Bach to Blues 2025
TICKETS: General Admission $20; Seniors / Students $10. Tickets will be sold at the door, box office opens at 6 PM. Tickets can be bought online HERE. Tickets can also be purchased at the Gavilan College Bookstore, BookSmart in Morgan Hill, and the Gavilan College site in Hollister. All proceeds will benefit the Gavilan College Music Program. For more ticket information, please contact Maria Amirkhanian: mamirkhanian@gavilan.edu or 408-848-4796.
A native of Yerevan, Armenia, Maria Amirkhanian began piano lessons at the age of five. After graduating from Tchaikovsky School of Music, Maria was accepted to Komitas State Conservatory, where she obtained her B.M. in piano performance under guidance of Armine Mokatsian. In 1993, Maria was accepted, with a full scholarship, to CSU Fresno where she became a student of Andreas Werz. In addition to performing throughout California and internationally, Maria has participated in master classes with Peter Frankl, Barbara Nissman, Tomas Ungar, Ruth Loredo and Oxana Yablonskaya. In 1994, Maria was awarded second place at the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition in Pasadena. The following year she won first place at the 1995 MTA Solo Competition, a statewide event. Maria was the winner of the Fresno Organizers Scholarship Award in 1996. In 2000, she obtained her DMA from Moscow Conservatory, Russia, where she studied under Yuri Hayrapetian. After serving as a piano instructor at CSU Fresno, Maria joined the faculty of Gavilan College Music Department in the Fall of 2006. In addition to teaching, Maria is the coordinator for Bach to Blues Concert series and the Marian Filice Piano Competition.
Pianist and Composer Dahveed Behroozi is a Bay Area based musician primarily devoted to the independent jazz and classical scenes. Dahveed’s playing has been described as highly expressive, lyrical and colorful by numerous publications nationwide. Dahveed has recorded and performed as a leader, as well as a sideman with Thomas Morgan, Tim Bulkley, Billy Mintz, Dayna Stephens, Ed Neumeister, Todd Neufeld, Aaron Lington, John Shifflett, Jason Lewis, Bob Kenmotsu, Cuong Vu and Jeff Denson. Originally from San Jose, CA, Dahveed studied with pianist Hans Boepple at Santa Clara University. He received his BA in Jazz Piano from The Manhattan School of Music in 2002 where he studied under Fred Hersch. He then received his Master’s from The Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College where he studied classical and contemporary piano literature under Ursula Oppens. Dahveed is currently on the faculty at Gavilan College where he teaches courses in music history, composition, world music and theory. He is an active performer on the west coast, where he leads several different groups and also plays in other musicians groups.
Kenny Washington thrills audiences across the globe with his soulful interpretations, seemingly limitless range, and rapid-fire scatting. The New Orleans native, now based in the San Francisco Bay Area, appeared in 2013 at Jazz At Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis and The Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra to perform Marsalis’ Pulitzer Prize-winning oratorio Blood On The Fields, alongside vocalists Gregory Porter and Paula West. In 2014, Washington returned to Jazz at Lincoln Center to perform Basie & The Blues with pianist Eric Reed and again in 2016 as the featured vocalist in JALC’s tribute to Frank Sinatra, in celebration of Sinatra’a 100th birthday. In 2017, Washington performed with Wynton Marsalis and The Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra and vocalist Roberta Gambarini to celebrate Ella Fitzgerald’s 100th birthday.
For more on Kenny Washington, clck here.
Esmeralda Owen grew up in Los Angeles. Upon graduating from USC as a broadcast journalist, she moved to Fresno for her first job as a reporter for Univision 21. She soon moved on to Telemundo 48 in the Bay Area and covered a variety of stories each day. After a few years, she was offered an anchor position on the Central Coast with Univision 67 and that was a turning point in her life. She loved to anchor and produce the news, but she also missed reporting and created her weekly segment on education topics. She earned an Emmy nomination. After a few years, she went back to school and earned a master's degree in public administration. This is how she began her journey as a journalism professor at Gavilan, later moving on to communication studies.
