The following is a submission from SMC. Photo by Ed Gandara.
The Santa Monica College (SMC) Music Department is pleased to present the debut of the SMC Collaboration Showcase ina performance of ensemble works from jazz, commercial, and European art music traditions. The showcaseincludes arrangements and compositions created by SMC students.
The showcase is free and will be held Tuesday, June 3, at 11:15 a.m. in The Edye Second Space at the SMC Performing Arts Center, located at 1310 11th Street (at Santa Monica Boulevard), Santa Monica. Free parking on premises. Seating is strictly on a first-arrival basis.
The musicians in the SMC Collaboration Showcase are students in SMC’s new Music 49 (Combo and Chamber Ensemble) class led by SMC Music Professor Jimmy Cheesman and SMC Music Department Chair Brian Driscoll. Launched this spring, the new class gives students the chance to explore, prepare, rehearse, and perform music in a wide range of styles for small ensembles, such as jazz combos, chamber quartets, rock bands, and commercial ensembles. The class also addresses practical matters such as the logistics of equipment, technology, and rehearsal and performance spaces.
“This new class takes us a step closer to closing a gap in our music department’s course offerings for the performance of commercial music,” said Driscoll. “Students get to create collaborative performances while freely shifting between styles and instrumentation from piece to piece. A student might sing in a four-part 16th-century madrigal on one piece, then play drums or guitar on a recent popular song — all in the same class meeting! It’s so much fun for Prof. Cheesman and me to see students’ innovative ideas for ensembles, and it’s rewarding to see their approaches to rehearsal and performance become more effective as the class moves along to culminate with the SMC Collaboration Showcase.”
More information is available by calling 310-434-4323. All performances subject to change or cancellation without notice.
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