Students perform a variety of selections that they have studied with faculty during the semester. Student performers include Dania Anabtawi and Joanne Oh (flute), Saira Arora (oboe), Ian Tam (clarinet), Olivia Leyba (French horn), Kimberly Rush (violin), plus Charis Kim, John Paul Ferrantino, Robin Shen and Joey Zobel (piano); offering selections that they have studied with faculty. They will be assisted by pianist Jennie Jung.

EPSG:4326

Pomona College Student Recital

Pomona College

Students perform a variety of selections that they have studied with faculty during the semester. Student vocalists Sydney Cottrell (alto) and Melina Soberg (soprano) along with instrumentalists Matthew Cheong (guitar), Sarah Chianglin and Kevin Park (flute), Claire Tiunn Chang (clarinet), Amelie Yap (oboe), Gedi Weidig (violin), Ryan Butler (bass), Emma Constable, Tian Dong, Theo Kokonas, and Nick Payton (piano), plus the cello-piano duo of Elizabeth Sohn and Jisue Choi offering selections that they have studied with faculty. They will be assisted by pianist Kyungmi Kim.

Pomona College Student Recital 2

Under the leadership of I Nyoman Wenten (music director) and Nanik Wenten (dance director) Giri Kusuma, Pomona College’s Balinese Gamelan ensemble, will present a colorful program of traditional and contemporary Balinese music and dance.

Pomona College Giri Kusuma

Under the direction of Barb Catlin, the Pomona College Jazz Ensemble is exciting to perform a modern interpretation of one of Duke Ellington’s lesser-known works, the Far East Suite. Joining the Jazz Ensemble are special guests Kirsten Edkins on woodwinds, Ken Rosser on guitar and Clarice Cast on percussion.

Pomona College Jazz Ensemble

Donna M. Di Grazia, David J. Baldwin Professor of Music, leads the celebrated Pomona College Glee Club in a bouquet of unaccompanied music by Williametta Spencer, Will Todd, Paul Mealor, Heinrich Schütz, Johann Christoph Bach, and Sean Kirchner. The program will also feature Handel’s magnificent Dixit Dominus, performed with student soloists and Harmonologia Pomona a period-instrument ensemble in collaboration with faculty members Malachai Bandy (violone), Alfred Cramer (violin), Cynthia Fogg (viola), and friends.

Pomona College Glee Club

The Pomona Dance Department presents an evening of choreography by students, faculty and guest artists.
Performances will take place in Seaver Theatre at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday.

Spring Dance Concert

Director Joe Addington leads the ensemble in a program that focuses on the rhythms and songs of the Afro-Cuban sacred tradition known as Regla de Ocha and on Cuba’s popular rumba style. Joining the ensemble are special guest instrumentalists and dancers Jesus Lorenzo Peñalver “Cusito,” Bobby Wilmore, Pedro “Muñeco” Aguilar, and Shana Christopher.

Pomona College Afro-Cuban Music Ensemble

The Manzanita Quartet returns to Bridges Hall of Music after their September 2022 premiere. The members include Sakura Tsai, violin; Kira Blumberg, viola; Eric Lindholm, cello; and Genevieve Feiwen Lee, piano. For this program they will perform music by Robert Schumann and others.

Manzanita Quartet

The Pomona College Band, one of the oldest college bands in the country, was founded in 1909. It is the concert band for The Claremont Colleges and is funded by Pomona College. The band’s membership is drawn from students, faculty and staff of The Claremont Colleges, and members of the local community. Its goal is to prepare significant music in a collaborative atmosphere for performance at the highest level. They present two sets of concerts each academic year and have performed music by composers from Sousa to Bernstein and Ives to Rossini.

Pomona College Band

The program brings together the students from the piano studio of Genevieve Feiwen Lee in a program that includes works for 4-hands and 2-piano by Brahms, Chaminade, Dvořák, Monk, Ravel, and more.

Piano students from the studio of Genevieve Lee

The Pomona College Orchestra, (Eric Lindholm, conductor) and the Pomona College Choir, (Donna M. Di Grazia,  conductor) join forces to perform a program for choir and orchestra with music by Brahms, Sibelius and Vaughan Williams.

