Welcome!
Kellen Romano is a guitarist, singer, and teacher from Santa Barbara, California. He found his passion and love for music during high school and earned a Bachelor’s in Music with an emphasis in Commercial and Media Writing from California State University, Northridge in May, 2022. He is currently pursuing a Master’s in Music at California State University, Los Angeles in Recording and Production with an emphasis on commercial music arranging. He has studied vocal performance at Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) with Ken Ryals and is currently taking voice lessons with Chad Ruyle and Sharmin Manzarek. He also took guitar lessons with Sam Adams and Michael Frey from Jensen Guitar and Music Company.
Kellen has played 12 singer/songwriter nights at Soho and was an active participant in the SBCC music ensembles. He was a jazz guitarist in the Good Times Jazz Band from August 2017 to March 2020 and August 2022 to May 2023 and was the lead singer of the SBCC Eclectic Jazz Orchestra from January 2019 to December 2019 and the SBCC New World Jazz Ensemble from August 2022 to May 2023, and he also arranged four charts for the New World Jazz Ensemble to play. He also sang in the SBCC Quire of Voyces from August 2022 to May 2023.
Kellen has had the honor of twice participating in benefit concerts for the SBCC Music Department with Michael McDonald at the Lobero. In September 2020, he was chosen to participate in the Golden State Showcase virtual talent competition and later won Center Stage Singing Competitions’ inaugural online competition. In the spring of 2022, Kellen had the opportunity to participate in the California State University, Northridge Studio Ensemble as an arranger and wrote three original arrangements of pieces, including the main theme from the film “The American President” and the theme song to the TV sitcom “The Big Bang Theory.”
He has performed at “Noches de Ronda” as a mariachi singer during Fiesta week in Santa Barbara in 2022 and 2023, and he also sung in the Flor y Canto choir during Fiesta week in 2023.
Kellen received a scholarship from the Santa Barbara Music Club in 2020 to help fund his education, and he has also recorded a few demos in SBCC’s music labs and at The Nest by Chapters in Woodland Hills.
He is available to give music lessons in both guitar and voice. Contact him at kellenromanoguitarhero@gmail.com