Spring 2016 Concerts and Events
The Ensemble Experience at PVCC
The Music Department at Paradise Valley Community College is pleased to offer a wide variety of music performance ensembles for the Spring 2016 semester. The music ensembles are open to music students and community members of all ages and abilities. The spring offerings include Concert Band, Jazz Big Band, Latin Jazz Band, Jazz Combo, Vocal Ensemble, String Ensemble, Cello Ensemble, Piano Ensemble, Contemporary Music Ensemble, Clarinet Ensemble, Multimedia Ensemble, Brazilian Percussion Ensemble, Student Rock Band and much more!
Music Ensembles are listed in the course catalog under the prefix MUP and course number 160, 185, 181, 190.
Music Ensembles meet once per week in the late afternoon and evenings in the Center for the Performing Arts.
The ensemble experience at PVCC provides students with community: our ensembles are a mix of high school students, college-age students, community members and retired professionals. Students and instructors collaborate to select repertoire for public performances held in the Center for Performing Arts. Students gain practical and performance experience in instrumental, vocal, and mixed ensembles.
Spring 2016 Ensembles at PVCC:
MUP 163 Jazz Ensemble: Jazz Big Band
MUP 181 Chamber Music Ensemble: Union Jazz Institute
MUP 181 Chamber Music Ensemble: Jazz Combo
MUP 181 Chamber Music Ensemble: Latin Jazz
MUP 190 Percussion Ensemble: World Music
MUP 181 Chamber Music Ensemble: Multimedia
MUP 181 Chamber Music Ensemble: Openscore
MUP 181 Chamber Music Ensemble: Flute
MUP 181 Chamber Music Ensemble: Cello/String
MUP 181 Chamber Music Ensemble: Brass
MUP 181 Chamber Music Ensemble: Band
MUP 181 Chamber Music Ensemble: Recording
MUP 181 Chamber Music Ensemble: Classic Piano
Register for Spring 2016 at classes.sis.maricopa.edu
The Fall 2015 Festival of Tales | Student Review by Nicole Zimora
The Festival of Tales is a FREE storytelling festival at Paradise Community college. From 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., children from the community engage in different types of literacy-based activities: arts & crafts, storytelling and more. During registration each child is given two tickets - one for a “book walk” and the other for a free book.
Children have the opportunity to pick their favorite book at a table set up with hundreds of different types of books for different reading levels. They receive free books by doing the “book walk.” Music plays as they walk around a number placement; when the music stops numbers are drawn and the number called out receives a free book! Children play games centered on literary characters and participate in storytelling sessions in which books are read aloud.
Throughout the event live music was playing provided by the PVCC Ensembles. Two bands played: a jazz band and a Latin jazz band. They had various instruments such as a saxophone, cello, bass guitar, and tambourine as their timbre and a piano. The rhythm of the songs that were being played made you want to get up and dance! It was a fun and great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
PVCC Festival of Tales - Saturday, December 5th, 2015
On Saturday, December 5th, PVCC’s Education Department and the Division of Fine & Performing Arts proudly present the Festival of Tales; a free, literacy-focused celebration offered to the greater community.
Held from 9am to 2pm, the festival is a day of reading, literacy and cultural activities for children and families that includes storytelling, arts and crafts, games, face painting, live music, food trucks and much more!
Now celebrating its eighth year, FESTIVAL OF TALES brings books to life through the art of storytelling and provides FREE books to children who participate in the activities.
The festival also features live musical performances by Heidi Swedberg and the SukeyJump Band, PVCC faculty and student music ensembles, local elementary schools and community groups.
For more information, visit festivaloftales.com or on Facebook at PVCC Festival of Tales.
Student One Act Plays: A Night of Comedy and Tragedy
Each Fall semester in our Studio Theatre we have opportunities for our students to direct one act plays for first time directors, and full length plays for second-time directors. There is always a wonderful variety and even some original works written by the directors.
Student One Act Plays | A Night of Comedy and Tragedy
Show dates: Nov. 13, 14, 20, 21 at 7:30pm and 15 & 22 at 2:00pm.
All Tickets $5 | Studio Theater in Building M-East
1) Suicide Notes by Nicole Thompson is a story about a student, Cameron, who finds his name has been written into people's suicide notes blaming him for their deaths. This is also a story about how Cameron and his friends try to understand and cope with the situation.