Pomona College Choir and Orchestra

Mojave Trio is dedicated to presenting a wide variety of classical music from the standard repertoire of the 18th-19th centuries to new works of our time and has performed throughout Southern California at LA County Museum of Art, Monk Space, Pomona, Occidental and Scripps Colleges, and have been heard on the “Sundays Live” radio broadcast from LACMA's Bing Theater. Their Pomona College program features music by Rebecca Clarke, Nico Muhly, Gao Ping, and James Diaz.

Mojave Trio in Concert

Student vocalists Monty Ellwanger (soprano and oboe), Priya Julian (mezzo-soprano), and Gaby Poplawski (soprano) will perform on this student recital along with Matthew Chang, Eva Chen, Aimee Co, and Josephine Yip (violins); Milan Manfredi and Ella Moriarty (celli); and Ella Tzeng and Melinda Yang (piano); offering selections that they have studied with faculty. They will be assisted by pianist Jennie Jung.

Pomona College Student Recital 3

This talk introduces a traditional Japanese musical instrument called the biwa, a lute-type stringed instrument which is used predominantly in narrative music. We will examine how this tradition of storytelling has been passed down over 800 years and how the narrative format connected music with literature as well as cultural and political ideology, particularly looking at the modern biwa repertoire.

OLC: Biwa: Traditional Art of Storytelling in Japan

The Music Department presents a program featuring an eclectic selection of solo, chamber and jazz performances by faculty and friends of the Department.

Fête musicale

Organist William Peterson will perform music from the WWI era with an emphasis on works that were included in a six-volume anthology published in Brussels after the end of the war. The program features music by Louis Vierne, Camille Saint-Saëns, Joseph Jongen, Jacques Ibert and others.

Organist William Peterson in recital

 Melissa Givens, soprano is joined by guest pianist Shannon Hesse in a recital of familiar and new works titled: You Can Tell the World: Spirituals in Recital. The program features selections by Edward Boatner, Margaret Bonds, Jacqueline Hairston, Mark Hayes, Moses Hogan, Hall Johnson, Shawn Kirchner, Undine Smith Moore, and Florence Price.

Soprano Melissa Givens sings African-American Spirituals

The Pomona College Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of award-winning director Barb Catlin, offers an exuberant afternoon of jazz selections by women composers including Mary Lou Williams, Magali Souriau and Annie Booth with a sprinkling of student compositions.

Pomona College Jazz Ensemble 2

This spring Artifex Consort and PRISM Choral Ensemble bring the sounds of the seventeenth-century English church and chamber to Bridges Hall of Music in Music for Voices and Viols. Under the artistic direction of Malachai Komanoff Bandy, Donna M. Di Grazia and Adrien Redford (PO ’14), the shared program includes consort songs and anthems by William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, Thomas Tomkins, and Thomas Weelkes.

Artifex Consort & PRISM Choral Ensemble

The Music Department welcomes Gamelan Merdu Kumala known for bringing fresh interpretations of Balinese repertoire from Southern California’s premier gamelan performers.

Gamelan Merdu Kumala

Students Sarah Chianglin, flute; Phillip Kong and Ian Tam clarinet; Matthew Chang and Eileen Kim, violin; Jisue Choi and Simon Shelley piano; Evelyne Knight, marimba; will perform a variety of selections that they have studied with faculty. They will be assisted by pianist Kyungmi Kim.

Pomona College Student Recital 4

The Pomona College Orchestra, (Eric Lindholm, conductor) and the Pomona College Choir (Donna M. Di Grazia, conductor) welcome four acclaimed soloists in this performance of Beethoven’s glorious Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, op. 125 on the 200th anniversary of its premiere.

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9

Student vocalist Aaron Wu, baritone; plus Aria Wang, violin; and Amélie Starnes, piano; will perform a variety of selections that they have studied with faculty. They will be assisted by pianist Jennie Jung.

Pomona College Student Recital 5

Grammy®-nominated pianist Genevieve Feiwen Lee closes her Beethoven Piano-Violin Sonata Cycle series with the “brilliant” and “lyrical” (Washington Post) violinist Lina Bahn. The series' concerts are built to pair Beethoven sonatas with lesser-known works. In this program, in addition to piano, Lee is also performing on the toy piano and the hurdy-gurdy.

