Mission Statement
To create engaging, educational and experiential music and artistic performances that foster community understanding across diverse cultures, genres and generations.
Clazzical Notes stages music programs that are designed to achieve three goals: engaging individuals through high-quality musical performances; educating audiences through information about culture, history and musical genres; and experiencing unique levels of audience interaction with performers.
More Than Just Rhythms and Sounds
Come immerse yourself in the vibrant rhythms and beats of our multicultural percussion program, where diversity meets harmony in a celebration of music from across the world.
Sunday April 28th, 2024 5pm
Neighborhood Unitarian Church
301 N. Orange Grove Blvd
Pasadena CA 91103
Sunday April 28th, 2024 5pm
Neighborhood Unitarian Church
301 N. Orange Grove Blvd
Pasadena CA 91103
Special Guest Artists
McKinley School Drum Corps
McKinley School Drum Corps
With performances by:
CHRISTOPHER GARCIA
North and South India percussion & breath instruments of Mesoamerica Christopher Garcia is a "native" of (East) Los Angeles. "A musical polyglot" with concerts in 28 countries and on 5 continents. Some know of his work as either a drummer/marimbist or a percussionist of the north or south Indian percussion, or a multi-instrumentalist who also plays breath, percussion, and string instruments of Mesoamerica, or as a composer of all of the above in the following musical circles: avant-garde classical, chamber and symphonic music, the indigenous and folkloric music of Mesoamerica and Mexico, jazz, and rock. Christopher attributes his musical growth to his mentors John Bergamo, Dr. Truett Hollis, and Swapan Chaudhuri where he studied western music, north Indian tabla, south Indian kanjira, ghatam and western percussion, while attending East Los Angeles College and California Institute of the Arts on a full scholarship. As a composer he continues to receive commissions for indigenous instruments of Mexico/Mesoamerica, percussion of India with classical guitar, pedal harp, piano forte, sarode, sitar, and surbahar. He continues to be in demand as a multi-instrumentalist employing extended techniques using fingers, hands and sticking in a variety of jazz, rock and world music settings. In addition to providing coaching for percussion ensembles for both chamber and symphonic performances, Christopher is a featured soloist, and serves as a resource for composers about the mechanics of composing for and playing percussion. Christopher shares the beauty and the nature of music's resonance and silence with individuals of all ages, ethnicities, and cultures, both in musical and non-musical settings. |
MALIK SOW
Master Senegal Percussion, composer, and choreographer Master drummer, composer, and choreographer Elhadj Malik Sow, born in Dakar, Senegal, hails from the Fulani ethnic group of West Africa. Coming from a line of musicians and griots, Elhadj received training from his uncles until he was ten, and subsequently began a career in cultural exchange amongst the Jola, Bambara, Sosey, Serrer, Wolof, and others, becoming well versed in their folklore and customs. Elhadj has performed or taught traditional West African music since 1960. During his career, he has worked with the Ballet d’Afrique Noire, the National Ballet of Senegal, and Les Ballets Africains. Currently, he directs the Futa Toro West African Dance Ensemble, which tours extensively. |
SHOJI KAMEDA
