{"id":5192,"date":"2026-04-10T15:18:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T19:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/owltopia\/?p=5192"},"modified":"2026-04-14T11:19:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T15:19:58","slug":"grad-student-ray-kaneko-from-japan-fulfills-his-dream-as-part-of-temples-winning-jazz-band","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/owltopia\/2026\/04\/10\/grad-student-ray-kaneko-from-japan-fulfills-his-dream-as-part-of-temples-winning-jazz-band\/","title":{"rendered":"Grad Student\u00a0Ray\u00a0Kaneko\u00a0from Japan Fulfills his Dream as Part of Temple\u2019s Winning Jazz Band\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ray Kaneko, a current jazz performance graduate student in Boyer College, recalls watching Temple\u2019s Jazz Band win a past National Collegiate Jazz Competition from his TV in Tokyo, Japan before he came to Temple. Now, Kaneko is a saxophone player in the same winning band.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On January 18, 2026, the team won the competition again competing against the country\u2019s nine other top collegiate jazz bands, and Kaneko was honored as an Outstanding Alto Saxophone player. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Kaneko, now 25, it all began in January 2022, when he enrolled at Temple and was accepted into the Conditional Admission (Bridge) Program<\/a> through Temple\u2019s Center for American Language and Culture.<\/a>   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo many people think New York is the best city for jazz music. But I feel like New York is very cool, but more international, right? In Philly, it’s more like U.S. jazz and culture.”<\/p>– Ray Kaneko<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Conditional Admissions Program, also called CAP, is for students who meet Temple\u2019s academic requirements but need to work on their English skills. At the same time, students receive preparation for a successful transition to university life. Before Kaneko studied in the CAP Program, the last time he studied English was in middle school.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the program, he began his academic studies and improved his English at the same time. He also received intensive advising and learned about university life and culture, professors\u2019 expectations, how to apply the APA and MLA writing styles commonly used by U.S. universities and he learned how to use university resources.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Within a year, in January 2023, Kaneko officially matriculated to his degree classes at Temple. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRarely seen on campus without his saxophone case and a smile, Ray’s discipline and positive presence are a gift to our university. He devotes significant time to his craft through rehearsals and performances, all while balancing a strong commitment to his academic work. I’m incredibly happy for him. He works exceptionally hard and deserves to be celebrated for the level of talent and commitment that he puts forth in everything he does,\u201d said Emily Clymer, an ESL specialist and CAP advisor at the Center for American Language and Culture who worked closely with Kaneko when he was in the program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Choosing<\/strong> <\/strong>Temple<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is Temple through and through\u2014first as a CAP student, then as an undergraduate majoring in jazz performance at the Boyer College of Music, from which he already graduated. Now, he is continuing his jazz performance studies as a graduate student at Boyer.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His journey toward Temple began in 2016 when Kaneko attended the Seiko Jazz Camp in Japan. There, he met and was recommended by Professor Tim Green to attend the Port Townsend Jazz Camp in Seattle. Tim Green currently teaches at the Peabody Institute. At age 17, Kaneko travelled to the U.S. to attend the jazz camp in Seattle. There he met Temple\u2019s Director of Jazz Studies and acclaimed trumpeter, Terrell Stafford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love Professor Terrell. He teaches very well and everyone in the band plays at a super high level,\u201d said Kaneko. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, he has been playing with Temple\u2019s jazz band for three years. In 2024, the band had a Midwest tour with stops at different universities and music festivals. Over spring break in 2025, the band went on a five-day tour in Japan. Professor Stafford led both tours.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Temple University\u2019s Jazz Band earned first place in a national jazz competition, outperforming nine of the top collegiate jazz bands in the country.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After his time at Temple, Kaneko plans to stay in Philadelphia and continue his jazz career.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo many people think New York is the best city for jazz music. But I feel like New York is very cool, but more international, right? In Philly, it’s more like U.S. jazz and culture,” said Kaneko. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel like people are growing here. I want to also grow with them,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Iona\u00a0Clark\u00a0(KLN ’26), Journalism Major<\/em>
Header image: Ray Kaneko<\/em>
Photos courtesy of Ray Kaneko<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ray Kaneko, a current jazz performance graduate student in Boyer College, recalls watching Temple\u2019s Jazz Band win a past National Collegiate Jazz Competition from his TV in Tokyo, Japan before he…<\/p>\n

Continue ReadingGrad Student\u00a0Ray\u00a0Kaneko\u00a0from Japan Fulfills his Dream as Part of Temple\u2019s Winning Jazz Band\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":37340,"featured_media":5305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,61],"tags":[232,231,76,237,54,233,236,13],"class_list":["post-5192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-student","tag-boyer-college","tag-conditional-admission","tag-global-engagement","tag-graduate-program","tag-international-students","tag-jazz","tag-ray-kaneko","tag-tcalc","ratio-16-9","entry"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/owltopia\/files\/2026\/04\/IMG_4828-600x400.jpeg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/owltopia\/files\/2026\/04\/IMG_4828-600x539.jpeg","author_info":{"display_name":"Vaishnavi Ramchandran","author_link":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/owltopia\/author\/tuo88696\/"},"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/owltopia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/owltopia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/owltopia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/owltopia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37340"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/owltopia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5192"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/owltopia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5306,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/owltopia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5192\/revisions\/5306"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/owltopia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/owltopia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/owltopia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/owltopia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}