Beethoven Piano-Violin Sonata Cycle No. VI with Genevieve Feiwen Lee

Varsity Vocals' International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) is the premier tournament dedicated to showcasing the art of student a cappella singing and providing top-notch a cappella groups with valuable feedback from our highly qualified judges. Our young vocalists have the opportunity to share their talent with an international audience, develop relationships with each other, and cultivate the art of a cappella singing as well as a lifelong love of music.

Varsity Vocals Presents: ICCA Western Quarterfinal 2024

Pomona College’s Music Department is pleased to invite you to a special performance by the Italian Baroque ensemble Opera Prima, featuring soprano Amanda Forsythe, in Tormento Seicento: an exploration of the 17th-century Passions of the Soul, in virtuosic arias and fiery instrumental works by Monteverdi, Rossi, Merula, and Caccini.

Opera Prima with soprano Amanda Forsythe

Please join the Pomona College Music Department for the Ussachevsky Memorial Festival of Electroacoustic Music. Performing on the second concert of the festival are Ted Apel, electronics; Alison Bjorkedal, harp; Anthony Burr, steel guitar; Genevieve Feiwen Lee, piano; and Rachel Rudich, flute; in music by: Ted Apel/Anthony Burr, Eve Beglarian, Liam Carey, and Daniel Kessner.

Ussachevsky Memorial Festival of Electroacoustic Music

The Pomona College Music Department invites you to Ray-Kallay Duo: Music of Californians.Music of Californians comprises a rich tapestry of composers past and present who have called California home. With multi-media elements, the program includes music by João Pedro Oliveira, Rand Steiger, Nina Shekhar, Sean Friar, Veronika Krausas, and Vicki Ray.

Ray-Kallay Duo: Music of Californians

Experience the magic of the holidays with family and friends at southern California’s most spectacular production of The Nutcracker from critically acclaimed Inland Pacific Ballet. This annual production tells the story of a young girl named Clara who receives a magical nutcracker doll on Christmas Eve and sets out on a wondrous journey to the Land of the Snow and the Kingdom of Sweets.

Inland Pacific Ballet Presents: The Nutcracker 2023

Student violinists Daisy Abbott, Eva Chen, Karin Furuhata, Emily Kim, and Gedi Weidig; oboist Monty Ellwanger; pianist Charis Kim and soprano Gabriela Poplawski; perform a variety of selections that they have studied with faculty during the semester. They will be assisted by pianist Kyungmi Kim.

Pomona College Student Recital 2023 Concert 1

Student vocalists Monty Ellwanger and Gabriela Poplawski, sopranos; Priya Julian, alto; Theo Kokonas, tenor; and Timi Adelakun, baritone; plus instrumentalists Kim Rush, violin; Claire Chang, clarinet and Huixin Hannah Guo, Mateo Thacher, Samuel Wang, piano; perform a variety of selections that they have studied with faculty during the semester. They will be assisted by pianist Jennie Jung.

Pomona College Student Recital 2023 Concert 2

Pomona College's Balinese Gamelan Ensemble, Giri Kusuma, presents a colorful program of traditional and contemporary music and dance from the region. Under the music direction of I Nyoman Wenten and dance direction Nanik Wenten, the ensemble's performance welcomes guest dancers and musicians from Cal Art's Gamelan Ensemble Burat Wangi and guest tabla player Ravindra Deo.

Giri Kusuma, Balinese Gamelan in Concert

The Pomona College Choir, under the direction of Donna M. Di Grazia, boasts a membership of approximately 70-80 auditioned singers per semester, with student, faculty, and staff representatives from across the Claremont Colleges. Its repertoire includes Western classical art music from all historical periods, and it has offered stirring performances of works ranging from Palestrina’s Exultate Deo to Eric Whitacre’s Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine and Samuel Barber’s Agnus Dei. This program features works by Pomona College’s esteemed faculty composer Tom Flaherty, Franz Biebl, Adolphus Hailstork, and Morten Lauridsen, plus a selection by Widor performed by award-winning organist Dr. Weicheng Zhao, our new College Organist for his inaugural performance on Pomona’s campus.

