Isaiah House Music Club members wait outside their New York hotel before their performance at Carnegie Hall -- 2,800 miles away from their homeless shelter in Santa Ana. They are, from second from left, Tiffany Zoller, Serena Escamilla and Jasmine Bush. (Yola Monakhov / For the Times)
Inside the hotel, Eric Crocitto, assistant director of the North Park Middle School band, gives last minute instructions to club member Brandon Zoller. (Yola Monakhov / For the Times)
Back in California at Isaiah House, Jasmine Bush, a 12-year-old saxophonist, used to keep to herself and say little to others. But during the last two years, she learned to play the instrument and her self-confidence blossomed. (Allen J. Schaben / LAT)
Isaiah House resident Kyomi Selva, 2, watches and listens to trumpeter Jesse Escamilla, 14, as student-tutor Edgar Torres, 15, teaches him at the homeless shelter. (Allen J. Schaben / LAT)
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Student Tiffany Zoller,11, left, and tutor Inez Franco, 13, practice in a room at the shelter with other music club members. (Allen J. Schaben / LAT)
Homeless teen Jesse Escamilla, 14, escapes for a moment from the uncertainty of his family situation at the bustling homeless shelter and into the solitude of his music at the Catholic Worker shelter in Santa Ana. (Allen J. Schaben / LAT)
Serena Escamilla, 11, laughs with her tutor, North Park Middle School student Beatriz Nercado, 12, as she practices the flute at the shelter in Santa Ana. (Allen J. Schaben / LAT)
Clarinetist Tiffany Zoller, 11, spreads a blanket over a wooden bench where she, her brother and mother sleep each night. (Allen J. Schaben / LAT)
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From left: Salice Escamilla, 7, flutist Serena Escamilla, Matthew Escamilla, 10, trumpeter Brandon Zoller, clarinetist Anthony Partee, 10, and Lorenzo Mauga, 8, play video games before bedtime, next to dozens of other children and their mothers. (Allen J. Schaben / LAT)
