Morgan Genser Corsair

Conductor James E. Smith leads the orchestra in playing a piece titled "Passion" at the Concert Hall on Sunday, Nov. 16 as part of the "Spotlight on Students" performance put on by the Santa Monica College Music Department. On the left is solo violinist Nazanin Eliahoo.

The profusion of sound that was the Santa Monica College Symphony Orchestra trying to squeeze in a few more minutes of rehearsal was swallowed by a hush as their large audience slowly trickled in. "We expect to be playing to more people than we have seats, so fill every space," instructed Dr. James Smith, the orchestra's conductor, as his prediction was realized. The Concert Hall held a full house that Sunday night.

The repertoire for the evening, titled the "Spotlight on Students" program, featured compositions by SMC students, alumni and faculty as well as some very talented student soloists from the Applied Music Program. It opened with a romantic piece called "Meditation" by Mark Carlson (an SMC professor who also now teaches at UCLA), then followed with Mozart's Concerto in C Major, wherein nimble Alexander Parnell, an oboe soloist, rippled out the rapid melody. It seemed effortless, but the audience knew otherwise from his breathless, pink-faced visage. "It's a unique challenge, to play in the orchestra but still play a solo," sad Dr. Smith. His performance was received with ferocious applause.

Eduardo V. Ochoa, another student, composed and performed his own piece: Concerto for Piccolo and Orchestra in E minor. His piccolo-playing was lilting and ominous like an approaching hurricane, and he took it to ear-popping heights.

Willowy Miyuki Hokazono had a penchant for closing her eyes when the wordless keening of her violin reached a crescendo. Her performance of Beethoven's "Romance in F Major" brought to mind the breathless, suspenseful emotions of someone watching their beloved from afar.

"Passion" by Mark Edhardt, who was in the Applied Music Program for three years and now writes for the TV and film industry, started out slow and lyrical, but built up in brightness and exuberance.

Veering away from that light-heartedness was Andrew Ahn, who performed "Concerto IX" by Charles de Beriat. The moody solo, delivered as such, caused audience member Bob Scott to remark that he had "fabulous tone."

The next piece, Bruno Louchoarn's "Water/Clock," according to the short description he provided Dr. Smith with, is inspired by time-measuring instruments, from the sun dial to the atomic clock. Louchoarn, formerly a student in the Applied Music Program, is now a Professor of Music at Occidental College .

"The Time piece was my favorite one," said Tania Lee, a member of the audience who came to see her friend, violin soloist Grace Park's performance. "It was different from the rest of the pieces and it was the most emotional one."

Grace Park and Nazanin Eliahoo positively shone in Concerto No. 1 by Max Bruch. Park, a played the allegro moderato segment, while Eliahoo, tackled the second half, the adagio, bringing this sweetly intense piece to life. "I had no idea how good and talented she was," said Lee. Eliahoo said that she was "satisfied" with her performance. "The second movement is a piece I really like. I have a tape at home by Pinkhas Zukerman. He is my favorite. He inspired me to play," she said.

The French horn solo by Timothy Battig was accompanied by tenor Dennis Parnell, who teaches voice classes here at SMC. The chosen piece was Horn and Strings, op. 3, which was inspired by a William Blake poem ("The Sick Rose"). "Elegy, Hymn" was also inspired by poetry, this time "Hymn to Diana" by Ben Johnson.

Both musicians' performances went without a hitch. It is unfortunate that the acoustics in the Concert Hall are weak. In a different venue (perhaps in the new theater that will be materializing on the Madison campus) the sounds would have been bouncing off the walls.

"The Great Voyages of Captain Little," composed by Kentaro Sato (formerly of the Applied Music Program, now a Composition major at California State University , Northridge) is full of the excitement of setting sail for an unknown destination. "I didn't have any particular inspiration," he said after the show. "I just wrote what I liked to play, and what I liked to hear at a concert. I made sure that every instrument had it's own turn. There were no wasted instruments."

True to his word, every section of the orchestra had time in the spotlight, from the thundering drums in percussion, to the heroic trumpeting in brass.

It was a fitting end to such a show, which, because of the wide range of talent and auditory experiences, was like a journey in itself.