Pomona College Choir in Concert 2023 Concert 1

The Pomona and Scripps College's Dance Departments present an evening of student choreography.

In The Works

Pendleton Dance Center

Director Nani Agbeli leads the West African Music Ensemble in a program of music and dance from Ghana and the region. Joining the ensemble is the professional ensemble, Volta Drum Dance, for an electrifying performance. Selections include: Gahu, a social dance believed to bring positive energy and happiness; Adzogbo-Len, a vivid genre of drumming and dancing; Gota, a showcase of the family working together on the farm; the traditional Kpanlogo; and Agbekor, music originally used when warriors returned to their villages, it is now performed on many social occasions.

Pomona College West African Music Ensemble

The annual Southern California A Cappella Music Festival will be taking place on November 18th! The Claremont Shades are happy to present the 27th SCAMFest hosted at Pomona College's gorgeous Bridges Auditorium! We hope you'll join us for an evening of thrilling a cappella performances, featuring groups from the Claremont Colleges, UCLA, USC, and UC Davis!

Southern California A Capella Music Festival

The Pomona College Orchestra welcomes the winner of the PCSO 2023 Concerto Competition, violinist Ethan Lee '24 to perform with the orchestra. On the podium this fall is Tony Rowe, who takes the helm with Eric Lindholm on sabbatical. A prize-winning conductor, Rowe has led collegiate orchestras from Vassar College to Cambridge, and Indiana Universities. A prizewinner at the Leeds Conductors’ Competition and Fulton Memorial Fellowship winner, he studied with Seiji Ozawa and Leonard Bernstein at Tanglewood. He has worked with noted conductors Gustav Meier, Michael Tilson Thomas, Sir David Willcocks and Sir Roger Norrington, among others and served as Music Director of the Gilbert and Sullivan Musical Theatre Company in New York, as well as appearing as guest conductor with orchestras in the US and UK.

Pomona College Orchestra

Students Joanne Oh and Kevin Park, flutes; Monty Ellwanger, and Lydia Yang, oboes; Evelyne Knight, marimba; Simon Shelley, piano and singers Monty Ellwanger, soprano; Jeffrey Pendo and Aaron Wu, baritones; perform a variety of selections that they have studied with faculty during the semester. They will be assisted by pianist Jennie Jung.

Pomona College Student Recital 2023 Concert 3

The Pomona College Jazz Ensemble, directed by Barb Catlin, is a select ensemble and consists of students from across the Claremont Colleges. Their repertoire encompasses a variety of styles with past concerts offering programs including: “Jazz from Jones to Jaco,” “Music from the ’20s and ’30s,” “What is Beautiful” with Katisse, Buckingham, “Charles Mingus: Music for Protest and Innovation,” “A Tribute to Blue Note Records,” and more.

Pomona College Jazz Ensemble 2023

Pomona College Band 2023

Estonian composer Arvo Pärt was the most-performed living composer in the world for nine of the years between 2011 and 2022 (and the second-most-performed living composer in 2019, losing top honors to John Williams). In 1976, he developed a new style of composition he referred to as tintinnabuli (“bells” in Latin), which has also been described as spiritual minimalism. Pärt suggests the need to “concentrate on each sound, so that every blade of grass is as important as a flower.”

Quatuor pour la fin du temps - A work from a WWII prisoner-of-war camp

Kakizakai sensei will be discussing the history and technique of the shakuhachi, from its origins with the monks of Japan, to present day performances, and will play selections of ancient pieces handed down over centuries.

OLC: Breath and Bamboo: Shakuhachi, the traditional vertical flute of Japan

Emeritus faculty member William Peterson presents a program of music by J.S. Bach and Buxtehude on the Hill Memorial Organ. A local favorite, and former College Organist at Pomona College, Peterson has played concerts throughout the United States, and his programs have included “French Organ Music from the Time of World War I,” “The Music of Johann Sebastian Bach” and a concert that featured a first half with music by sixteenth and seventeenth century Dutch and German composers and a second half with music by Erben, Krenek, and Kohn.

