Student Musicians to Shine in November
Westmont student musicians and composers show off their talents at six free concerts this month. For more information, please contact the music department at (805) 565-6040.
The Composer’s Concert, highlighting original works by Westmont student composers and performed by students and the composers, is Friday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m. in Deane Chapel on Westmont’s lower campus.
The Veteran’s Day Concert, featuring inspirational patriotic music, is Saturday, Nov. 12, at 2 p.m. in the Santa Barbara Veteran’s Memorial Building, 112 West Cabrillo Blvd. This event is presented by the Pierre Claeyssens Veterans Foundation.
The Vocal Chamber Concert will feature the Westmont Chamber Singers, a select ensemble drawn from the Westmont College Choir, on Sunday, Nov. 13, at 4 p.m. in Deane Chapel. The chamber singers will perform the sacred classics “Adoramus te” and “Cantate Domino” by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) and contemporary sacred and secular selections, including “Vidi aquam” by Iain Quinn and “The Tree of Song” by Stephen Chatman. The concert will include the Kenyan folk song “Hombe”arranged by Laz Ekwueme and the Beatles “And I Love Her” arranged by Bob Chilcott, and Christmas songs “Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head” arranged by Arthur Warrell, and “Gaudete” by Steven Sametz. Grey Brothers, professor of music, conducts the chamber singers, which include Laura Coors, Bethany Le, Michelle Vera, Serena Lee, Chelsie Sen, Jon Lindsley, Jason Tong, Alex Dill and Sean McElrath.
The Jazz Concert, under the direction of John Douglas, is Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 8 p.m. in Deane Chapel. The concert features vocal selections “Moon River,” “La Vie En Rose,” “Old Devil Moon,” “Them There Eyes,” “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens” and “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.”
Instrumentals by the jazz ensemble include Latin-jazz interpretations of Vince Guaraldi’s “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” and Mongo Santamaria’s “Come Candela,” and pianist Jay Real’s original composition, “City Samba.” Jazz-rock selections include Weather Report’s “Birdland” and David Sanborn’s arrangement of Stanley Turrentine’s jazz hit, “Sugar.” Rounding out the program are challenging bop classics such as Dizzy Gillespie’s “Salt Peanuts” and Clifford Brown’s “Joy Spring.” The ensemble features Shanna Cooley on vocals, Real on violin and piano, Kalena Ungos on flute, Stephen Ziliotto and Josh Acuna on trumpet, Chris Fedderson on clarinet and tenor sax, John Butler on guitar and bass, Leal Makaroff on piano and percussion, and Westin Byerly on drums.
The String Chamber Concert, featuring top string student musicians performing works by Bach, Grieg, Mendelssohn and Mozart, is Friday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m. in Deane Chapel.
The Chamber Orchestra and Wind Chamber Concert is Sunday, Nov. 20, at 3 p.m. in Deane Chapel. The Brass Quintet will perform selections by Handel and Bizet. The Wind Quintet will play selections of Handel’s “Water Music,” arranged by Kennedy/Kaisershot. The Chamber Orchestra will conclude the concert with an American folk hymn, pieces by Handel, Vivaldi and Ralph Vaughan Williams and an arrangement of Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida.”