The Mesa Community College music department present their Winter performances
The Mesa Community College music department will host their end of semester concerts this week starting Dec. 5 at the Performing Arts Center.
The performances include the band and orchestra ensemble, percussion, guitar, and the chamber ensemble.
The band and orchestra ensemble will present “A Winter Prelude”, a show which hopes to leave the audience excited for the winter season.
The students spent the last few weeks preparing the pieces that will count toward their final grade, according to Craig Peterson, program director for music performance at MCC.
“It’s part of the class. We sort of consider these to be a midterm and a final exam because we don’t give written exams,” said Peterson.
Students who are a part of the music program are required to participate in the ensemble concerts put on throughout the semester.
The band and orchestra ensemble put on two concerts per semester, while groups like percussion and guitar, who only meet once a week, typically only put on one concert at the end of the semester.
“We usually do two concerts per semester,” said Peterson. “Whereas some of the percussion ensembles and the guitar people only meet once a week. So at the end of the semester, they usually do a performance.”
The concerts will be open to the general public.
The percussion and chamber ensemble concerts will be free for everyone, while the band and orchestra ensemble and the guitarists’ concert tickets range from $6 for students to $8 for the general public.
Some of the funds from the concerts go back to the music department to use to help pay for equipment, while most of the money gets put into a scholarship account for students, says Peterson.
The spring semester will feature a similar lineup, with two performances from the band and orchestra ensemble and one performance from the percussion and guitar groups.
“There will be concerts just like this, a number of us will do concerts at the end of February or beginning of March and you know, we’ll all do concerts probably near the end of April and beginning of May,” said Peterson.
Tickets for the events can be purchased on the MCC website, or at the door.