Organ Concert with William Peterson

Joining Grammy®-nominated pianist Genevieve Feiwen Lee in the fifth concert of her Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle is acclaimed violinist Fritz Gearhart. The series' concerts are built to pair Beethoven sonatas with lesser-known works. This program consists of two Beethoven sonatas and a work by American composer William Grant Still (1895–1978).

Beethoven Piano-Violin Sonata Cycle No.V with Lee and Gearhart

Student violinists Matthew Chang and Aria Wang and student pianists Jisue Choi, Simon Shelley, and Amélie Starnes perform a variety of selections that they have studied with faculty during the semester.

Pomona College Student Recital 2023 Concert 4

Early music ensemble Artifex Consort – Malachai Komanoff Bandy, Eva Lymenstull, and Eric Tinkerhess, bass violas da gamba – is joined by Ian Pritchard, harpsichord.

Artifex Consort in concert

Pianist Genevieve Feiwen Lee is joined by Los Angeles Philharmonic principal cellist Robert deMaine in program studded with works by Beethoven, Flaherty and deMaine.

Cello & Piano: deMaine and Lee

Students perform a variety of selections that they have studied with faculty during the semester.

Pomona College Student Recital 2023 Concert 5

The Pomona College Orchestra opens the season with an exciting program with music by Barber, Liszt, Mozart, and Wagner. On the podium this fall is Tony Rowe, who takes the helm with Eric Lindholm on sabbatical. A prize-winning conductor, Rowe has led collegiate orchestras from Vassar College to Cambridge, and Indiana Universities. A prizewinner at the Leeds Conductors’ Competition and Fulton Memorial Fellowship winner, he studied with Seiji Ozawa and Leonard Bernstein at Tanglewood. He has worked with noted conductors Gustav Meier, Michael Tilson Thomas, Sir David Willcocks and Sir Roger Norrington, among others and served as Music Director of the Gilbert and Sullivan Musical Theatre Company in New York, as well as appearing as guest conductor with orchestras in the US and UK.

Pomona College Orchestra 2023 Concert 2

Grammy®-nominated pianist Genevieve Feiwen Lee welcomes Los Angeles Philharmonic Principal Concertmaster Martin Chalifour to join her in the fourth concert of her Beethoven Piano-Violin Sonata Cycle series. The series' concerts are built to pair Beethoven sonatas with lesser-known works. This program consists of two Beethoven sonatas and a work by Turkish-American composer Kamran Ince.

Beethoven Piano-Violin Sonata Cycle No. IV with Lee and Chalifour

In a program of Baroque sonatas, Cornucopia Baroque Ensemble — Sherrill Herring; Aki Nishiguchi, oboe; Alfred Cramer, violin; Carolyn Beck, bassoon; Roger Lebow, cello; Jason Yoshida, theorbo; Graydon Beeks, harpsichord — performs music by Telemann, Geminiani and Boismortier.

Cornucopia Baroque Ensemble

This semester's edition of the Music Department's Fête musicale features an eclectic selection of works performed by faculty and friends of the Music Department. The musicians are Rachel Rudich, flutes; Francisco Castillo, oboe; Carolyn Beck, bassoon; Kira Blumberg & Cynthia Fogg, viola; Maggie Parkins, cello; Alison Bjorkedal, harp; Jeremy Swem, euphonium; Stephen Klein, tuba; Ken Rosser & Jack Sanders, guitar; and Barb Catlin & Kyungmi Kim, piano in selections by Barb Catlin, Adolphus Hailstork, Bud Powell, Nino Rota, Steve Swallow, Tōru Takemitsu and Barbara York.

Fête musicale 2023

Celliola members Cynthia Fogg (viola) and Tom Flaherty (cello) are joined by faculty friends in this annual celebration of new music. This year’s program welcomes soprano Melissa Givens, baritone Luc Kleiner, mandola player Joti Rockwell, and pianist Genevieve Feiwen Lee in a program of music by Karl Kohn, Tom Flaherty, Frederick Lesemann, and Paul Wianko.

