LCC offers three free holiday concerts

By Jonah Unger
Staff Writer

LCC will hold three free holiday musical concerts during the month of December. Due to in-progress renovations on Dart Auditorium at LCC, each performance will be done off-campus. 

“We’re excited about that because it puts a spotlight on our music programs and ensembles,” said Paige Dunckel, LCC Performing Arts director. “All of the music ensembles and faculty are exceptional, and performing in the community lets people know we're here and available to them.”

Following is a rundown of the upcoming concerts.

LCC Jazz Band: Led by Jonathan Gewirtz, the LCC Jazz Band will perform on Wednesday, Dec. 7, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Everett High School, located at 3900 Stabler St. in Lansing.

The jazz band has worked well at building connections with other schools while Dart Auditorium is being renovated, according to LCC Music Faculty Chair Dr. Jon Tenbrink. 

“The importance of that networking connection – building bridges with the next generation of musicians and connecting with feeder schools for LCC is a huge step,” Tenbrink said. 

LCC Concert Choir: Led by Dr. Jon Tenbrink, the LCC Concert Choir will perform Saturday, Dec. 10 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Okemos Community Church. The church is located at 4734 Okemos Road in Okemos.

“The opportunity to connect to the greater community is huge,” Tenbrink said. “We bring in and connect to a new audience performing in other places.”

Tenbrink said the choir concert is performing Vivaldi’s “Gloria'' and Vaughan Williams’ “Fantasia on Christmas Carols.” He said this is a challenging and ambitious endeavor.

“Combining forces with the orchestra and Chancel Choir at Okemos Community Church, along with the soloists coming in for the project, makes for a lot of moving parts, and not much time to put it together,” Tenbrink said. “But when we all get together and have (approximately) 60 musicians collaborating on the stage together, it’ll be electrifying!”

LCC Rock Band: Led by Christopher Rollins, the LCC Rock Band will perform on Sunday, Dec. 11 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Avenue Café, located at 2021 E. Michigan Ave.

Tenbrink said LCC’s rock band is fortunate to be performing at the Avenue Café.

“Getting our rock band into The Avenue for their end of semester concert is a great step,” Tenbrink said. “It’s a much better venue/environment for that group. I always found it a bit strange to watch our rock band on the Dart stage … always proud of the work they did, mind you, but the vibe just wasn’t quite right.”

For more information on LCC’s music department, click here.