2) The Romancers by Edmond Rostandt. A Boy and a Girl... two disapproving Parents... a Wall and a Bandit. A Comedy Romance Fantastique. Directed by Ric Alpers.
3) Shattered by Kristin Black is a one act play about the difficulties of facing trauma head on. It is a counseling session held between a counselor named Stephanie and a college student named Sara.
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
Jazz Under the Stars | Student Review by Sarah Toth
The Jazz Under the Stars event held on Tuesday October 13th in the PVCC outdoor amphitheater was a night of toe tapping entertainment. Between the two “Big Band Music” groups, there was a variety of slow, to moderate, to fast tempos of music. Any age could go out and enjoy the lovely music being played. The causal environment made the whole atmosphere a family-friendly setting. The bands helped each other out on stage during the performance, and the director openly made jokes about himself and the band. The casual setting also made the performance all the more enjoyable. The entire performance was outstanding.
THE INSTRUMENTS BATTLED EACH OTHER IN DISSONANCE AND THEN RESOLVED THEMSELVES IN HARMONIES. MOST BANDS TRY TO STAY CONSTANT WITH THE OTHER SECTIONS, BUT JAZZ IS FREER THAN THAT.
Each band kept the same tone throughout their movements. Hearing the instruments battling each other out in dissonance to resolve themselves in harmonies was a new experience. Most bands that play will try to stay constant with the other sections, but jazz is freer than that. For example, some pieces played were originally written for other instruments, such as the alto saxophone, but were manipulated for other instruments like the trombone. With each band, it was obvious that for some pieces, certain instruments were the focal point. With other pieces, adding an instrument made a huge difference. The addition of an instrument was the difference in making a classical piece modern.
Each band had soloists in every selection they performed. To highlight the soloists, they would stand and use a mic to amplify their instruments. Not only did the mic help the solo clearer, but the rest of the band would back off the notes and harmonies, just to crescendo back into the piece. In the first band, they had a key soloists perform with them. He is a professor at the University of Central Florida, Mr. Mike Wilkinson. Mike performed in several of the performances and added a new feel to the band.
The first band was bigger than the second band. They had larger sections for the instruments, as well as had more soloists. The first band is what you would think of with a stereotypical jazz band. The second band had an all around new style to the way they performed. The director was an actual band player himself and played in the performance. In this band, there was a more prominent feel to the revolutionary styles of jazz, and added more modern instruments, drum sets and a bass, to modernize the sets. Although the second band had fewer members, the power behind the instruments was well known. In the first band, the crescendos were powerful, and the sound carried throughout the amphitheater. Where the second band lacked in power, it made up for it in the difficulties of the music.
THE FIRST BAND BROUGHT A PROFESSIONAL TROMBONE PLAYER TO ASSIST THEM, WHERE THE SECOND BAND HAD A REALLY COOL ADVANTAGE OF HAVING A COMPOSER IN THEIR SET.
Each band also brought something different to the table. The first band brought a professional trombone player to assist them, where the second band had a really cool advantage of have a composer in their set. The second band always tries to play a piece of his every show, this shows being titled Burk the Baby.
Jazz Under the Stars was a very fun experience. From learning about music in class, to really hearing it live and in person is a whole new experience. From a college band, that amount of perfection put into these pieces was amazing. You wouldn’t have been able to tell if this was a class, or if it as a group of people doing what they love. Jazz Under the Stars was a really good all around experience.
Call for Submissions: Western Eye Student Photography Competition
The Western Eye Photography Competition is open to all Maricopa Community College students. Photos must have been taken between November 2014 – October 2015. This year's judge is nationally-acclaimed commercial photographer Rick Gayle.
Cash prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. A ribbon will be awarded for Honorable Mention.
1st place $400
2nd place $200
3rd place $100
Submissions will be accepted October 26 – 28, 2015 at the Eric Fischl Gallery or the Art Program Office in the ART Building at Phoenix College, 1202 W. Thomas Rd. in Phoenix. (602.285.7277)
The deadline for entries is Wednesday, October 28, 2015 by 6:30 p.m. Click here for full details and a downloadable submission form.
All winners will have their photography displayed in the Eric Fischl Gallery at Phoenix College from November 2 – 26, 2015. An opening reception will take place in the Eric Fischl Gallery on Monday, November 2, 2015 from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. All are welcome!
