NIC music ensemble to debut at ‘New Directions' concert
Everyone is invited to the “New Directions” fall jazz concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, in North Idaho College’s Boswell Hall Schuler Performing Arts Center. The first jazz concert of the year at NIC, it will feature music performances by Cardinal Voices directed by Max Mendez and the NIC Jazz Ensemble directed by Bryan Hannaford.
Cardinal Voices is a new commercial music ensemble at NIC, in which students focus on performing studio-quality, popular music. It provides an ensemble atmosphere with an emphasis on small group dynamics, ensemble singing/performance, solo performance, songwriting, and arranging, all within versatile musical/singing styles.
“It’s for students and audiences interested in exploring different popular musical styles, including but not limited to jazz, blues, pop, rock, folk and country,” Mendez said.
In this inaugural concert, Cardinal Voices will take the audience in a “New Direction” by presenting new musical arrangements from bands like The Beatles. Audience members at this concert can look forward to new arrangements of “Blackbird,” “Hey Jude,” and “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” just to name a few.
The NIC Jazz Ensemble will present modern twists on a few classics while performing new original jazz compositions. Expect to hear a Kris Berg arrangement of the John Coltrane classic “Blue Train,” featuring the saxophone section through an orchestrated classic Coltrane improvisation. There will be an Eric Richards arrangement that mixes swing and Latin jazz in Cedar Walton’s “Bolivia.” The show will close in a new direction with the Ellen Rowe original composition “Hip Hop Bop Stop” that incorporates modern jazz and hip hop.
“We hope you’ll join us for a thrilling night of music filled with student arrangements, improvisation, and music that will make you move,” Hannaford said.
The concert is free and open to the public.
Information: (208) 769-3424.
Posted: Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019
