time, a historic but flagging music program with just a few classes offered. As a UCLA music education student, Osman was looking for a high school program he could mold. An interview with future LBUSD superintendent Carl Cohn changed everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarl introduced himself and said, and this is a quote, \u2018The music department at Poly is dismal,\u2019\u201d said Osman with a laugh in an interview for the book The History of Long Beach Poly.<\/p>\n

Over the next 36 years, Osman and fellow teachers Chris Stevens, Dokko, Julia Gustafson and others built the program into a rare thing, restoring the luster of the city\u2019s oldest continuously operating arts program. (The Poly music program predates even the city\u2019s famed municipal band by more than a decade).<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Poly auditorium was renamed the Andrew Osman Performing Arts Center. Courtesy Osman’s Facebook page..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Over the last two decades, Poly won six Grammy awards for being among the nation\u2019s best high school music programs, including a pair of Signature Gold Grammys, both of which came with actual trophies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a trophy guy,\u201d said Osman. \u201cBut the Grammys are pretty cool. You feel really good about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Osman also won several awards himself, although he always downplayed them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really don\u2019t like using awards or trophies as a measure of success,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about the performance, about the people in the audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

That humility was genuine, and infused everything Osman did.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is the reason why the program is what it is,\u201d said Dokko. \u201cHe took a couple of choirs and bands to a 27-course program. That was his vision and his push to expand. When we raised the money to rename the auditorium, he wanted us to donate it to pay for instruments and private lessons for students. He always said, \u2018The only thing that matters is the kids.\u2019 At every turn he reminded us of what\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n

He and Stevens\u2019 jazz program also created a powerhouse that\u2019s unique, nationally, not just for its quality but for its diversity. The success of the program had not only garnered national attention in terms of awards but in terms of recognition from prominent alums. Osman said a highlight for him was famed Poly graduate Marilyn Horne coming back to do a fundraising concert in 1989.<\/p>\n

\"Andy<\/a>
Andy Osman speaks at Poly High School. Courtesy Brian Dokko.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Stevens was hired in 1996, he said Osman already had a sense of how big the commitment needed to be to continue to grow Poly\u2019s program.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had been at Poly for twelve years at that point and he said, \u2018This job is not a stepping stone to me,\u2019\u201d said Stevens. \u201cStraight up. He\u2019s already put in place the foundation of the program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Osman said the diversity and community support behind Poly made it the perfect place.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe diversity of this place, the openness, the tolerance, that makes it special,\u201d he said. \u201cPart of the power of the school is that it\u2019s okay to be an academic geek on this campus, it\u2019s okay to be an athlete on this campus and it\u2019s okay to be a musician on this campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Osman is survived by his wife, Maureen Shea, and daughter, Erin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Longtime Poly High School music director and orchestra leader Andy Osman died on Sept. 4, days before his 60th birthday.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":237,"featured_media":71261,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2002],"tags":[982,118],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[22230],"class_list":["post-19787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-long-beach-poly","tag-obituary","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/237"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19787"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=19787"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=19787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}