For one City College student, a change of fate came in middle school.

When he was young, Scott Lillard never thought he would become a professional trumpet player. In junior high, he enrolled in an art class when he thought his talents lied in drawing, but was accidentally placed in an instrument class. He applied what he learned by using his father’s keyboard to play the melodies from his favorite video games and movies.

At 10, he taught himself to play the harmonica, but the first instrument he learned to play seriously was the trumpet.

Since then, Lillard’s proved himself as a natural musician. He can skillfully play almost any instrument except for drums. Now 30, he has played in City College’s Lunch Break Big Band for 10 years as a professional trumpet player and composer. His forte is in jazz and orchestra.

“I think [jazz] is one of the most organically alive genres of music,” Lillard said. “It combines so many things that it goes where I want to go. There aren’t very many genres that really do that so freely as jazz.”

Lillard is a Mexican-American born to an impoverished family in Mission Viejo, Calif. His parents had to sacrifice a lot for him to become an artist, but they invariably supported him.

“It was always really tough,” Lillard said. “Sometimes, having a roof over our heads meant that we had to move in with … relatives who didn’t necessarily want us there.”

A number of family deaths punctuated Lillard’s childhood. Ultimately, their passing worked as a inspiration for his compositions.

“I’ve always taken death very seriously,” Lillard said. “I’ve always turned it into something creative. I don’t speak very well in person. I would always have so much emotion building up and no way to express it, so it’s always turned into a story or a drawing or a song.”

Lillard was accepted to Stanford University and University of California San Diego in high school, but his acceptance was revoked after his 10 English credits were lost because of a computer error. Consequently, he couldn’t graduate from high school.

He doesn’t hold a grudge against his high school’s mistakes, because he discovered a family in the Lunch Break Big Band at City College.

“The vicissitude that he has throughout his compositions harmonically, melodically and rhythmically are very unique,” said Gerald Smith, saxophonist of the Lunch Break band. “We’re definitely glad to have him in our band. He’s worked hard and he’s got great work ethic.”

James Mooy, conductor of the Lunch Break band, said Lillard’s compositions are often favorite pieces of the audience during concerts.

He has been commissioned to write jazz, orchestra and brass quintet pieces for both small and large groups. He wrote three pieces for Lunch Break band and gained support from band members. One of them, “Northern Lights,” is also Lillard’s favorite piece.

“I think my music does a good job of painting a picture of an emotion or a scene or an event that, I think, when people listen to my music and close their eyes, they can really picture the same things as I was picturing when I was writing,” he said.

He also writes pop and rock songs for himself and his band Paper Blue, which he formed with his friends. The band plans to release an album titled “Lost and Found” by the end of the summer.

Coming to City College, Lillard double-majored in music composition and literature but later decided he did not need a degree. He now considers himself a professional rather than a student.

“[Music] is something that I pour my heart into every single day,” Lillard said. “There isn’t a real substitute for that, I could be making more money doing something else, but I don’t think I would want to.”