The Golden Gate Radio Orchestra accompanied by the Heritage High School School Jazz Band graced LMC’s recital Hall Tuesday evening to a full room of expectant spectators.

The Golden Gate Radio Orchestra, a Bay Area based 19-piece orchestra was conducted by LMC’s own Music Professor Luis Zuniga. Longtime Conductor, Steve Ernest, led the Heritage High School Jazz Band.

Zuniga and his “colleague and partner-in-crime” Ernest, took their place front of the crowd and introduced the Heritage High School Jazz Band.

“Our theme tonight is going to be modern or contemporary jazz going way back to the music of the 1930s — we’re working backwards,” said Ernest.

Their opener was a piece by Fred Sturm called “Chonometry.” Midway through their set, Kenzie Belver impressed the crowd with her alto-sax playing skills on Sammy Nestico’s “Samantha,” putting her entire being into the performance. She received some of the highest praise of the night from the audience.

Their next piece “Sandbox” by Brian Kidd was a last minute addition to the roster of songs played that night by the high school band.

Their second to last song was a rendition of “Night Train” by Jimmy Forrest but perhaps the most recognizable piece was their finale performance of, “In the Mood” by Glenn Miller.

Then Professor Zuniga stepped to the stage to conduct the Golden Gate Radio Orchestra. Accompanied by vocalists Heather Tinling and Eric Ribeiro.

In between numbers, Ribeiro would offer miniature history lessons on the origin of the songs and how they gained popularity. Some of the songs the band started with include pieces like “My Blue Heaven” and “The Best things in Life Are Free” — all songs popularized by mainstream media at different points in time.

The band then performed the song “1917 Ching Chong,” though the performance of the piece was short due to its racially insensitive lyrics.

The Golden Gate Radio Orchestra then finished off their set with a performance of “Thanks for the Memory,” popularized by the 1938 film “The Big Broadcast of 1938.”

The band ran through a total of 13 songs with a reprisal of an instrumental piece titled “San Francisco” at the very end.

“The Golden Gate Radio Orchestra is now off the air,” said Ribeiro concluding the band’s performance but also staying as true to the classic radio broadcast format as possible.

After the performances were over, the musicians from both bands packed up and found their loved ones. The crowd shuffled out of the hall with smiles on their faces