| The Napa Valley College Department of Music will showcase students and community members in a series of performances featuring the Napa Valley Jazz Ensemble, Napa Valley College Chorale and a Student Recital. “As we emerge from a pandemic-imposed exile to the digital realm, live music can once again be heard in the Performing Arts Center,” shared NVC Coordinator of Music and Director of Vocal Studies Dr. Christina Howell. “Guests may choose between listening to the musicians of tomorrow in the afternoon recital; a swinging, jazz-filled evening with the NVC Jazz Ensemble; or an inspiring and an uplifting afternoon of vocal music titled ‘Sing Out My Soul,” Our performers are excited to share the music we have been enjoying all semester!” The Napa Valley Jazz Ensemble will present a live performance on Friday, May 20 at 7 p.m. Led by instructor and Jazz Ensemble Director Peter Estabrook, NVC students and community members will perform music by Duke Ellington and others in a variety of styles within the jazz idiom including swing, jazz/rock, funk and Latin jazz. Students studying Applied Music at Napa Valley College will be featured in a Student Recital on Saturday, May 21 at 2 p.m. that will include a wide range of musical styles, from Mozart to Crosby, Stills & Nash to Frank Sinatra. On Sunday, May 22 at 2 p.m., the Napa Valley College Chorale, conducted by Dr. Howell, plans an exciting and uplifting program of songs focusing on emergence together. “We will celebrate singing together as a community and bloom into a new world by featuring music on the theme ‘Sing Out My Soul,’” explains Howell. Student Conductor Caelan Koehn will direct ‘Spring Overall,’ based on a poem by Rumi and composed by Napa Valley College music instructor Mazdak Khamda. Guest artists will include Napa Valley College student instrumentalists on violin, cello and percussion. Audience members will hear styles ranging from traditional classical works to pieces written by musical theater composer Jason Robert Brown and pop singer Annie Lennox. All performances will be held on the mainstage of Napa Valley College Performing Arts Center. |