Pac Ave Records, University of the Pacific’s student-run record label, released the fourth “Best of Pacific” compilation—an album produced entirely by students featuring Conservatory of Music ensemble performances.

“The goal of the compilation album is to highlight every different part of the Conservatory, and with this one, we managed to,” said Professor of Music Management and Music Industry Studies Joshua Smotherman. “You're going to get a little bit of everything that the Conservatory offers on Volume Four, which hasn't been the case for the previous volumes.”

“Best of Pacific Vol. 4” features performances by Pacific’s Jazz Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra and the University Orchestra.

Faculty, students and alumni can submit original compositions or recommend favorite performances for inclusion.

Pac Ave Records is a two-semester, immersive course offered through the Music Industry Studies and Music Management programs.  Students select the music and learn how to curate recordings and manage the mixing, licensing, distribution and marketing of the “Best of Pacific” album.

The hands-on course prepares students for music industry careers and empowers them to confidently interview for jobs having real-world experience releasing and marketing an album.

That experience, said Mariella Reis ’27, is something she’s taken advantage of during her time at Pac Ave Records.

“I gained a lot of hands-on experience, like managing social media pages, event planning and label communications,” Reis said. “All the skills I’ve learned from Pac Ave have been easily translated to new roles and internships.”

“The students that we had this semester did a really great job of running everything themselves and self-managing it,” Smotherman said. “We felt like it's the culmination of what we've been wanting to do for the past three releases, but this one really came together. We have some of the best performances of the year on this one.”

Each year, students negotiate agreements and sign new artists. They work with artists on song development, book studio recording sessions and manage the post-production process before releasing and marketing each project.

“There are no boundaries; you get what you put into it. We could reshape and redo whatever part of the label we wanted. Every class can make Pac Ave what they want it to be, which is really special,” Reis said.

Pacific Jazz Ensemble performs twice on the album. The first, “Isfahan,” written by Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington and featuring Aimee MacDonald on alto saxophone, and “Late!,” an energetic big band piece composed by Conservatory of Music student Bergen Finley ’26, who plays piano.

Also featured are two performances by the Pacific Percussion Ensemble with two staff compositions: “Earth Moves” by Associate Professor and Program Director of Music Composition Andrew Conklin and “Malletic Quartet” by Program Director of Ensembles Director of the Pacific Pep Band Jonathan Latta.

Listen to the "Best of Pacific" album.