Master Taiko Percussion Shoji is a Grammy nominated musician, composer and producer. He started playing taiko at the age of 8 and has played continuously since. He was selected through a highly competitive process as an Asian Pacific Performance Exchange fellow, collaborating with master artists from the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the USA. He was also selected as an Indonesian Arts Exchange fellow which sent him and three other master arts to central Java for three weeks to teach and perform. Collaborations with international artists have taken Shoji to Malaysia, French Guiana, Mongolia and Bali. He composed an original score for Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story, Audience Award winner for Best Documentary at the Slamdance Film Festival. He was featured in the music of the hit NBC TV show “Heroes” performed with Stevie Wonder at the 2008 Democratic National Convention and received a Grammy nomination with jazz fusion band Hiroshima for his work on their album Legacy. As a founding member of On Ensemble and the group’s primary creative force he produced On Ensemble’s critically acclaimed albums Dust and Sand, Ume in the Middle and Bizarre Heroes. In 2013 On Ensemble was invited to perform at the National Theater of Japan for their prestigious “Nihon no Taiko” series. Shoji is sought after by groups throughout the taiko world for workshops, masterclasses and compositions. His compositions for taiko are performed around the world and recently Shoji has partnered with Miyamoto Unosuke Shoten to create “kaDON” a new online venture that will provide high quality instruction and repertoire for taiko and fue. |
NADIA CALMET
Afro Peruvian Percussion and Folk Dance Artist Nadia Calmet is a professional Peruvian Folk Dance Artist, specializing in Afro-Peruvian Dances. She has more than 25 years of experience participating in cultural exchanges with organizations in more than thirty countries as a cultural representative of Peru. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Tourism and Hospitality with studies in Public Policies for Vulnerable Populations, as well as in Arts Therapy and Intercultural Education and Child Development. She also has a degree in Community Artist from CAL STATE University, Los Angeles. Nadia was a member of the Millennium Theater Group (Kimba Fá - Peru). She has worked as a choreographer and soloist for the legendary singer Eva Ayllon. In 2015 Nadia participated in the Peruvian delegation with the production "PERU: Pachamama" organized by the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Additionally, she engaged in cultural exchanges with organizations such as Conjunto Folklórico Nacional in Cuba, Familia Ayala in Puerto Rico. She is a script writer, choreographer, and artistic director of more than 10 Peruvian musicals in different cities such as: Lima, Seattle, Utah and Los Angeles. She is the main initiator of the “Afro-Peruvian Cultural Day” in Los Angeles, CA, a first for the city. She has given lectures at several universities in the United States, such as: Connecticut University, Purdue University, Indiana University, UCLA among others. She is also the founder and Artistic Director of the performing arts company the “Afro-Peruvian Experience” in Los Angeles which allows her to continue to vindicate, embody, and give visibility to the cultural diversity of Peru. |
Composing Stories That Sing
Alkebulan Cultural Center
1435 N Raymond Ave, Pasadena, CA 91103
5:00 pm
Admission $15.00
Students free w/student ID
1435 N Raymond Ave, Pasadena, CA 91103
5:00 pm
Admission $15.00
Students free w/student ID
Program Partners
GAMMA ZETA BOULÉ FOUNDATION
L.A.M.P. MENTOR PROGRAM
THE PLUS ME PROJECT
Helping studenIn this program, students have achieved the opportunity to author their own stories, displaying their creativity and imagination. Professional musicians play a crucial role in enhancing the emotional impact of these student-written stories.ts discover & affirm the greatness within them.
GAMMA ZETA BOULÉ FOUNDATION
L.A.M.P. MENTOR PROGRAM
THE PLUS ME PROJECT
Helping studenIn this program, students have achieved the opportunity to author their own stories, displaying their creativity and imagination. Professional musicians play a crucial role in enhancing the emotional impact of these student-written stories.ts discover & affirm the greatness within them.
