In Brief: Arts events across the region, including MJC concert flurry
Modesto Junior College Department of Music closes the fall semester with a flurry of concerts next week.
Things kick off with the Symphonic Band in concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Main Auditorium on East Campus. Director of Bands Erik Maki will conduct the ensemble as they perform a wide variety of music for modern wind band including works by well-known composers Robert Jager, Donald Hunsberger, Roger Nixon, and Elliot Del Borgo. The concert will culminate with “Vesuvius” by Frank Ticheli, a musical tribute to the destruction of Pompeii. The event is free and open to the public.
Then the MJC Community Orchestra will present the concert “Jaws and Juliet (and Romeo too!)” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Main Auditorium on East campus. The orchestra, directed by Anne Martin, include popular pieces including “Funeral March of a Marionette” (the theme song for Alfred Hitchcock’s television show), “Jaws” theme by John Williams and the Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture. Tickets are $5 general admission, $1 for students/seniors.
That will be followed on Wednesday by the MJC Community Band’s Fall Concert “Home and Away” at 7:30 p.m. in the Main Auditorium on East Campus. Maki will again direct and this time the show will be music from the United States, France, Italy, Sweden, Ukraine, Hungary and Greece featuring folk songs and dances from across the globe. The event is free and open to the public.
Also on Wednesday, the MJC Electronic Music Club students present “Synth City – Electronic Music Concert” in the Music Recital Hall on East Campus. The show will feature original electronic music compositions created by student composers using synthesizers, computer-controlled synthesizers, samplers and digital effects. The composers featured will be Brandon Blair, Kyle List, Ashley Lunt, Aaron Maddocks, Leo Medina, Daniel Medina, Miguel Rodriguez, Ricardo Torres and Juan Vasquez. MJC Electronic Music Studio Director David Dow will also perform an original electronic music composition on the program. The event is free and open to the public.
‘Love Letters’ at CSUS
California State University, Stanislaus, presents a production of the Pulitzer Prize finalist “Love Letters.”
The piece by American playwright A.R. Gurney will feature CSU Stanislaus Department of Theatre Chairman John Mayer and veteran area actress Kathleen Ennis. The play is about two characters, Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III, who read their notes, letters and cards spanning nearly 50 years.
Shows will be at 8 p.m. Dec. 4-5 at the CSU Stanislaus Mainstage Theatre. Tickets are $12 general admission, $10 for students/seniors/kids under 12 and CSU faculty and staff. For more call (209) 667-3959 or visit www.csustan.edu/soa/theatretickets.html. Free parking will be available in Lot 2.
MSO Holiday Pops
Modesto Symphony Orchestra rings in the season with its annual Holiday Pops! concert Dec. 5-6 at 2 p.m. at the Gallo Center for the Arts.
Associate conductor Ryan Murray will lead the orchestra in the popular holiday production that includes a visit from Santa Claus. The program includes Christmas classics, carols and medleys featuring vocalist Tony DeSare, as well as the Modesto Symphony Orchestra Chorus and the Expressions Youth Choirs.
Shows are at 8 p.m. Dec. 5 and 2 p.m. Dec. 6. Tickets are $17-$89. For more call (209) 338-2100 or go to www.galloarts.org.
This story was originally published November 27, 2014 at 1:00 AM with the headline "In Brief: Arts events across the region, including MJC concert flurry."