For more information, contact Jennifer Laffoon at 602.285.7280 or email jennifer.laffoon@phoenixcollege.edu
Student Spotlight: Peter Oldack, Theater
“In the advanced directing program you actually get the opportunity to mount your own show. It's a fantastic experience because you get to audition your very own actors. You get to look at people and say, “No, I don’t want you but I do want you." And then you get to struggle for several weeks while you try to stage everything; you put them in their place, you let them figure out things naturally, you tell them what you want to convey, and then hopefully after the end of that - after you’ve put your set together and your costumes and you’ve figured out what you want to do with makeup and you’ve told your actors everything you want them to do on stage that they haven’t discovered themselves - then hopefully you have a show." - Peter Oldack, PVCC Theater Student
Learn more about PVCC's Theater Program at www.paradisevalley.edu/theatre
Student Spotlight: Nikkida, Visual Arts
"Drawing has provided me with an escape. It helps me express myself, relieve stress. When I’m finished with a piece of art I feel very accomplished. I feel like I achieved a small goal." -Nikkida, PVCC Visual Arts student
Art + Gender | Collective Art Project & Exhibition
PVCC students Katlynn McNab and Heidi Klotz pose in front of Kande Mickelsen's HERstory blog.
When the chance to organize a collective art project and exhibit on campus to celebrate Women’s History Month presented itself, budding curators Heidi Klotz and Katlynn McNab seized the opportunity.
Psychology faculty Caron Sada discusses the psychology of gender with the group.
Klotz and McNab became acquainted with one another this term as classmates in Dr. Caron Sada’s "Psychology and Culture" and Adria Pecora’s "Drawing" courses. Dr. Sada and Ms. Pecora entered into the spring semester eager to have their students collaborate on a creative project exploring gender for an activity of Women’s History Month, an idea that was also ignited by the enthusiasm of library faculty, Kandice Mickelsen who volunteered Buxton Library as the location and exhibition venue for the art project.
Sada’s students from “Psychology of Gender” and Pecora’s students from “Drawing” volunteered to participate in this extra-curricular project rooted in performance, specifically in conversation. Pecora has previously taught a course in “Gallery Operations” in which students have curated exhibitions on campus. She introduced the curatorial team to a type of art called “social practice” and to curatorial projects incorporating “relational aesthetics” that revolve around conversation. Klotz and McNab learned about the curators Nicolas Bourriaud and Hans-Ulrich Obrist and artists such as Rirkrit Tiravanija and the late Allan Kaprow (the creator of “happenings”).
Katlynn McNab and Heidi Klotz discuss social practice and relational aesthetics with Art faculty, Adria Pecora.
Pecora commented, “The idea of disrupting the regulated quietude of a library with a passionate discourse seemed suited to an artwork exploring gender.”
Moreover, the library’s new media lounge (a circular sofa with built in media station) suggested a more social role for the library, one in which exhibits might be rendered interactive by incorporating viewer feedback via messaging.
Library faculty Kande Mickelsen at blogging stations.
Mickelsen had been orchestrating a library guide entitled “HERstory” to function as an informational hub for Women’s History Month events. After meeting with Klotz and McNab, Mickelsen helped arrange for the guide to also serve as a blog site for the artwork featuring audio and video excerpts of the conversation. Sada’s students brainstormed thought-provoking questions to guide discussion. Pecora’s students brought or created images that resonated of gender and posted them on an idea board in the space.
Artistic inspiration came in the form of a lecture exploring “How gender roles affect relationships”, presented earlier in the week by Counseling faculty, Donna Mosher. The art students also drew enthusiasm from a visit by PVCC alumni curators, Collin Pressler (Exhibitions Manager, School of the Art Institute of Chicago) and Eric Heimbecker (Manager, Corporate Social Responsibility Group) from whom they learned more about curatorial practice and socially engaged work beyond the studio.
Counseling faculty Donna Mosher
PVCC alumni Collin Pressler and Eric Heimbecker visit Katlynn McNab, Heidi Klotz and PVCC art students in the painting and drawing studio to discuss their work with curating and social engaged projects.
The conversation lives online and awaits your thoughts. Please tag #pvccfinearts.
HERstory library blog: paradisevalley.libguides.com/HERstory
Twitter and Instagram: #artandgenderchatroom