Young audience captivated by Gluck's breathtaking performance at the showcase concert
On a chilly Friday morning, February 12th, the UCLA Gluck Fellows Music Outreach Program held its annual showcase concert at Schoenberg Hall, The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. The event marked another successful year of the program's mission to bring music and the arts to underserved communities across Los Angeles.
The concert featured seven ensembles, each showcasing their unique talents and passion for music. The Gluck Mariachi Ensemble ended the concert with a standout performance, featuring a commanding solo by ethnomusicology major Saveena Patel. Earlier in the program, the Gluck Classical Voice Ensemble performed "We Kiss in a Shadow" from The King and I by Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Là ci darem la mano" from Don Giovani, by Mozart.
The Gluck Jazz Ensemble explained how jazz improvisation works and said they play it differently each time, while the Old Time Ensemble led a singalong to "Creek's All Muddy." The Gluck String Quartet opened the concert with a lively piece by Maurice Ravel, and the Gluck Trombone Quartet played some Thelonious Monk.
Mathew Harget, a member of the Gluck Saxophone Quartet, addressed the audience and explained that they would be participating in a research project during the concert. The audience was invited to clap during their favorite tune from a medley of themes from Monsters, Inc., the Incredibles, and Up! The winner of the research project was Up!
The UCLA Gluck Fellows Music Outreach Program is a partnership between the Max H. Gluck Foundation and the School of Music at UCLA. Each academic year, top-tier UCLA student performers are hand-selected to participate in the program. The Fellows perform in chamber ensembles or as solo artists, offering free educational performances across an immense diversity of musical styles.
The program's mission and purpose focus on leveraging music education and performance to engage and enrich the Los Angeles community. The program specifically aims to bring classical music and its educational benefits to diverse populations, often targeting underserved communities in the area.
Jan Berry Baker, a professor of saxophone and faculty artistic advisor for the Gluck Fellows Program, emphasized the importance of learning to play for different kinds of audiences and understanding how to reach different audiences to make concerts more impactful. The Fellows spend most of their time conducting runouts to schools, libraries, and retirement homes, focusing on community engagement.
The year-end showcase attracted students from six different schools: Los Angeles Elementary, Broadway Elementary, Braddock Elementary, UCLA's Horace Mann, the UCLA Lab School, and the Geffen Academy at UCLA. Soprano Tivoli Treloar took Mattia Venni's hand at the end of their aria, causing audible gasps in the audience.
The UCLA Gluck Fellows Music Outreach Program has been the beneficiary of a generous grant from the Max H. Gluck Foundation since 1996. For more detailed information about the program, please visit UCLA’s official music department or outreach program web pages. The program continues to make a significant impact on the Los Angeles community, bringing the joy and educational benefits of music to those who may not otherwise have the opportunity to experience it.
During the concert, the Gluck Fellows Music Outreach Program showcased various ensembles, blending education-and-self-development with entertainment through their unique performances, such as Saveena Patel's ethnomusicology-inspired solo from the Gluck Mariachi Ensemble. Thisoutreach program's mission extends beyond the concert hall, aiming to lifestyle enrichment in underserved Los Angeles communities by providing free educational performances in diverse musical styles.
