Music students in the Santa Fe College Jazz Band/Big Band will “Jazz Up Spring” in concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 17, in the Fine Arts Hall at the Northwest Campus, 3000 NW 83 Street, Gainesville.
Tickets are: $15 orchestra; $12 balcony; $9 for University of Florida students, seniors, and children 12 and under; and free to Santa Fe College students and employees. For ticket information, call the Box Office at 352-395-4181 or visit the Fine Arts ticket website at:
http://www.sfcollege.edu/finearts
The band, under the direction of Professor Gary Langford, will perform a program to be selected from the following: “Backrow Politics” by Gordon Goodwin; “Beyond the Sea,” arranged by Jerry Nowak; “Blues for the Cap” and “Brillo’s Pad” by Rick Stitzel; “Omaha,” arranged by Gordon Goodwin; “Sway,” arranged by Mark Taylor; and “Watermelon Man,” arranged by Mike Kamuf.
Student vocalists Raphael Llama and Kelli McGill will perform with the band, Llama on “Beyond the Sea” and McGill on “Sway.” The vocalists study with Professor Lynn Sandefur, who directs the voice studio at Santa Fe College.
Langford fell in love with jazz as an undergraduate and went on to earn a master’s degree in trumpet performance from the Jazz Studies program at the University of North Texas. During his 37-year career at the University of Florida, where a music scholarship bears his name, he served as Professor of Music, Assistant Director of the School of Music, and Director of Concert Band, Marching Band and Jazz Band. He is a founding member of Gainesville Friends of Jazz and an accomplished arranger.
The Santa Fe Big Band has performed at Carnegie Hall, Epcot, Florida’s Lakeside Jazz Festival and CityWalk Universal Studios. The band also tours high schools throughout North Central Florida.
For more information about the concert, call Gary Langford, acting director of the Jazz and Concert Bands (substituting for Steve Bingham), at 352-514-7752.
For more information about SF College’s Fine Arts Department programs, call Chairperson Alora Haynes, 352-395-5296.
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