Today we’d like to introduce you to Trazanna Moreno.
Hi Trazanna, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My husband, Vince, and I, have a 17 year-old daughter named Evelyn. When Evelyn was 7, a friend took her along to a trial drum lesson at Guitar Center. The friend’s mom recorded a video of Evelyn drumming and sent it to us. We thought it was pretty clear she had natural rhythm, so we asked Evelyn if she wanted to take lessons. She enthusiastically said yes.
We initially enrolled her at a local conservatory for a time, but the drum teacher there had a schedule change that we couldn’t accommodate, so we had to find a new school. We drove by School of Rock Katy after dinner one night, and decided to enroll her in a summer camp there.
The five-day camp ended with a Friday performance, where all the beginner students put on a show. Evelyn raised her sticks above her head, and counted off “1-2-3-4!” to start the song. We were blown away and she hadn’t even played a note yet.
By the end of the show, we knew School of Rock was the place for her and enrolled her in lessons. She was 8 years old. During her time at School of Rock, Evelyn took drum lessons, bass guitar, and vocal lessons. She auditioned for and eventually became captain of the school’s House Band, the best of the best students.
When Evelyn was in House Band, my husband, Vince, a broadcast TV engineer by trade, first volunteered to be the band’s audio engineer. Eventually, School of Rock Katy hired him part-time. Vince had also been taking adult drum lessons at the school (inspired by my daughter). He got so good so fast, that he was invited to manage the adult band program and became a group performance instructor.
So now you have my husband working at School of Rock Katy part-time for fun, and my daughter in the House Band. Evelyn got to travel to Milwuakee for a music festival and to cities in Texas to tour with the band. She made lifelong friends, and found her community: this group of musicians and music lovers with whom she bonded. School of Rock became her second home. It is wonderful to see your child finding their place in the world and being accepted for who they are.
School of Rock likes to say we teach kids how to “rock on stage and in life.”
Three years ago, Evelyn started her own all-female teen rock band called Garbage Girlfriend. All of the band members are current School of Rock students. Fast-forward to today and her band has played packed shows to hundreds of people at Warehouse Live Midtown in Houston and regularly plays paid shows at venues through the city. The band recorded their debut EP with a Grammy-award winning producer from Nashville, and their first single, “Lies,” will be released on streaming platforms on September 12, with the related music video debuting on September 11. On release day, they are opening for national touring artist, “Liliac,” at Warehouse Live… the only local band chosen to provide opening support.
So does School of Rock teach kids how to “rock on stage and in life?” Absolutely.
School of Rock has been transformative to my daughter and helped make her the person she is: a leader who is confident, strong, and able to navigate conflict and manage difficulty. Evelyn is determined, knows how to collaborate with others and manage a team. She can problem-solve. She understands the commitment and what it means when people rely on you. She learned so much more than music at School of Rock. What a gift. And my husband and I knew we wanted to share that gift with other families.
We discussed eventually opening a School of Rock franchise when Vince retired, and reached out to the corporate team to get more information about three years ago. We said we were interested in nearby Fulshear as a location. We were told that Houston and its suburbs were mostly built out with schools and that Fulshear wasn’t ready for its own school yet, based on population and its proximity to Katy. We bided our time and even discussed potentially moving to a city that had an opening for a franchise in the future.
A couple of years later, my husband was presented with an early retirement package after 33 years at his broadcast engineering job. Disappointed at first, we then seized the opportunity and reached out to School of Rock corporate again. The timing was perfect and they said they thought Fulshear was ready. That was August of 2024.
We have been working with corporate over the last year. We secured our location in Fulshear. We finalized our funding and construction on the interior of the building starts this month!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road has been a little difficult, but only because the entire process is slow. With the changes in the economy, making sure that we had the right location at the right cost was essential. We also took a little longer to find the right general contractor whom we thought could best bring our vision to life. The local community has already embraced us. We joined the local chambers of commerce and through them have had so many opportunities to connect with people through events; it’s been great.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
In addition to being the co-owner of School of Rock Fulshear, I am the Senior Vice President for Marketing, Communications, and Technology at the Houston Zoo. People always ask me if I get to work with the animals: not directly. I get to help connect people with animals and inspire action to save wildlife. I get to tell the animals’ stories and get people excited about visiting the Houston Zoo. I will work on School of Rock in the background, mostly. My husband, Vince, will be highly visible at the school and is the General Manager. He was a broadcast engineer at KPRC TV in Houston for 33 years. He is bring his deep understanding of sound technology and his deep passion for music to the school. It’s exciting!
What makes you happy?
My daughter makes me happy. She blows me away every time I see her take the stage with Garbage Girlfriend. But it is not just the performance aspect. When I see her managing the band and leading rehearsals, I am in awe of her maturity and commitment to her craft. I will also be really, really happy when the school opens and my husband gets to live phase two of his career. Getting to run his own business will be so fulfilling and he deserves every success. I will be so happy for him (and all of us) when the doors finally open in December.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.schoolofrock.com/locations/fulshear
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/schoolofrockfulshear/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565738683662
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC36viq8Vuz8L_rq-M5zzVcQ