Celliola and Friends in concert

Performers include: Jenna Lange, soprano; Willa Albrecht, mezzo-soprano; Theo Kokonas, tenor; and Aaron Wu, baritone. Plus, Megan Chang and Serena Li, violins; Ella Moriarty and Emily Zhu, celli; Se Ho Kwak, trumpet; Hannah Guo and Saomai Nguyen, piano; along with a trio with Saomai Nguyen, clarinet; Hanah Park, viola; and Samson Zhang, piano. Kyungmi Kim is the assisting pianist.

Student Recital 2023 Concert 1

Performers include: Megan Chang and Ethan Lee, violins; Ryan Butler, bass; Jisue Choi, piano; and trio with Aimee Co, violin; Andrew Kim, cello; and Simon Shelley, piano. Plus, Melina Soberg, soprano and Bijan Emiliano Ferdows, baritone/bass. Jennie Jung is the assisting pianist.

Student Recital 2023 Concert 2

Pomona College’s Balinese Gamelan ensemble  -- Giri Kusuma -- is joined by guests to offer a colorful program of traditional and contemporary Balinese music and dance. The ensemble is led by music director I Nyoman Wenten and dance director Nanik Wenten.

Giri Kusuma, Pomona College's Balinese Gamelan Ensemble

The Pomona College Jazz Ensemble, directed by Barb Catlin, presents “Spaces” a special concert for Alumni weekend. Miles Davis famously said, “It’s not the notes you play, it’s the notes you don’t play,” and with that in mind, the ensemble’s program explores music that seeks out these spaces where creativity and trust live in improvisational settings.

Pomona College Jazz Ensemble in Concert

Between the Lines, presented by the Pomona College Dance Department, features a selection of works choreographed by student majors, faculty, and guest artists.

Between The Lines

Donna M. Di Grazia, David J. Baldwin Professor of Music, leads the celebrated Pomona College Glee Club in a program of music for a spring tour to England and Scotland.

Pomona College Glee Club in Concert

Joe Addington leads Pomona College's Afro-Cuban Music Ensemble in a program of music from the Afro-Cuban Yoruba traditions and more.

Pomona College Afro-Cuban Music Ensemble in Concert

Back for the first time since 2019, the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company is proud to present Around the World, a full-length dance concert that celebrates music from international artists. The CCBDC is the third largest collegiate ballroom dance program in the country, and the 100 dancers from the 5C’s are excited to share their passion for dance, music, and community with you! Family-friendly!

Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company presents: Around the World

The Pomona College Band, directed by Graydon Beeks, is one of the oldest college bands in the country, and was founded in 1909. It is the concert band for The Claremont Colleges and is funded by Pomona College. The band’s membership is drawn from students, faculty and staff of The Claremont Colleges, and members of the local community. For this concert, the ensemble will perform music by Gustav Holst, Gordon Jacob, Karl Kohn, Philip Sparke, and others.

Pomona College Band in Concert

The University of California, Santa Barbara's Middle East Ensemble, under the direction of Scott Marcus, performs music and dance from across the greater Middle East region. Founded in 1989, the Ensemble’s repertoire reflects the area's great diversity of cultures. Read more about the ensemble.

UCSB Middle East Ensemble

The Pomona College Choir, under the leadership of Donna M. Di Grazia, conductor, and The Pomona College Orchestra, led by conductor Eric Lindholm, will present a program joining the forces of the two ensembles with music by Franz Joseph Haydn, Florence Price, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, and Johannes Brahms. Joining the ensembles in Price’s Song of Hope is faculty soprano Melissa Givens.

Pomona College Choir and Orchestra in concert

Students perform a variety of selections that they have studied with faculty during the semester. Pianist Kyungmi Kim assists.

Student Recital 2023 Concert 3

Sliding and Steeling a program conceived and developed by Joti Rockwell (mandola and pedal steel guitar) brings together musicians Cynthia Fogg (viola)  Sean Harrison (saxophone) Cole Sainburg (bass), Cougar Estrada (drums) and Barb Catlin (piano) in a concert that celebrates mandola and pedal steel guitar music from J.S Bach to Tom Flaherty, and American roots music to jazz.

Pomona College

May 1, 2024

Pomona College Student Recital

Apr 30, 2024

Pomona College Student Recital 2

Pomona College