The Bob Cole Conservatory will continue to hold public performances as we are able. For information about new ticket pricing and current policies regarding attending a performance during the time of COVID, please read the Performance Attendance FAQ (opens in a new window).
The unique challenges presented this semester may force alterations to or cancellations of events in this calendar, so please check back here frequently—even up to the day of the concert—for the most current information.
Ticket revenue for BCCM events fully supports student learning and scholarships.
First Day of Classes
Fall 2023 Semester
Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Faculty Artist Recital
James Barrera, saxophone w/Hanah Charbonneau, piano
Join us for our wonderful Coffee House Cabaret, where our students shine in all types of music. From Musical Theatre to Jazz, from Opera to Rock ‘n’ Roll, you never know what you’ll get at the Beach Café.
Friday, September 8, 2023 Saturday, September 9, 2023
Vivaldi: Concerto for Two Trumpets in C Major Rob Frear and Ryan Darke—trumpet double concerto
Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales
Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73
The Bob Cole Conservatory Symphony Orchestra will feature repertoire staples on our first concert this fall. Brahms’ second symphony is probably the composer’s most loved. It it preceded by Ravel’s colorful sentimental dances. Director of Wind and Brass studies, Rob Frear and trumpet instructor Ryan Darke will be our soloists for Vivaldi’s energetic double trumpet concerto in C. Please join us!
Concert Jazz Orchestra and Studio Jazz Band w/guest artist Will Brahm, guitar
Jeff Jarvis, director
This first concert of the season will showcase music by CJO members Joshua Childress and Sam Ross, plus charts by Bob Mintzer, John Fedchock, Jeff Jarvis, Matt Harris, and Fred Sturm. We are also very pleased to share the stage with guitarist Will Brahm, a former CJO member now performing with Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, Arturo Sandoval, and more. Will is going to be featured on several tunes with both bands, including one he recorded with the CJO when he was a student. We hope you’ll be able to join us for a great afternoon of instrumental jazz.
Larsson: Concerto for Alto Saxophone and String Orchestra, Op. 14 Kolbe Chapman—concerto winner
Anne Clyne: Restless Oceans
Debussy: La mer
Our second concert features a short new work by living composer Anne Clyne as well as BCCM student concerto winner, Kolbe Chapman on the virtuosic saxophone concerto by Larsson. The program is framed by French impressionistic composer Claude Debussy. One of his most famous works, "The Sea," is not to be missed.
George & Beverly August Piano Scholarship Competition
Shun-Lin Chou, coordinator
The eighth annual event for BCCM piano performance students competing for scholarship prizes. Results of the competition will be announced immediately following the performances.
Saturday, October 14, 2023
3:00pm
Daniel Recital Hall
Tickets FREE
Composers Guild
Composers Guild, producer
Tuesday, October 17, 2023
7:30pm
Daniel Recital Hall
Tickets FREE
Guest Artist Masterclass
Yi-Yang Chen, piano
Guest Artist Yi-Yang Chen will present a masterclass and performance on the music of Frédéric Chopin. Admission is free to the public.
Wednesday, October 18, 2023
3:00pm
Daniel Recital Hall
Tickets FREE
Concert Band: Spooktacular
Adam Friederich, conductor
Spooktacular is an annual family-friendly event featuring a Costume Contest beginning at 6:45pm and a Halloween Concert beginning at 7:30pm.
Thursday, October 19, 2023
7:30pm
Daniel Recital Hall
Tickets $20/$10/$5 *children under 13 in costume FREE
Join the Bob Cole Chamber Choir and CSULB University Choir in "Galaxias," a celebration of our place in the Universe. With music by beloved composers Claudio Monteverdi, Randall Thompson, and William Dawson as well as contemporary writers such as Olivia McAloon, Katerina Gimon, Santiago Veros, and Eric Whitacre, this concert features two of the country’s finest collegiate choirs in an extraordinary variety of colors, languages, and poetry.
Friday, October 27, 2023 Saturday, October 28, 2023
Guest Artist Althea Waites will present a masterclass and performance titled Here/Hear and Now: Piano Music by American Composers. Admission is free to the public.
The Piano Showcase features outstanding Bob Cole Conservatory pianists in solo performances of mostly classics by the great composers from the eighteenth century to the present.
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488 Samuel Grodin—piano
Schmidt: Symphony No. 4 in C major
Korngold: Straussiana
Our third and final concert this fall semester is bookended by the Austrian-American composer Erich Korngold, famous for establishing the "Hollywood sound." One of his first works is "The Snowman." BCCM piano faculty and alumnus, Samuel Grodin, will play Mozart’s A Major piano concerto. The recently rediscovered Symphony No. 4 by Franz Schmidt was due to be performed in 2019 right as the campus had to close due to Covid. We’re happy to finally present this work to the Long Beach community.
A collaborative concert presented by select students from the Piano Accompanying, Piano Ensemble, and the Piano Chamber Music classes. This varied concert features classic repertoire from classical to modern eras.
A chamber concert featuring mostly duos from the classical repertoire performed by Bob Cole Conservatory piano students in collaboration with instrumentalists and vocalists.
Jonathan Talberg, Christine Guter, Jonny Arenas, Tyler Berg, and Malcolm McGee, conductors
Set in the beautifully decorated, historic sanctuary of First Congregational Church of Long Beach, this heart-warming, holiday themed concert has delighted audiences for over five decades. Featuring 150 singers, a string orchestra, the majesty of the great Möller organ, the Pacific Bells, and CSULB’s vocal jazz ensembles, this concert kicks off the season like none other.