Monterey Jazz Festival’s Next Generation Orchestra alumni wins Academy Award for Short Film Documentary

MONTEREY, Calif. (KION-TV)- The 96th Academy Awards were held in Los Angeles on Sunday night and one of the winners has ties to the Central Coast.

Kris Bowers was a co-director and produced the film "The Last Repair Shop,". Bowers won the Academy Award for the Short Film Documentary.

Bowers is an alumni of the Monterey Jazz Festival's Next Generation Jazz Orchestra. Bowers performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival multiple times when he was a student at  Los Angeles County High School for the Arts 

According to the Monterey Jazz Festival also said Kris commissioned a piece for the Jazz Festival in 2022.

In a 2022 interview, Bowers said he had plans to get married in Monterey but the COVID-19 pandemic took place.