San Juan College kicks off live online music series

FARMINGTON — Music students at San Juan College will offer their first public performance since they were sidelined in March by the COVID-19 pandemic this weekend in an event that also serves as their final exams.

The Fall End-of-Semester Student Showcase series begins with "A Night of 'Live' online Jazz" at 7 p.m. Nov. 13.

The performance will be streamed live at sanjuancollege.edu/student-showcase, facebook.com/SanJuanCollege and facebook.com/ksje90.9. It is the first in a series of such performances/exams that will continue in December and feature various other musical groups from the college.

The jazz concert program will feature performances of "Giant Steps" by John Coltrane, "A Night in Tunisia" by Dizzy Gillespie and "Freedom Jazz Dance" by Eddie Harris by the San Juan College Jazz Combo.

The Specials Combo will perform George Shearing's "Lullaby of Birdland" with vocalist Margaret Clair, as well as "500 Miles High" by Chick Corea, and will feature Xinyu Yang on Benny Golson's "I Remember Clifford."

The program also features the Sax Combo performing Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage," "Blue Train" by Coltrane and "When I Fall in Love" by Victor Young.

The concert will take place in the Henderson Fine Arts Center Performance Hall, but no audience will be permitted in the facility. The performers will be positioned according to strict social distancing protocols, and face masks will be worn when musical instruments are not being played, college officials said.

According to a press release, the college was granted permission under strict precautionary measures to allow up to 24 students, two instructors and two media services technicians to be present in the facility to facilitate the final exams.

"The Henderson Fine Arts Center Performance Hall has a capacity of approximately 700 occupants," San Juan College Executive Vice President Edward DesPlas stated in the press release. "Twenty-eight people within this classroom represents 4 percent of the occupancy of the room, far below the 25 percent capacity allowed for gyms and health clubs, indoor dining at restaurants, and retail businesses. The students will perform their final exam and then leave the facility."