DuPage Community Jazz Ensemble Hosts Annual Swing Dance Oct. 30 at the MAC

DuPage Community Jazz Ensemble presents an afternoon of music and dance at its annual swing dance concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30, in Belushi Performance Hall at the McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd.

The ensemble and guest vocalists Deb Zelman and Amanda Coppotelli will perform the standards of Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, Johnny Mercer and others. Guests will join the ensemble on stage with cabaret seating and a dance floor, creating an intimate setting.

"Our annual swing dance is a fun opportunity not only for the audience, but for the ensemble members as the cabaret seating creates an intimate setting in which to bring together the music and the dancing," said ensemble Director Tom Tallman.

Guests also are invited to come early for free swing dance lessons from Luis Santillan. Lesson are offered from 2:30 to 3 p.m. on the stage.

Tickets to the Oct. 30 event are $5 in advance and $6 at the door. For more information, call the MAC Box office at (630) 942-4000, or visit www.atthemac.org.

DuPage Community Jazz Ensemble performs dances and concert programs during the academic year as well as numerous off-campus performances. Its repertoire spans more than a century of large jazz ensemble compositions, including original work from its members. The ensemble is a frequent presence at the Elmhurst College Jazz Festival, has performed at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago, and in 2004 was recognized by the United States House of Representatives for its work on behalf of the Armed Forces Children's Education Fund. Music 1181, Community Jazz Ensemble, is a course at COD open to any musician interested in the American musical performance tradition.

Tom Tallman is Professor of Music and Director of Jazz Ensembles at College of DuPage, a position he has held since 1990. Since 1998, his commissioned compositions and arrangements for jazz ensemble and concert band have been performed by numerous middle school, high school, community and professional ensembles in the Chicago metropolitan region. He has worked as a clinician and judged a variety of competitions in Florida, Texas, Missouri, Iowa and Illinois, and is a two-time ILMEA director at the District level. His latest recording credit is with The Jeff Benedict Big Band on the recording "Holmes" (Maroon Creek Music, 2014), and he contributed to Volume 2 of Teaching Music through Performance in Jazz (GIA Publications, 2015).

For more information about the COD Jazz Ensemble, click here.

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