Esme, as most call her, moved on to marketing and public relations, but always using her skills in media and TV production to provide something extra. She has worked at the Steinbeck Center, Hartnell College, YOSAL, and in March 2020, she started her own business, Precious Stone PR Inc., as a consultant and event producer focusing on marketing strategies and fund raising for small non-profits in the area. She is involved in the community and volunteers as much as she works. She is currently on the board of the Salinas Airshow, the Sunset Cultural Center Carmel, and is chair of the Women's Fund. She mentors the young and young at heart and considers teaching at Gav a privilege - she loves it! Esme lives in Gilroy with husband, son, and golden retriever.
Sandoshin Taiko, meaning “dragon’s mountain pass”, was formed in 2000 as a means of blending taiko with various martial art styles. The home of Sandoshin Taiko is the Morgan Hill Buddhist Community Center, located in Morgan Hill, California.
Sandoshin Taiko also has a relationship with Renkishin Dojo, a school that offers the martial arts of Koshiden-Ryu Jujutsu “wrist and joint locking system”, Shinkendo “sword fighting system” and provides a rich medium to draw from in integrating the different styles into the world of taiko music.
The choreography for the group is exciting and dynamic, using bakuto “wooden sword”, iaito “non-sharpened blade” and eskrima “bamboo sticks” as additional elements that add to the taiko music. In some performances, audience members might be fortunate enough to experience actual cutting demonstrations where a shinken “live blade” is used to cut through tatami targets.
The philosophy behind the group is to express the inner spirit “ki” within oneself through taiko drumming. The beauty behind the group is two-fold: martial artists with no musical background can learn taiko and taiko drummers with no martial arts experience can learn several different martial art styles. Additionally, those who wish to only focus on the music can do so without participating in the martial art demonstrations.
Ikuyo Conant serves as the Artistic Director for the group along with being the Artistic Director for Shinsei Daiko, Shinsho Mugen Daiko and Watsonville Taiko.
Sandoshin Taiko is a community group that welcomes players of all ages and abilities.
From the time he received his first guitar at the age of seven, music has been an important part of Albert's life. After getting his first lessons in the classical Flamenco style from his father, his friends introduced him to the electrical guitar, and by the age of twelve he played in his own rock band. But he always returned to the Flamenco style, taking lessons with the legendary guitars players such as Mariano Cordoba, Chicuelo while in Spain, and with Juan Serrano at Fresno State. Winner of numerous guitar competitions, Albert Marques has performed with some of the greatest Flamenco artists living today. Albert Marqués was born and raised in California. When he was seven his family moved from Santa Clara to Gilroy, where he attended El Roble and St. Mary's primary schools, followed by Palma High School. After graduating from Palma he started at Gavilan, including Spanish. In 1988 his family moved to Spain where he attended the University of Barcelona. After returning to the US, Albert went to CSU Fresno to continue his education. In 1996 he received his MA in Spanish with emphasis in Linguistics and he joined the Gavilan faculty the same year. From the time he received his first guitar at the age of seven, music has been an important part of Albert's life. After getting his first lessons in the classical Flamenco style from his father, his friends introduced him to the electrical guitar, and by the age of twelve he played in his own rock band. But he always returned to the Flamenco style, taking lessons with the legendary Mariano Cordoba in San Francisco, with the world renowned guitarist Chicuelo while in Spain, and with Juan Serrano at Fresno. Besides teaching Spanish and playing guitar, Albert also coaches soccer at Christopher High School.
Sophia Perez was born on July 17th, 2007, and is currently living in Gilroy, CA. She started playing piano when she was five years old with her first piano teacher Mrs. Noleina and her current piano teacher is Maria Amirkhanian. She has been playing piano for 12 years. In her spare time, she is reading her favorite books, creatively doodling, and enjoys going to the park. Along with those hobbies, she likes to spend quality time with the people she cherishes. She enjoys playing sports for fun such as basketball and volleyball. As she progresses through high school she is looking forward to becoming a surgeon, whilst involving music in her life.