It takes a lot to keep a show on the road.
Mixing tradition with the modern, the De Anza College Music Department raised its curtains to the public as students showcased their hard work at the Winter Quarter Department Concert the evening of Saturday, March 15.
The Winter Concert featured performances from De Anza’s Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, Vintage Singers and the De Anza Chorale, bringing together instrumental and vocal programming ranging from anime show scores to the choral masterpiece, Fauré’s “Requiem”. Acapella group Vocal Flight performed in the De Anza’s Visual Performing Arts Center lobby before the concert began.
The quarterly department concert is a longstanding De Anza tradition. It showcases student work from across the term, providing essential credentials for music majors seeking to transfer.
Interim Dean of the Creative Arts Division Kristin Skager, navigating her second year in the role after switching from teaching English at De Anza since 1999, remembers hearing the tradition stretches back decades.
“I think it’s been going on for over (two decades) because retired faculty will say, ‘oh yeah, I remember the concerts.’ We had a very big and popular jazz band,” said Skager. “We had lots of classes, we had five or six faculty.”
Every concert is a canvas for the professors’ imaginations; last quarter, Cyril Deaconoff, De Anza chorus and advanced Vintage Singers professor, experimented with electronic media music. This quarter he said he sought to bring student attention to musical tradition.
“This time, it’s a little bit different, so we’re bringing in this traditional work, especially Fauré Requiem,” Deaconoff said. “The goal is to show the students the tradition. Show them the beauty of choral music, so in a sense we’re going back to the roots this winter program.”
The concert began with a rousing performance of the piece “Quintology” by Richard Meyer with Concert Band, taught and conducted by Grace Lai, music department chair. Cycling through an intercultural mix of pieces with English, Chinese, Russian and American influences, the instrumental set concluded with a resounding performance of “Secret Valley” by American composer Michael Sweeney.
Next on the queue was Jazz Ensemble, ushering in elements from the modern era in the form of anime, video-game and popular movie scores such as the theme song “Tank” from “Cowboy Bebop” and the Super Mario World end credit score. Film title sequences projected in the background deepened the experience, immersing the audience in the audioscape of beloved childhood classics.
Jazzily, Jazz Ensemble director Jordan Mitchell’s set was punctuated with surprising elements, inviting one of his students from a neighboring school district to briefly take over conducting for his final exam, fulfilling his last assignment of the quarter with flying colors.
The band class from Cesar E. Chavez Middle School also took to the stage to perform the main theme from “The Incredibles.” Later on, Mitchell travelled through the crowd, rallying concert-goers to get on their feet and dance. About half did.
Some students appreciated the song selections and took up the call to dance.
“I also grew up listening to those (the songs played),” said Katy Hedrick, 20, a student at West Valley College, who came to support her friend performing in Concert Band. “I’ve always wanted to see these pieces done on stage, you know. I’ll hear about them online or something but having the chance to actually see them onstage — I wasn’t expecting it.”
Other students especially enjoyed the interactive component of the set.
“The teacher made it really, really fun for everyone which is just kind of the goal of music. The choices for the music were absolutely top tier. I love the references for some of the older animes and games, the song,” said Irene Sun, 20, a student at San Jose State University.
Organizing the quarterly concert is no easy feat, with planning for each beginning months in advance. A concert of firsts, this quarter is Lai’s first time chairing the concert solo after experience co-chairing with former choral program director Ilan Glasman, currently on leave, since she started teaching at De Anza in 2018. Spring quarter, she will be offering a chamber orchestra class on top of her existing teaching and chairing commitments.
“The time limit is definitely (there) with 12 weeks … We have our concert at the end of the tenth week – just counting the rehearsals, less than 20 rehearsals,” said Lai. “So (it was) definitely challenging, and we always look for funding, we always look for support so we can have recording sessions for our concerts or have video play in the background.”
The concert rounded out by veering into vocals, with Vintage Singers performing pieces from opera-adaptation “In Windsor Forest” by Ralph Vaughan Williams, ranging from lilting lyrics in “Falstaff and the Fairies” to the bawdy “Drinking Song.” Kathryn Riecke and Alana Lin, both members of Vocal Flight, delivered soprano solos.
For a grand finale, the evening concluded with the band and the chorus performing choral classic “Requiem” by Gabriel Fauré, marking the revival of the De Anza Chorale under Deaconoff’s direction, which was discontinued the past fall quarter after the previous instructor took a temporary leave of absence.
“With this music, we all face a moment in our lives when we mourn someone, everyone has to go through that, right? And that’s when you turn to music like this,” Deaconoff said. “I wanted them to know that this is an important part of choral repertoire and this (music) is also a place to return to when it’s a difficult time in your life, and in the life of your family.”
The music department caters towards all levels. Some music courses, such as Vintage Singers, require auditions while others, such as the choir, have no barriers to entry; all are welcome.
“Chorale, it’s more for everyone, for everyone who can sing. And Chorale is really a special group that if there’s more people in the group, it sounds better,” said Rose Lee, 28, music major and “Requiem” soloist. “Because whenever one person is singing not correct, the amount of sounds can cover it and make it sound (more) correct. If we have more people in the group, then everything will sound better.”
A last note pierced the air and a flourish from Deaconoff signaled for the music to stop. The audience rose to their feet in applause and after a brief bow, the students filed off the stage. In approximately 12 weeks, it will begin again.
The Chorale and Vintage Singers will have one final opportunity to perform “Requiem” in collaboration with Silicon Valley Voices in San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral on March 29 from 5 to 7 p.m.
