NEWS RELEASE

SANTA CLARITA — The College of the Canyons music department will help usher in the holiday season with its presentation of the Annual Holiday Jazz Band Concert taking place Dec. 7, in the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center (PAC).

This year’s holiday concert will once again feature performances by the college’s Studio Jazz Ensemble and Lab Jazz band and include many popular holiday songs that audience members will be able to sing along to, including “Frosty the Snowman,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Silent Night,” “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Hanukkah Swings” and many, many more.

“I always enjoy going to concerts where I recognize the tunes,” said COC music director KC Manji. “The holiday concert has become an annual favorite here at COC and always helps us properly welcome in the holiday season.

  “After the show, you can usually hear folks singing holiday tunes as they walk back to their cars,” added Manji.

Both groups will perform under the direction of Manji and be accompanied on stage by guest singer, Katherine Lench-Meyering and members of the Symphony of the Canyons student orchestra.

Lench-Meyering’s professional experience includes performances at the Hollywood Bowl alongside tenors Sergio Franchi and Placido Domingo in the Tony Award-winning musical “Nine” and in “Goya: A Life in Song,” respectively. She also played the lead role in the fall 2011 COC theatre production of “The Drowsy Chaperone” and most recently performed at the COC music department’s “Musical Jazz Band Sounds of World War II” concert in November.

“Working with the students from Symphony of the Canyons has been a very fun and rewarding experience. It’s a treat to have the addition of a strings section, which provides an extra layer of musical texture and richness to our sound,” Manji said.  “And working with Katherine is always a pleasure.”

The 2012 Holiday Jazz concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7, on the main stage of the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center (PAC) at College of the Canyons.

General admission tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for COC students and senior citizens.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call the Box Office at (661)362-5304 or visit www.canyonsPAC.com.