Music returns to campus

With in-person classes and upcoming concerts, the LMC Music Department is making a steady comeback.

Kai Arrellano

The Recital Hall that has sat empty for most of the past year and a half will be filled with music Dec. 8 and 9 when the jazz and guitar classes perform in concert.

Kai Arellano, Staff Writer
December 7, 2021

The Los Medanos College Music Program was hit hard by the pandemic, but things are starting to look up. There are a handful of classes online this fall and a couple in-person concerts have been scheduled this month.

Although many classes remain online, the Music Program was able to offer seven classes in-person on campus. 

“That is happening in all the music programs around the country,” said Luis Zuniga, the director of orchestra and band, about COVID-19’s current impact nationwide. 

Zuniga said that despite the pandemic’s impact, the Music Program is thriving with a full-blown concert choir and a jazz band. During the pandemic changes were made in instruction for the remote classes, but he said it’s a lot harder to teach the specifics of playing an instrument through Zoom, so he is happy some classes have moved back on campus.

“To actually be in a room next to somebody making music, you can’t do that,” said Zuniga, explaining why it is more effective to teach music face-to-face. This fall, he taught the concert band class on campus every Monday. 

“I personally prefer face-to-face than online,” he said, adding that not only is it more effective to teach in person, but that developing online classes takes a lot of time. 

Now that LMC has reopened the campus, there will be concerts this fall as well. The upcoming in-person events include a Jazz Band concert Dec. 8, hosted by professor Robert Dehlinger, the instructor for jazz studio, and a Guitar Class Recital Dec. 9, hosted by professor David Trevors, the guitar instructor. Zuniga said spectators will need to follow the school’s COVID-19 guidelines and that students and attendees will need to wear masks. 

Next semester, there will be eight in-person classes, one more than this fall, and all of them will be held at the Pittsburg campus in the Music and Recording Arts building. Enrollment is ongoing, so make sure to find the classes through the Insite portal and through the Search-for Classes tab. 

For more information about the Music Program at LMC, contact Aaron Nakaji at [email protected] or go to the Music index page.