Saddleback College’s Jazz Day offers performances by the Saddleback Big Band, conducted by Joey Sellers, and renowned saxophonist Charles McPherson on Saturday, February 2nd at 7 pm in the McKinney Theatre. 

Charles McPherson was born in Joplin, Missouri and moved to Detroit at age nine. After growing up in Detroit, he studied with the renowned pianist Barry Harris and started playing jazz professionally at age 19. He moved from Detroit to New York in 1959 and performed with Charles Mingus from 1960 to 1972. He was also the featured saxophonist in the Clint Eastwood film Bird, a biography about Charlie Parker. McPherson remains a strong, viable force on the jazz scene today. Throughout his four decades of being an integral performer of the music, he has not merely remained true to his BOP origins, but has expanded on them. “He is a singular voice who has never sacrificed the fluidity of his melody making, and is held in high esteem by musicians both long seasoned and young.” – Stanley Crouch, New York Times

Tickets are $10 general; $7 students/seniors.  Call the ticket office at 949-582-4656 (noon-4, Tues-Sat) or order your tickets online at www.saddleback.edu/arts.

Saddleback College is located at 28000 Marguerite Pkwy in Mission Viejo, just east of Interstate 5 at the Avery Parkway exit.  Complimentary parking is available in Lot 12 with overflow parking in Lot 10. Take Avery Parkway to Marguerite Parkway turn left to the third traffic light, which is Saddleback’s Marguerite entrance. Turn right into the campus and take the second left to “Theatre Circle,” turning right into Lot 12.

Jazz Studies at Saddleback College emphasizes creativity through improvisation and ensemble performance. Focusing on the historical, theoretical and intuitive aspects of this American music, Director Joey Sellers and an outstanding cadre of nationally recognized musicians comprise the jazz faculty. Curricula include Improvisation, Jazz Composition and Arranging, Jazz History Syllabus, Jazz History Audio, Jazz History Podcast, Jazz Piano, Saddleback Big Band, Jazz Lab Ensemble, and Combos.  Students in Jazz Studies at Saddleback College have transferred to prestigious institutions including University of Southern California, Eastman School of Music, Berkeley School of Music, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Cal State Fullerton, University of California at San Diego, and other regional institutions.  Some of our alumni have gone on to play professionally with Frank Zappa, Diana Ross, and other high-profile artists and organizations.     

Located in Mission Viejo, Saddleback College provides quality higher education and training to the greater south Orange County community.  Having served more than 500,000 students since 1968, Saddleback College offers over 300 degree and certificate programs to help students reach their personal, career, and educational goals.  For more information, please visit www.saddleback.edu and for Fine Arts information, please visit www.saddleback.edu/arts.  

Mission Viejo, CA – To celebrate the centennial of The Rite of Spring, a seminal twentieth-century work of art, Saddleback College will showcase Igor Stravinsky’s epic score. This live performance of his two piano version will be played by Norman Weston and Kirill  Gliadkovsky, accompanied by a premiere of new choreography by Deidre Cavazzi.  The large cast of dancers brings the passion, violence, and power of the music to life, re-envisioning this historic tale of tribal ritual and sacrifice.  The performance will be preceded by a short presentation about the hundred-year history of The Rite of Spring in the fields of both music and dance. 

Excited about this opportunity for her dancers, Cavazzi stated, “We are thrilled to bring the dance and music departments of Saddleback College together for this production, in the spirit of the original 1913 Ballets Russes piece, which also brought the visions of artists like Igor Stravinsky, Vaslav Nijinsky, and Nicholas Roerich together. The students are passionate about this project, and they’ve been really excited to learn more about the history of the piece in the process of creating this new version of choreography.  It’s also such a treat for the dancers to perform with live music.”  The Stravinsky score is incredibly complex, with the dancers switching time signatures and concentrating to keep count in ever-changing tempos.

Saddleback College music professor Norman Weston is looking forward to this opportunity to share the infamous and influential story of this work.  According to Weston, “The Rite of Spring is perhaps the single most iconic piece of music of the 20th century. In this work, Stravinsky's approaches to rhythm, harmony, melody and orchestration were all revolutionary.  And yet, even though the work is radical on so many levels and still sounds as if it could have been written yesterday, it managed, after an admittedly rocky premiere, to achieve universal acceptance fairly quickly.  That, to me, is one of the most remarkable things about it.”

The extraordinary score, coupled with Nijinsky’s new movement vocabulary and a tale of ritual sacrifice and primitivism, has been inspiring artists in many fields for one hundred years; this spring, Saddleback College will celebrate the legacy of this piece in its February production.  General admission $10/students and seniors $7/students with ASB cards and faculty free.   Call (949) 582-4656 (Wednesday-Saturday, noon to 4 pm) or online at www.saddleback.edu/arts for tickets.

The Saddleback College Dance Department offers several technique classes at all levels for ballet, jazz, modern and tap. In addition, courses are offered in the history of dance, exercise for dancers, rehearsal and performance, dance production and choreography. College-wide dance concerts are put on each semester and promoted as a major theater event.

