MUSIC

San Jacinto College hosts free concerts in October! San Jacinto College (SJC) will host musical performances, as well as educational seminars during October that will showcase student, faculty, and other musicians. All events are free and open to the public, and will be staged at the Central and North campuses.

The Central Campus events will be held at the Dr. Monte Blue Music Building, 8060 Spencer Hwy., in Pasadena. The North Campus concert will be held at the Dr. Charles Grant Fine Arts Center, 5800 Uvalde Road in the North Channel area.

Thursday, Oct. 6, 7 p.m. – the Central Campus concert band, under the direction of SJC professor Dr. Karen Marston, will present a program for brass and percussion featuring diverse selections. In honor of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, the brass band will perform Eric Ewazen’s “Hymn for the Lost and Living,” which was written after the composer experienced first-hand the aftermath of the attacks in New York City.

Concerning the event, Ewazen wrote: “On September 11, 2001, I was teaching my music theory class at the Juilliard School, when we were notified of the catastrophe that was occurring several miles south of us. During the next several days, our great city became a landscape of empty streets and impromptu, heartbreaking memorials mourning our lost citizens. I saw people holding candles, singing songs, and gathering in front of those memorials, paying tribute to the lost. ‘ Hymn for the Lost and the Living’ is intended to be a memorial for those lost souls, gone from this life, but who are forever treasured in our memories.”

The selection will feature several SJC student soloists, including Emma Simmons, piano; Curtis Gunn; trumpet; and Jordan Hokanen, trombone.

Also on the program is the four-movement work “A Russian Circus” by Anthony DiLorenzo, which (sometimes comically) depicts the eclectic and offbeat pageantry of an old-fashioned circus road show. The movements are “Tent of Terror,” “Nikolai the Magnificent,” “The Clown” (featuring Riaz Mohammed, French horn), and “Rings of Fire.” The impressionistic work “Trois Beaux Oiseaux Pasadis” by Maurice Ravel (arranged by Dr. Marston), and the raucous “Danse Bacchanale” (arranged by Angus Armstrong) from Camille Saint-Saens' opera “Samson and Delilah” will round out the program.

Thursday, Oct. 13, 7 p.m. – the Central Campus choirs will present an evening of choral music at the annual fall choral concert. The chorale, and the auditioned mixed choir will be featured, along with debut performances by the recently formed men’s and women’s chorus ensembles. Works to be performed include selections by Handel, Poulenc, Grieg, Randall Thompson, Stephen Paulus, and Gwyneth Walker, as well as folk songs and traditional spirituals.

Friday, Oct. 21, 12 p.m.– The Houston Bluegrass Trio, featuring a banjo, guitar and bass, will perform a wide range of bluegrass selections at the North Campus. “I do not know what the selections are because the group usually announces them from the stage as they go,” commented choral professor Dr. Edgar Moore, who is coordinating the event. “They also interact with the audience in a question and answer format near the end of the concert, and sometimes before or after a particular number.”

Wednesday, Oct. 26, and Thursday, Oct. 27 – The renowned deVah String Quartet will provide teaching and entertainment. The deVah group will host a master class on Oct. 26 at 3 p.m., and a live concert on Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. The master class is open to all Central Campus students, as well as high school and middle school students from the area. The Oct. 27 concert will feature the Shostakovich “String Quartet No. 3,” and a premiere performance of SJC professor Joseph Schenck’s “String Quartet No. 2”. The program will also include original interpretations of rock and roll selections.

The deVah String Quartet from Toronto takes an adventurous and playful approach to their performances of classical and contemporary music. Violinists Emily Hau and Sharon Lee, Violist Moira Burke, and Cellist Liza McLellan share a singular artistic vision: to bring great music to diverse audiences via innovative programming. A deVah concert may feature Mozart and Gershwin rubbing shoulders with John Adams and Björk. The deVah members all hold principal positions with major Canadian ensembles, and have performed with such notables as Josh Groban, the Canadian Tenors, Sarah McLachlan, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Peter Gabriel, Kanye West, and the Beach Boys. Through collaborations with multi-genre artists the quartet strives to build new audiences for the classical string quartet.

San Jacinto College offers a wide range of music courses and degree plans at all three campuses. Also, private music lessons are available at all three campuses for enrolled students, and for people who do not attend the College.

Pictured:  San Jacinto College music professor Joseph Schenck (shown in photo) puts finishing touches on his composition “String Quartet No. 2,” which will be performed at the Oct. 27 concert at the Central Campus. Photo credit: Rob Vanya, San Jacinto College marketing department.