By Lookout Staff
May 28, 2025 -- Local jazz and Latin music fans have plenty to choose from as Santa Monica College (SMC) students present a series of concerts showcasing their talents over the next two weeks.
On Friday at 7:30 p.m., the SMC Vocal Jazz Ensemble will present “A Night of Jazz,” featuring "smooth melodies and soulful tunes" in the Music Hall at the SMC Performing Arts Center at 13th Street and Santa Monica Boulevard.
The concert features 51 SMC vocalists under the direction of SMC music instructor Marisa Bradfield, who is also associate conductor of the University of Southern California (USC) Concert Choir.
The vocalists, accompanied by a three-piece jazz combo, "will explore the diverse jazz landscape in a concert featuring works ranging from classic standards to contemporary selections."
Next Monday, June 2 at 7 p.m. in the Music Hall, the SMC Jazz Ensemble -- with Grammy Award-winning guest artist Bill Cunliffe -- will explore “La Gratitude,” a program featuring jazz ensemble arrangements from Cunliffe, John Clayton, and others.
On June 5 and 7, the SMC Piano Ensemble will take the stage at The Edye Second Space at the SMC Performing Arts Center with a performance featuring Latin dances that include tangos, sambas and a tarantella
With dancers accompanying selected pieces, the intermediate and advanced SMC piano students will "demonstrate the uniqueness and diversity of four-hand piano and piano duo compositions.
Among the featured composers are Astor Piazzolla, a modern master of the Argentine tango; French classical composer Darius Milhaud, who was inspired by Brazilian rhythms, and the great bosa-nove composer Antonio Carlos Jobim.
The concerts, under the direction of SMC music instructor Sumy Takesue, are "guaranteed to be more than twice as much fun as a solo piano performance."
Advance tickets are $10 (plus a modest service charge) and can be purchased online at smc.edu/tickets. Tickets are free for SMC students with an ID except for the Vocal Jazz Ensemble concert, which is $5.
Tickets can also be purchased at the box office starting 45 minutes before the performance. Seating is strictly on a first-arrival basis. There is free parking on premises.
