By Avery Lokers
As this year’s November days pass by and the fall season sets in, Grand Rapids Community College’s Music Department is looking forward to presenting its Fall Jazz Night performance on Nov. 15.
The event will be held at St. Cecilia Music Center, located at 24 Ransom Ave. NE, in Grand Rapids, is one of two jazz concerts put on by the college – one during the fall and one during the spring. Students who are interested in attending should make sure to bring their GRCC student ID to receive free admission. Otherwise, tickets cost $10 for adults and $5 for seniors and veterans.
The doors open at 7 p.m., but in an email to The Collegiate, Kevin Dobreff, program director of GRCC’s Music Department, stated that all should “plan to arrive early, our jazz night performances are very popular.”
The venue is often mistaken as a church but attendees should note that it is not, and instead held in an 1894 classical building. This setting lends to the magnificence of experience that the jazz student ensemble provides.
The show will include three faculty-led ensembles that are open as audit or credit options for interested students in upcoming semesters.
Conducted by GRCC’s director of bands Shannon Shaker, the Jazz Ensemble will be featured. Low brass specialist, Adam Graham, will be conducting the Jazz Combo performance. Also featured, Professor Jed Scott will be conducting Shades of Blue Vocal Jazz Ensemble.
“This concert is a great way to become more acquainted with jazz stylings and the art of improvisation,” Dobreff stated.
Shortly after Fall Jazz Night, GRCC Music is excited to put on an A/B Duo Recital on Nov. 21.
The show will be held at GRCC’s Albert P. Smith Music Center in the Linn Maxwell Keller Recital Hall at 7 p.m., with free admission for all.
Meerami Shim and Christopher G. Jones, members of the duo, execute their instrumentals as a flute and percussion based pair.
The performance is described as “one of the most charming concerts imaginable… The music was bouncy, strange, interesting, and fun,” according to Civic Center Blog, quoted proudly on the official website of A/B Duo.
A/B Duo can be expected to perform with a vibrant variety of flutes, drums, xylophones and more instruments, making many of the songs known to sound akin to a video game soundtrack.
With their compositions, they have traveled around the country, performing in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Atlanta, as well as notably at the video game and indie music festival Rockage 4.0.
GRCC Music welcomes A/B Duo to the stage with their accredited “fresh, vibrant new music” and “commitment to widening the repertoire,” as Fanfare Magazine puts it.
Additional reviews, concert clips and information about A/B Duo can be found at abduo.net.