ESTEBAN ADAME, Keyboard
Esteban Adame is an East Los Angeles DJ/ Pianist who emerged from the Chicano/Latino rave or party scene in the 1990s. He started DJing at the age of 15. In 2004, he was asked by “Mad Mike Banks of Underground Resistance to join the music collective in Detroit, Michigan. Banks reportedly was interested when he "found out Chicanos from Southern California were interested in UR records, sensing a common ground between Los Angeles's Latino enclaves and the Black neighborhoods of Detroit." Adame would go on to play piano for the label's electronic jazz band Galaxy 2 Galaxy which included performances at Metamorphose in Tokyo, Berghain, Berlin, and Fabric, London. In 2006, he founded the label Ican with Santiago Salazar and has released multiple productions for the label. He has collaborated with DJ Dex (Nomadico), who he formed the group El Coyote with, as well as DJ 3000. In 2019, he and Nomadico played the Carnaval De Bahidorá festival in Mexico. Adame also releases music under the name Frequencia, which has been described as the experimental and "darker side of his productions." Eager to lead a his own jazz project, in 2022 he formed the Mezclado Quintet whose members include Raul Pineda, Joey de Leon, Frank Fontaine, and Edwin Livingston. The quintet explores Afro-Latin, jazz, and electronic music through original composition and reharmonizations of standards, Latin music classics, and popular music. |
BARBARA LARONGA, Trumpet
Barbara Laronga, hails from Massachusetts and has performed extensively throughout the country and internationally. As a member of “Sherrie Maricle and the Diva Jazz Orchestra” she performed with such jazz giants as Dave Brubeck, Clark Terry, Joe Williams, Nancy Wilson, Claudio Roditi, Herbie Mann, Slide Hampton, The New York Pops, Marian McPartland, Dr. Lonnie Smith, and Diane Schuur. She also recorded 4 records with DIVA, and recently played for the award-winning show, "Maurice Hines' - Tappin' Thru Life". She has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Birdland, The Blue Note, The Montreal Jazz Festival, The Newport Jazz Festival, The Berlin Jazz Festival, The Jamaica Jazz Festival, The Nokia Theater, The Apollo Theater, Gillette Stadium, Yankee Stadium, The Hatch Shell (Boston), Tanglewood, Teatro di Venezia, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. Barbara Laronga received her MM in Jazz Trumpet Performance from Manhattan School of Music and her BM with a double major of Music Business and Trumpet Performance from UMASS, Lowell. She has taught and continues to teach at several institutions and for many programs including Los Angeles City College, Mt. San Antonio College, The Grammy Foundation, The New York Pops, The United Nations International School, and for a groundbreaking jazz program funded by The Midori Foundation for The Landmark and Coalition School in New York City. Ms. Laronga has been an adjudicator, clinician, and performer at many jazz festivals throughout the nation. |
ROCIO MARRON, Singer, Violin, Viola
Rocio Marron is a violinist, who has ventured into the world of singing and songwriting. After falling in love with music as a young girl and attending the Colburn School for the performing arts in High School, Rocio studied performance violin at USC’s Thornton School of Music. Rocio has made a name for herself as being one of Los Angeles’ exceptional improvising violinists. This versatile artist has played in styles ranging from Country to Mariachi. She learned to improvise in her early years through the rock and country bands that she played with in college, and later went on to become one of the most sought-after violinists in the Latin music scene. In the Summer of 2017 composer Germaine Franco asked Rocio to perform solo violin on “Proud Corazón” in the Disney Pixar film “Coco.” Rocio has toured with Los Lobos and Quetzal; performed with Rihanna, Alessia Cara, and Cuban bass legend Cachao; recorded with Raphael Saadiq and GRAMMY® Nominated Caravana Cubana, among others. She is a violinist, string arranger and writer on the 2013 GRAMMY® Award-winning album “Imaginaries” by Quetzal. Rocio can be seen performing with Entre Mujeres, which is a collaboration of women making music across borders. Rocio is a current Adjunct Faculty Member of California Lutheran University. She is a former faculty member of the Silverlake Conservatory of Music where she taught violin, viola and guitar. |
KEVIN O’NEAL, Bass
Kevin O’Neal is a Grammy winning bassist, composer, producer, and educator. His credits include the films Ghostbusters, 48 Hrs., A Great & Mighty Walk, Devil with A Blue Dress, Troubled Waters, along with recordings and performances with Outkast, LaVern Baker, Nnenna Freelon, Solomon Burke, Tracy Chapman, Barry Harris, Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr. (5th Dimension) and as a solo artist. As a music educator he has served young people in the Compton, Lynwood and Los Angeles Unified School Districts, Kevin has served as an award-winning Associate Professor of Music at Santa Monica College for 16 years: Jazz & American Culture. Painting musical portraits and representing them is one of Kevin’s assets. Kevin loves his bass and applies himself to fine works representing humanity, life and good times. |