The Popular Music Festival, chaired by Kathy Kim, was held Saturday, October 12, 2019 at Grossmont College Recital Hall. 43 students were heard in three recitals playing pop, rock, blues, boogie, movie themes, folk, rags, and jazz. This event is a celebration of popular music as well as student creativity. Students played their favorites from many available books. Some played their arrangements from a chord chart, some learned their songs by ear, and we also heard a cello duo team perform a cover of a song originally recorded by the popular rock band AC/DC.
The three recitals were “emceed” by MTACSD teachers Tracy Lovley, Claudia Smetona and Jim Guerin, who introduced each performer and entertained us by their clever commentary between the performances. At the end of each recital, medals were presented to each student.
The event was enriched with a presentation at 3 PM by Yuko Maruyama, “Learn to Play from Chord Charts.” This lecture-presentation covered the basic rules of chord chart notation and how to apply them in songs. Examples were explained and demonstrated using many theory concepts from CM and were relevant to teachers and students familiar with CM theory.
The Popular Music Festival was a joyful day of music filling me with memories. As I have watched it expand and grow in the 25+ years of the event, teachers and students have added freedom of creativity, escalating their personal growth and accomplishments, so important to music education. I invite more teachers and students to join in the fun next year.
2019 POPULAR MUSIC FESTIVAL
Studios Represented: Eunji Bae, Irina Bessonova, Paul Burd, Melissa Creider, James Guerin, Sarah Harris, Kathy Kim, Amy Lee, Tracy Lovley, Yuko Maruyama, Leslie Olson, Carol Ong-Chen, Anna Savvas, Claudia Smetona, Anna Stal, Sophie Webber, Irina Williams and Mei Yin
Judges: Yuko Maruyama and Taylor Smith
Thank you to the 2019 Popular Music Festival Volunteers:
Eunji Bae, Irina Bessonova, James Guerin, Sarah Harris, Kathy Kim, Tracy Lovley, Yuko Maruyama, Leslie Olson, Carol Ong-Chen, Anna Savvas, Risa Schapiro, Claudia Smetona, and Irina Williams
