by Kevin Cody
Joanna Medawar Nachef, El Camino College’s Director of Choral and Orchestral Activities, assembled a program that looked intimidatingly long for the school’s Diamond Jubilee Concert. It ended too quickly, after stunningly showcasing the school’s musical legacy.
The free concert was held Saturday, June 4 at the campus’ Marsee Auditorium, headlined by alumnus, composer and pianist David Benoit.
Benoit conducted an achingly beautiful symphony of his own composition, which lived up to its optimistic promise. It was titled “Soul to Seoul, East Meets West: A Time of Hope.”
The evening ended with an equally uplifting performance, but at the other end of the musical spectrum, the Gospel classic, “City Called Heaven,” by Josephine Poelinitz. “American Idol” finalist Chikezie Eze sang in friendly competition with fellow El Camino alumni Sherdale Smith and Samuel Tejada.
Throughout the evening, Nachef invited comparisons to James Brown, as the hardest working conductor in show business.
She began the evening by conducting the college orchestra and choral groups in a selection from Carmina Burana, followed by selections from “Waterworks,” followed by the overture to “Candide,” followed by Beethoven’s “Allegro con Brio.”
The stage changes between performances, always the bane of shows with multiple acts, flew by unnoticed because Nachef commanded the audience as deftly as she conducted her musicians.
“Beethoven sawed off the legs of his piano to make it louder when he became deaf. The neighbors didn’t appreciate the noise and he was forced to move over 80 times,” she said.
The evening’s third conductor was Dane Teter, who retired last year as El Camino’s Director of instrumental Music. Teter found a middle ground, between the symphonic and Gospel, with a “Salute to Ol’ Blue Eyes,” a medley of Frank Sinatra music, with no vocals.
Sinatra was followed by what seemed logical that evening, a vocal performance of highlights from Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 in D Minor.
The singers were soprano Erin Wood, alto Lizbeth Sanchez Montenegro, tenor Chrstopher Craig, and baritone Anthony Moreno, all El Camino alumni who have gone onto professional music careers.
“My vision for this concert was to create an evening of music that celebrates the facets of ECC’s musical mosaic….“Another facet was to celebrate the legacy of excellence in our music department.
She succeeded. ER
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