Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley
December 5, 2008 at Noon

Christmas classics arranged by Joyce for jazz combo & string quartet, complete with Candy Land, Gingerbread House, Santa Spud, Etch-a-Sketch, Barnyard Animals Play-Doh, Pirate Kit & MONSTER Ball!

Also featuring guest vocalists Angela "Jelly" Kwon, Adam Rogers & the Black Campus Ministries Gospel Choir.

An audio clip is below & photos are on the Gallery page.



About the Performers
Voice: From jazz composition and orchestration classes at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts to choral arranging and counterpoint at Yonsei University and various composition courses here at Cal, Joyce Kwon has learned from many talented teachers, including Yiorgos Vassilandonakis, who graciously put up with Joyce's countless questions on arranging for the string quartet with the jazz combo so that she could sing with her fantastic friends. If you’re curious, one of Joyce’s favorite things about Christmas is playing Santa for her baby sister, Jelly… but shhhh! Don’t tell her that!

Piano: Jack Tang officially studied Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Cal, spending countless hours in the infamous halls of Cory and Soda. But anyone who really knows him will tell you that he probably spent an equal or greater amount of time playing jazz in and around campus. His passion for music and electronics ultimately led him to a career designing analog signal processors for guitarists. Jack's favorite thing about Christmas is snow, or more specifically, since he grew up in Southern California, wishing for snow. "The TV specials made me think that if I wished it, snow would eventually come. Sometimes it would hail and I could pretend that it was snow. Now that I'm a little older, driving up to Tahoe is good enough for me."

Bass: A second-year student at UC Berkeley studying cognitive science, Ryan Finch has been an avid musician from a young age and enjoys playing music of all kinds on a number of instruments. Ryan plays and performs with the UC Jazz ensembles as well as various other groups. His favorite thing about the holiday season is going home to Bishop, CA and smelling the wood smoke in the cold winter air.

Drums: Benny Amon loves this time of the year, especially in the Bay Area: beautiful winter light, dramatic weather, and Holiday season! He grew up with the sense of community and warmth that the holiday season brings to people of different backgrounds. Currently exploring different major possibilities as a sophomore at UC Berkeley, Benny has been playing music most of his life, and is grateful to be sharing this music with you today.

Violin: April Paik is a fourth-year undergraduate student of Music and German. The excitement of Christmas overwhelms her with the smells of cinnamon, pine needles and fireplaces, the red sweaters, the white lights, the heavy blankets and flannel PJs. Though she could never understand why Christmas songs were taboo until December, April will readily sing loud enough for one month to make up for the other eleven.

Violin: A fourth-year business student at UC Berkeley, Jessica Ling's favorite thing about Christmas is driving down streets lined with houses all strung up with lights and roofs taken over by plastic reindeer. She began violin at the age of 5, after her mother caught her attempting to pluck out the strings of a piano.

Viola: Currently a fourth-year undergraduate mechanical engineering student, Jeff Kuo has studied the violin for 10 years and the viola for 3 years. In his spare time, when he is not stressed out over the endless stream of problem sets from his classes, he enjoys playing tennis, practicing Tae Kwon Do, and organizing chamber music parties. His favorite part of Christmas is brainstorming meaningful gifts to give to his friends. Oh...and the food. Yes...Nom nom nom.

Cello: Kai Chou is a senior at UC Berkeley to graduate in the spring with a double degree in mathematics and music. He currently studies cello with Irene Sharp and is in the University Symphony Orchestra. His favorite thing about Christmas is seeing family and no school!!