NOCCA's most famous alumni

Zoom in: NOCCA was founded in 1973, and doors opened a year later.

• Back then, the school only offered half-day programming for students interested in music, theater or the visual arts.
• That curriculum has expanded over the years to include media arts, writing, musical theater, culinary arts and production design, as well as a full-day school.

Few New Orleans schools can boast as notable a list of alumni. They include:

🎶 Musicians and singers like:

• Jon Batiste
• Trombone Shorty
• Terence Blanchard
• Jeanne-Michelé Charbonnet
• And pretty much everyone whose last name is Marsalis (including Branford, Delfeayo, Wynton and Jason).

🎭 Actors like:

• Wendell Pierce
• Anthony Mackie
• Harry Connick, Jr.
• Mary Catherine Garrison

🎨 And visual artists like:

• Wanda Boudreaux
• Brandan "B-Mike" Odums
• Terrance Osborne

💭 My thought bubble: I didn't attend NOCCA, but I still felt like my high school years were richer for it because I got to see so many friends perform in the campus' gorgeous performance spaces.

Go deeper: More NOCCA alumni