Redding Brothers
Music open houseOpen house gives new students chance to hear music faculty
Faculty from the Shoreline’s Music Department welcomed new students with a pair of Open House performances Friday, Oct. 3, in the Band Room of the 800 Building.
According to Music Theory Professor Dr. Jeff Junkinsmith, the purpose for the annual performances is to give the new music students an idea of who the music faculty are. “It’s fun for the students to see the instructors perform, because we don’t get a chance to do that much during the year,” he said.
The Open House performances contained a diverse blend of musical styles, including bluegrass, Brazilian, classical, jazz, musical theater and opera.
Bluegrass instructors Tom Moran (mandolin) and Cliff Perry (guitar) and members of the Bluegrass Club, Paul Elliot (fiddle) and Harley Bray (banjo), played a lively two-piece medley — a traditional song, “Little Maggie,” and the instrumental piece “Big Mon.” The group received enthusiastic applause.
Piano Instructor Helena Azevedo and Voice Instructor Susan Dolacky performed the wistful love song, “Adeus,” by Brazilian composer Waldemar Henrique. Though singing the beautiful piece entirely in Portuguese (the native language of Brazil and Azevedo’s country of origin), Dolacky’s performance gave each phrase an emotional depth that made its sorrowful meaning universal to the listener.
Playing side by side, in Piano Four-Hands style, Instructors Iwona Kaminska-Bowlby and Chris Bowlby performed a rousing “Hungarian Dance” by Brahms. Before playing the piece, Bowlby joked with the audience that the Piano Four-Hands style has been known to bring couples together — or drive them apart. “We’ll see how we do,” he said with a sly smile. After hearing the couple’s engaging performance, neither player has a thing to worry about.
Junkinsmith performed the piano solo “Les Amusemens,” a delightfully tricky Baroque piece that was originally written for the harpsichord by renowned French composer Francois Couperin. Junkinsmith’s presentation, complete with proper period embellishments, was filled with spirited twists and turns.
Piano Instructor Dainius Vaicekonis enchanted the crowd with his clever, playful interpretation of “Minstrels” by Claude Debussy, from Book One of the composer’s two books of preludes.
Funk ‘n Groove Director Bruce Spitz (piano), SCC Jazz Ensemble Director Doug Reid (sax), Bass Instructor Steve Kim and Guitar Instructor Doug Zangar, along with the Peggy O’Coyne Music Scholarship recipient John Bridges (drums), were really saying something with an obscure but wonderful jazz standard, “Be My Love,” by Phil Woods. Tasteful solos by Reid and Zangar were particularly expressive.
Bassist Steve Kim gave a mesmerizing solo performance of the improvisational composition “Turnaround,” by innovative jazz musician and Harmolodic composer Ornette Coleman. Kim’s agile interpretation provided an infectious groove that inspired collective foot-tapping and head-bobbing among many of the audience members.
With strong self-accompaniment on the piano, Choral Ensemble Director Rob Bigley sang the soul-searching “All I Ever Wanted” from Dreamworks Pictures’ “The Prince of Egypt.” Bigley’s interpretation of the song, in which Moses discovers his true heritage, was powerful and heartfelt.
Voice Instructors Catherine Treadgold and Fred Lokken delivered a charming duet from the Mozart opera “Don Giovanni.” Lokken gave a mischevious flair to the mythical womanizer, and Treadgold was joyfully coquettish as pretty peasant girl Zerlina, whom Giovanni attempts to seduce away from her clumsy fiancé.
With the conclusion of the performances, incoming music students had the opportunity to attend an orientation geared toward either of the two Music Department degree programs: the two-year transfer degree (for students transferring to a four-year college or university) or the professional-technical degree. Shoreline offers the state’s only certified professional-technical associate degree in music.