Alumni Spotlight: Josh Valdez ('15)
In October 2024, SCC alumnus Josh Valdez ('15) won his first Gregory Award for Outstanding Sound Design for his work on June is the First Fall with Seattle’s Yun Theatre. This award honors individuals in the Puget Sound performing arts community, and Valdez’s win underscores years of innovation in sound design and dedication to productions written by and for Asian American and BIPOC communities.
A first-generation college student, Valdez initially felt uncertain about his future when he was not accepted into any of the universities and music programs he applied to. However, with the support of a college access coach, he discovered his musical and academic path at Seattle Central. This pivotal experience set him on a successful journey as a professional drummer, theater sound designer, and education advocate. Today, when Valdez isn’t jamming or working on set, he helps students who are in the same position he once was, serving as an Outreach Specialist with the Seattle Promise program.
Valdez first fell in love with music as a kid growing up in the Othello Park neighborhood of South Seattle. While drums have always been his favorite, Valdez also remembers putting countless hours into the guitar and to many people’s surprise, even the clarinet. “[The clarinet] helped me a lot because in middle school and high school, I learned how to sight read music,” referring to his ability to read and perform a piece of music for the first time without prior preparation.
For Valdez, his dreams of college were primarily motivated by the prospect of studying music in a formal setting—and the career opportunities a music degree might open up. “I wanted to learn as much about music as I could, because at my high school, I only had concert band and that was it. Back then, all I had to do was try to memorize the piece, but not so much get to know my instrument,” he recalled.
Valdez hadn’t considered two-year colleges until the coach at College Possible (formerly College Access Now) recommended Seattle Central. The prospect of saving money, staying close to home, and transferring to a four-year college quickly appealed to him.
Every time it hit 4:30, we went to go to Broadway Performance Hall, we set up those drums, and then we started jamming.
“My goal when I first came to Seattle Central was to absorb as much as I could for music,” he explained. “I did have my own community too—I had several friends that had attended Seattle Central, which made it feel like home.”
Valdez credits much of his early growth as a music student to influential music faculty members like Brian Kirk. “I learned a lot about music, learned a lot about how to go about the music industry... how to write a song, all of these things that I probably would not have known if I had not attended here,” Valdez said.
Valdez’s time in Kirk’s jazz ensemble, which he took for three consecutive quarters, stands out as a highlight of his time at Central. “Every time it hit 4:30, we went to go to Broadway Performance Hall, we set up those drums, and then we started jamming.”
But Valdez’s experience at Seattle Central wasn’t limited to music. Professor Kirk encouraged practicality in the professional pursuit of music, and suggested Valdez devise a “backup plan.” Valdez decided to enroll in psychology classes too—another longtime interest of his that directed his path after Central.
After earning his associate degree, Valdez successfully transferred to the University of Washington, where he pushed himself academically and creatively by majoring in psychology and earning minors in both music and Digital Arts & Experimental Media (DXARTS), a creative practice-based research program where Valdez learned to compose music with computer code.
DXARTS aims to empower artists who explore and redefine their evolving relationships with technology. The program challenges trends, fosters innovation, embraces diversity, and engages critically with traditional art forms through interdisciplinary experimentation, an approach that opened a new world for Valdez.
Throughout his time at UW, Valdez continued to play music—and even played in school theater productions, tapping into his interdisciplinary training. During his senior year, Valdez was asked to work on sound design with local professional productions.
It wasn’t until I joined the community scene [in Seattle] that I saw Asian plays, plays that were done by Black and brown folks ... and I get to be part of the crew and take up that space.
“I was still kind of figuring it out—it was only if I had a gig, and I wanted to see if I could find something more consistent,” he said. But then, a friend of his who worked at College Possible—the same program who helped Valdez get to Seattle Central—reached out looking for college access coaches.
At College Possible, Valdez found a new passion advocating for students and helping them make informed decisions about education—just like the one that led him to Seattle Central. His role inspired Valdez to apply for a master’s degree in education at UW, which he started in 2021.
While juggling his role with College Possible, and later, graduate school, Valdez found ways to stay involved with music and theater, often rehearsing late into the evening. Even though it was difficult to balance late night rehearsals with early mornings at work, Valdez remained motivated by telling diverse stories through community theater.
“I used to think of theater as predominantly white, like Shakespeare and the classics,” he said. “It wasn’t until I joined the community scene [in Seattle] that I saw Asian plays, plays that were done by Black and brown folks ... and I get to be part of the crew and take up that space.”
Growing up, the closest Valdez got to the stage was the pit orchestra. Now, each new production he worked on served as an intensive crash course in the inner mechanics of theater. One of the productions that stands out to him—and where he remembers learning the most—was Anansi and the Halfling, a play he stage-managed at Annex Theatre in 2019 that explores the life of a young, Black millennial through a variety of African storytelling forms.
“The cast and crew were incredible. It was a freshly written script, and they were predominantly Black and brown,” he said. “The director I worked with, Jay Santos, taught me so much as a stage manager too.” Through this experience, Valdez gained a better understanding of important theater operations, like how to write a rehearsal report and how to communicate with actors versus crew.
Even to this day, I still feel a bit of that imposter syndrome that tells me, ‘no way.’ But a lot of it also tells me, this is just the start.
Valdez’s team for Anansi even included a drummer who had worked on the Black Panther soundtrack. “We wanted African drums for this, so Jay had gotten in contact with a drummer who brought in all these drums to record at Annex. Then [this guy] just nonchalantly goes, ‘Oh, I just worked on the Black Panther soundtrack.’ And we were like, ‘shut up!’”
Today, Josh continues to contribute to Seattle’s vibrant theater scene, working with local companies like Annex Theatre and Pork Filled Productions. He’s also jamming outside the theater with his band, Yuelan. “It's like musical theater meets indie pop with dark lyrics,” Valdez said of his band, which is made up entirely of sound designers and composers in theater. Most recently, Yuelan played in a performance with the UW School of Drama Caucasian Chalk Circle.
Since 2023, Valdez has also worked for Seattle Promise, continuing to provide mentorship and guidance for the next generation—this time with the same institution that shepherded his own growth as a musician and mentor.
Valdez’s hard work, creativity, and commitment to the community culminated in his recent Gregory Award, which he explained is more of a celebration of the unique and diverse work of the local theater community rather than a cutthroat competition, and that he competed against several peers that he respects and looks up to.
“Honestly, it's crazy because it's probably the first award I've ever won... I always hear about people who win trophies for recitals and stuff, but I've never gotten anything.” Valdez shared. “Even to this day, I still feel a bit of that imposter syndrome that tells me, ‘no way.’ But a lot of it also tells me, this is just the start.”
