Every quarter, the Music department of SFCC puts on a series of concerts, which is the culmination and showcasing of the work done by the Jazz, Orchestra, Choral and Band students. All of the concerts take place on the SFCC campus in building 15, the Music building, in the auditorium.
The band opens with the first of the concerts in the series on March 4 at 7 p.m. A member of both the concert band and vocal jazz, Kellyanne Evans, said, “We’re performing stuff that everyone will like; we’re doing both a Radiohead and Queen song.” While she wouldn’t reveal which songs they’d be performing, she said, “It’s a very popular Queen song; it’s going to be awesome.” Next is the orchestra concert on March 11, also at 7 p.m. In an unusual crossing of the proverbial streams, the choir will be performing one piece with the orchestra; the orchestra will also be performing with the choirs on their concert night for the same piece.
This selection of music is Coronation Anthem no. 1, or Zadok the Priest, written by George Frideric Handel as the coronation anthem for King George the Second. Handel composed the text of the piece using selections from the King James version of the Bible. Handel, a native of Germany who became a naturalized English citizen, is famous for his dramatic operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos; especially famous is the Hallelujah Chorus, the tune for which appears in Zadok the Priest.
This piece will also be the opening of the choral concert on March 12 at 7:30 p.m, with both the Chamber choir and the Chorale, which is the combined men and Women’s choirs. This has been performed by such famous choirs as the Choir of Westminster Abbey. The Chamber choir will also be performing an a cappella piece that Nathan Lansing, the choral director for SFCC, describes as “fiendishly difficult,” The Lamentations of Jeremiah, composed by Alberto Ginastera, and Argentinian who, unusually, builds his chords on fourths instead of the standard interval of thirds. This creates tight harmony that is extremely difficult to perform, and reflects Lansing’s unofficial motto for the SFCC Chamber Choir, “Small, but Mighty.”
On March 13 at 7:30 p.m. is Jazz Night, the final of the winter concert series. Kevin Woods, a recent addition to the music department’s faculty, is the instructor for the Improvisational music class as well as the man in charge for this concert. His jazz students practice one and a half hours twice a week throughout the quarter, and Woods himself arranges the peices in order to match ability to difficulty. All of the peices will include improv.
All of the concerts are $5 general admission, with $2 tickets for seniors and students with ID. SFCC students with their ID get in free.