The Music Department has established a comprehensive program which is considered to be one of the finest in California:  a complete lower-division curriculum for transferring music majors, numerous performance groups, private and group lessons, a full concert series with faculty and guest artists, and general music courses.  The nationally recognized faculty is dedicated to performance and to teaching in all areas such as vocal, instrumental, jazz, guitar and piano.  Other music classes include harmony, musicianship, composition, history and appreciation of western art music, rock, jazz and world.

Saddleback College is located at 28000 Marguerite Pkwy in Mission Viejo, just east of Interstate 5 at the Avery Parkway exit. Parking is available in lot 12. Take Avery Parkway to Marguerite Pkwy turn left to the third traffic light, turn right into the campus and take the second left to the Theatre Circle turning right in lot 12.

Located in Mission Viejo, Saddleback College provides quality higher education and training to the greater south Orange County community.  Having served more than 500,000 students since 1968, Saddleback College offers over 300 degree and certificate programs to help students reach their personal, career, and educational goals.  For more information, please visit www.saddleback.edu and for Fine Arts information, please visit www.saddleback.edu/arts.  

Mission Viejo, CA – The Department of Theatre Arts at Saddleback College is thrilled to present AutoBahn, by critically acclaimed playwright, filmmaker and fiction writer Neil LaBute, on May 3-12 in the Studio Theatre. Directed by Beverly Arrowsmith, this collection of seven one-act plays is set within the confines of the automobile’s front seat. Each of these brief adult-themed vignettes explores the spirit of perception and relationship capturing the essence of Middle America and the myriad paths that cross its surface. From a make-out session gone awry to a kidnapping thinly disguised as a road trip, audiences will enjoy each one-act play titled Funny, Bench Seat, All Apologies, Merge, Long Division, Road Trip and AutoBahn.

Dates:  May 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11 at 8 pm and May 5 and 12 at 3 pm. Tickets can be purchased by calling (949) 582-4656 (noon-4 Wednesday-Saturday) and online at www.saddleback.edu/arts.  Prices are $15 general; $10 students/seniors.

The Department of Theatre Arts program at Saddleback College produces several fully-staged shows each year.  All students are given the opportunity to audition for every production yet Theatre Arts students are given priority in the casting process.  In addition there are numerous opportunities for students to contribute in backstage activities through the Entertainment and Theater Technology program.

Saddleback College is located at 28000 Marguerite Pkwy in Mission Viejo, just east of Interstate 5 at the Avery Parkway exit.  Free parking is available in Lot 12.  Take Avery Parkway to Marguerite Parkway turn left to the third traffic light, which is Saddleback’s Marguerite entrance. Turn right into the campus and take the third left to Theatre Circle, turning right into Lot 12.

Located in Mission Viejo, Saddleback College provides quality higher education and training to the greater south Orange County community.  Having served more than 500,000 students since 1968, Saddleback College offers over 300 degree and certificate programs to help students reach their personal, career, and educational goals.  For more information, please visit www.saddleback.edu and for Fine Arts information, please visit www.saddleback.edu/arts.  

Mission Viejo, CA – On Saturday, May 4th at 3 pm in the McKinney Theatre, Reflections of the Ocean Classical Keyboard Series at Saddleback College, Department of Music, presents The Piano Story, A Narrative Concert with Mario Merdirossián. Distinguished Argentine pianist Mario Merdirossián presents an entertaining approach about the factors leading up to the invention of the piano as well as its 300 years of evolution. “Merdirossián deserves to be noted amongst our best musicians.” – La Prensa, Buenos Aires.

Ticket prices are $12 general; $10 students/seniors; FREE for younger students and children with a paying adult; 2 for 1 for music teachers with MTAC or CAPMT ID. The ticket office is open Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 4 or order your tickets online at any time at www.saddleback.edu/arts.

Saddleback College is located at 28000 Marguerite Parkway in Mission Viejo, just east of Interstate 5 at the Avery Parkway exit.  Free parking is available in Lot 12.  Take Avery Parkway to Marguerite Parkway turn left to the third traffic light, which is Saddleback’s Marguerite entrance. Turn right into the campus and take the second left to Theatre Circle, turning right into Lot 12.

The Music Department has established a comprehensive program which is considered to be one of the finest in California:  a complete lower-division curriculum for transferring music majors, numerous performance groups, private and group lessons, a full concert series with faculty and guest artists, and general music courses.  The nationally recognized faculty is dedicated to performance and to teaching in all areas such as vocal, instrumental, jazz, guitar and piano.  Other music classes include harmony, musicianship, composition, history and appreciation of western art music, rock, jazz and world.

Located in Mission Viejo, Saddleback College provides quality higher education and training to the greater south Orange County community.  Having served more than 500,000 students since 1968, Saddleback College offers more than 300 degree and certificate programs to help students reach their personal, career, and educational goals.  For more information, please visit www.saddleback.edu.  For Fine Arts events, visit www.saddleback.edu/arts.