SJC Christmas band concert

The Saint Joseph's College Bands held their Christmas Concert on Sunday, December 7, 2008. I recorded some of it using digital cameras and made a video to upload to YouTube. I discovered that YouTube does not accept videos longer than ten minutes, and I had exceeded that by over three minutes. So I re-edited and was able to get two pieces of music down to nine minutes and 59 seconds. It includes most of "Sleigh Ride" by Leroy Anderson played by the Wind Ensemble and "Swingin' Shepherd Blues" by Moe Koffman, a fun piece played by the Jazz Band with a great vocal performance by Renee Rybolt.


Here is a picture of Renee and Paul Geraci, director of the Jazz Band. Renee performed at the Art in the Alley in August, but I was unable to get a picture of her at the time.
The other piece I attempted to record was "Angels We Have Heard on High," played by the Symphonic Band. A student, James Winter, arranged and directed this piece. (James has appeared on this blog before.)



As you watch this second video, you might notice that it is much darker than the first video. I have two new cameras and have been trying to figure out what the relative strengths and weaknesses of each are. One of the drawbacks with the camera I was using here was that to record, one must keep the shutter button depressed, and part way through I let it pop up, which causes the break in the performance. I like the other camera's method better--one presses the button to start recording, and then presses it again to end recording. (I still have a lot to learn about video.) Also, recording video with a digital camera limits what you can do in a musical performance. I was too far away from the musicians to capture anything visually interesting. On the other hand, this is the experience of most of the audience.

On a related note, the Gene Krupa Orchestra will be at SJC on January 15, 2009 to conduct a clinic for band members and to perform. Mark your calendars and watch for announcements. The performance will be during the day--they have a paying gig in Chicago for that night.

Gene Krupa spent a year at SJC studying for the priesthood before he joined a band and took his life in another direction. He died in 1973.

Update: The Krupa Orchestra has canceled. They had logistical problems in Chicago.