FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 19, 2015
Contact: Judy Iannaccone, Director, Public Affairs, (714) 480-7503, iannaccone_judy@rsccd.edu
Jungwon Jin to Perform Mozart Piano Concerto
(Santa Ana, CA)— The Santa Ana College (SAC) Music Department is hosting “Jungwon Jin in Concert” on Saturday, October 24 at 7:30 p.m. in Phillips Hall Theatre, 1530 W. 17th St., Santa Ana, CA, 92706. General admission is $15; staff and senior tickets are $12; students with ID tickets are $9.99; and tickets for children 5-14 are $5.00. VIP reserved tickets are $50.00 ($15 ticket and $35 donation to SAC Friends of Music). Tickets may be purchased online at sac.edu/music.
The concert will spotlight Dr. Jungwon Jin, SAC assistant professor of music and world-recognized pianist along with Bich-Van, Vietnamese-American singer-actress-songwriter; Bonita Nahoum Jaros, mezzo-soprano and SAC coordinator of institutional effectiveness and assessment; Dr. Elliott Jones, director of choral music at SAC, and the SAC Chamber Choir; Dr. Brian Kehlenbach, chair of the college’s music department, composer, classical recitalist and jazz pianist; and Melody Versoza, SAC vocal instructor.
Jin will perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C Major with Maestro Binh Vu and the Santiago Canyon College (SCC) Community Orchestra. Vu is assistant professor of music at SCC and a conductor and music director who serves multiple ethnic communities in the U.S., Vietnam, and throughout Europe. In addition to the concerto, Vu will also conduct the Beethoven’s Egmont Overture and the first movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.
Other featured performances at the Centennial Concert include Bich-Van who will perform a well-loved Vietnamese song Tinh Ca by Phạm Duy. Kehlenbach will debut his Three Songs on Poetry by Emily Dickinson sung by Versoza.
Mezzo-soprano Nahoum Jaros will perform an aria from Handel’s Ombra and an aria from Rossini’s Barber of Seville. The SAC Chamber Choir led by Jones will perform a requiem by Mozart.
“We wanted to pull together a really special concert to celebrate Santa Ana College’s 100th birthday and to showcase our new Steinway piano,” said Kehlenbach. “Thanks to the collaboration of SCC’s Binh Vu, this celebration will feature a symphony orchestra. We are also pleased to feature from Santa Ana College’s multi-talented faculty and students as well as our special guest performer Bich-Van.”
About Jungwon Jin
Dr. Jin came to the United States to study at The Juilliard School with Martin Canin and Gyorgy Sandor. She continued her studies at the Manhattan School of Music with Constance Keene, and earned master and doctoral degrees under Nancy Bricard at the University of Southern California. Jin has performed extensively, both in recital and with orchestra, in the United States, Asia, and Europe. Her performances were featured on ABC Radio in Australia, KBS Radio-Television in Korea, KCRW in Santa Monica, CTS TV in Buena Park, and the Young Artist Showcase on WQXR in New York. She has been prize winner or finalist in many musical competitions including the Juilliard Concerto Competition, the Manhattan School Concerto Competition, the USC Concerto Competition, the Young Artist Guild Competition, the Sydney and New Orleans International Competitions and the Louise McMahone International Competition. In 2002 she received the Most Distinguished Music Award at the IBLA International Competition in Sicily, Italy. Her recital at New York¹s Carnegie Hall took place in 2005. She has performed four concertos with Maestro Carlo Ponti Jr. with the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra between seasons 2003 to 2008. Dr Jin’s recordings include Selected Solo Highlights from the Sydney International Piano Competition, and In Search of Light: Works of Claude Debussy.
About Bich-Van
Bich-Van was handed the mandolin by her grandfather when she was four. She started taking piano lessons at age five and singing at six, and has been performing ever since. Previously trained at National Music Conservatory in Vietnam and at Bob Cole Conservatory of Music, Long Beach, California, Bich-Van recently graduated with a Masters in Musical Theater at New York University, and an Advanced Certificate in Vocal Pedagogy. Bich-Van is one of the most sought-after Vietnamese vocalists in her genre, and has performed as a soloist with Asia Entertainment, the Vietnamese–American Philharmonic, the Ngan Khoi Chorus, and more. She is also performing in opera, musical theater and stage productions, concerts and Christian events all over the world at prestigious venues such as National Music Conservatory in Vietnam, Kennedy Center (DC), Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center (NY), Segerstrom Center for the Arts (CA), Carpenter Performing Arts Center (CA), La Mirada Theater (CA), Rachel Schlesinger Concert Hall (VA), Marie Stéphane Concert Hall (Montreal), among others.
York University.
About Santa Ana College
Santa Ana College (SAC), which is turning 100 years old in 2015, serves about 18,000 students each semester at its main campus in Santa Ana. The college prepares students for transfer to four-year institutions, provides invaluable workforce training, and customized training for business and industry. In addition, another 11,000 students are served through the college’s School of Continuing Education located at Centennial Education Center. Ranked as one of the nation’s top two-year colleges awarding associate degrees to Latino and Asian students, the college is also recognized throughout the state for its comprehensive workforce training programs for nurses, firefighters, law enforcement and other medical personnel. SAC is one of two comprehensive colleges under the auspices of the Rancho Santiago Community College District. Visit www.sac.edu to learn more. For information about Santa Ana College’s Centennial, please visit www.sac.edu/100.