Lavender Jazz, All-Campus Band to perform fall concert Nov. 20

Concert: Goshen College All-Campus Band and Lavender Jazz Fall Concert
Date and Time: Friday, Nov. 20, 2015, 7:30 p.m.
Location: Goshen College Music Center’s Sauder Concert Hall
Cost: Tickets: $7 adults, $5 seniors/students, available online or by calling (574) 535-7566. GC faculty/staff/students free with valid ID.

Goshen College’s All-Campus Band will perform alongside GC’s Lavender Jazz ensemble in a joint concert Friday, Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Music Center’s Sauder Concert Hall. Each ensemble will present one half of the concert.

All-Campus Band is conducted by José Rocha, associate professor of music, and features wind musicians from across campus, including both music majors and non-majors, as well as faculty and staff. Their program will include works for wind ensemble by Larry Clark, Michael Oare, Richard Saucedo and Robert W. Smith.

Lavender Jazz is Goshen College’s big band, and is led by Chris French, adjunct professor of music. This student ensemble’s program will include jazz charts by Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Gordon Goodwin and more.

Tickets for this concert are $7 adults, $5 seniors/students, available for purchase at the door beginning one hour before the concert. GC faculty/staff/students are free with valid ID.

José Rocha, is associate professor of music at Goshen College and director of the Goshen College Symphony Orchestra. Strongly committed to music education, Rocha has taught and directed middle school and high school orchestras in Florida, Texas and Mississippi for the past 15 years, and is a sought-after conductor and cellist in the United States and Mexico. Rocha made his Carnegie Hall debut leading the Johnston Sinfonia Orchestra in 2014. Rocha has enjoyed a diverse musical career, conducting and performing with Ray Price, Glenn Frey, Frank Sinatra Jr., Marvin Hamlish, Ray Charles and Johnny Mathis, among others. His orchestral experience includes membership in the Southwest Florida Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic, Savannah Symphony, Symphony of South East Texas and the Strauss Symphony of America. Rocha holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Houston, a Master of Music degree and bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida.

A versatile instrumentalist, Chris French is an accomplished clarinetist, saxophonist and flutist. He received a bachelor’s degree and Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School. While in New York, he was principal clarinetist of the National Orchestra of New York, and studied with Leon Russianoff, Joe Allard, Charles Russo and Warne Marsh. After briefly playing with the Orquesta del Estado de Mexico, he returned to Los Angeles (where he grew up) and pursued a career as a symphony orchestra and recording studio musician. In addition to Goshen College, French is also on the faculty of Indiana University South Bend and St. Mary’s College. He plays regularly with classical and jazz performing groups in Indiana, Michigan and Illinois, and has been featured soloist with many Michiana music ensembles. French has played at the Elkhart Jazz Festival for the past 10 years.