by: William Penne
As the semester begins to wind down in the coming weeks, students stress over finals, faculty nervously approach deadlines and the weather gets colder. It’s the time of the semester when everyone tries to get their last–minute projects in line, and this holds true for the musical ensembles here at Parkland.
The musical ensembles at Parkland have been busy perfecting their pieces over the semester. The jazz combo has had numerous concerts in venues in and outside of Parkland. The musical ensembles, which are the Chamber Singers Choral Ensemble, the Concert Band, Guitar Ensemble, Orchestra, Jazz Combo, and the Wind Ensemble, are always hard at work throughout the semester, and these final weeks are a great capstone to their work that they have done throughout the semester.
The chamber singers wrapped up a performance for the St. Jude Hospital Benefit earlier this month, which featured multiple musical ensembles from area high schools, and they have one more concert on Saturday, Dec. 7 with the Orchestra at the Harold and Jean Miner Theatre on Parkland’s campus. The group is led by Dr. Frank Gallo.
The concert band, led by Lawrence Stoner, had one performance earlier this semester in October and has another performance on Sunday, Dec. 8 with the wind ensemble in the Harold and Jean Miner Theatre. The show starts at 3 p.m.
The guitar ensemble has one more show on Thursday, Dec. 5 at Parkland’s Second Stage Theatre. The group, led by Dr. Young Kim, performs at 7 p.m. This last performance will feature some popular Christmas classics arranged for the group. The Guitar Ensemble previously wrapped up their first performance in October.
The Parkland Orchestra, led by Dr. Rodney Mueller, has a joint show with the chamber singers on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 3 p.m. in the Harold and Jean Miner Theatre.
The Jazz Combo, led by Dr. Kevin Hart, has two more shows this semester. The first will be at the Mahomet Public Library on Sunday, Nov. 17 at 2 p.m., which is a free show that is open to the public. The second will be here at Parkland’s Second Stage Theatre on Monday, Nov. 25 at 7 p.m.
The group will be performing classic and contemporary jazz pieces with a special selection of small group gems from the likes of Benny Goodman and Lionel Hampton. The group is a quintet that also features Young Kim of the Guitar Ensemble on guitar. Kevin Hart, the faculty advisor and leader of the group, is featured on piano and vibraphone.
The wind ensemble, led by Dr. Jonathan Beckett, has a joint show with the concert band on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 3 p.m. in the Harold and Jean Miner Theatre.
All these performances are free and open to the public.
All Parkland ensembles are open to any students or community members that are interested in them. Ensembles rehearse on various weekday evenings. The ensembles are a great opportunity for anybody who has an interest in music or is looking for an inexpensive entertainment opportunity.
If you are interested in joining, most of the groups are not audition groups, so you can join at any skill level. If you or someone that you know is interested in joining one of these groups, reach out to the people in the FAA/Humanities Office in the C–Wing. If you are a student and wish to join one of these ensembles, the ensembles can be taken for credit by registering for them on Cobra.
For more information regarding these and future performances, look for the orange “Music Series at Parkland College” signs around campus.
