WCJC's music production featuring former EC student
By BARRY HALVORSON news@leader-news.com

A little something for everyone's taste in entertainment will be served up by the Wharton County Junior College Fine Arts Department at the annual Drama and Music Showcase Tuesday.

"The purpose of the showcase is to be a teaser for what we have coming up during the spring," WCJC Instructor for Music Lee Lemson said.

"The choirs and bands will do a couple of selections and the drama department will have something. It will offer the audience a taste of what the full versions of our performances are going to be this spring."

Groups performing include the concert and jazz bands, concert and chamber choirs and the drama department.

"It's a good mix," Lemson said. "The variety offered will help keep the audience focused and interested in the different performances by mixing different styles of performing. The jazz band will cook while the concert band will play a slower and an upbeat something. The choirs will offer something a little more refined, but also blowout the audience."

Among the choir students performing during the evening will be Houston's Nora Rodriguez, a music major; El Campo's Michael Deggs, a psychology major; and Jessica Sherwood, who is undeclared.

Despite their different academic pursuits, all three admitted to a love of music. But their differences also mean they take a different approach to Tuesday's upcoming performance.

"As a music major, I'm probably taking it a little more seriously and really want things to be perfect," Rodriguez said. "I'm always taking notes during rehearsals and I notice more in the preparations because right now I'm studying music theory."

And while not from Wharton County, Rodriguez said attending WCJC was predicted for her.

"Ever since I was little, we'd take trips to Matagorda to the Beach," she said. "On the drives home, my Dad would point to the college and tell me that I'd go there someday. I thought he was joking, but it turned out that way so I've been a part of WCJC for a long time in that respect."

For his part, Deggs is a music minor and planning on a career in music therapy. He's singing with the choir not for a grade, but for the enjoyment.

"I was in the school band for seven years," he said. "My senior year I had an opening in my schedule and the choir director Marietta Combs said I should be in the choir. It turned out I had an undiscovered talent for vocalization and now enjoy it more than playing an instrument."

While undecided about where her career is headed, Sherwood is positive about her love for music. Like Deggs, she was in the El Campo ISD band program for seven years but also was a member of the choir during that same time frame.

"I've been singing since I was three and that's probably been the biggest driving force in my life," she said. "I'm not sure if I want to make music a career, but right now it is the biggest part of my life."

Deggs said he was looking forward to the concert because it offers an opportunity to interact with an audience.

"The singing is a lot of fun," he said. "But its really beautiful when you have the opportunity to share it and invoke an emotional response in the people - perform something they can relate to that changes their day in a positive way."

All of the students are also aware of the tradition of excellence in the WCJC Fine Arts program.

Between appearing in a theater named for Horton Foote to being part of a choir program with a past history that includes performing at Carnegie Hall.

"That's actually creates high expectations," Rodriguez said. "But it's also something you want to live up to so I'd say its more inspiring that intimidating."

And that's just the attitude Lemson wants to see in his both his music students and in students who just want to be part of a musical ensemble.

"We do have a number of students who are music majors and they're required to perform in the shows as part of their core curriculum," he said. "But most actually are studying something else and they just love to sing. They sang as children, with their high school choirs and now want to experience performing at the college level. We do more challenging music, but it's a more relaxed setting because you don't have the UIL judging."

Lemson said that each semester, choir members will learn between 15 and 20 performance pieces. And all of the rehearsal work is done within the allocated class room hours.

"One thing we make sure of is that we don't schedule outside of class rehearsals because we are working with students," he said. "While some will work on their own, we remind them they have other classes that they need to pay attention to. We have students on scholarship and those scholarships are based on overall academic performance and not just musical performing.

"I also realize many of them have to have outside employment to help pay for the college and living expenses so we put together our concert dates at the start of the semester so they know when they need the time off."

The showcase will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets will be sold at the door for $4 and is free with a student ID card. This is a Center for the Arts Series presentation.