Mott Community College: Funk, Pop & All That Jazz With Alexander Zonjic Nov. 2 

Press release from Mott Community College:

Dawn Hibbard

Oct 18th, 2021

World renowned flutist Alexander Zonjic will perform in Flint to benefit the Mott Community College Fellowship in Music Scholarship. Alexander Zonjic and Friends will perform “Funk, Pop and All That Jazz” Tuesday, Nov. 2 at The Whiting Auditorium at 7 p.m. Tickets are $50 per person and proceeds support the Fellowship in Music Scholarship, which provides full scholarships for students majoring in music at MCC.

The concert is made possible through the generous support of Ameriprise Financial, Dawn Hausch-Cooper, CRPC, Financial Advisor.

“We are thrilled to bring Mr. Zonjic to Flint,” said Dr. Townes Miller, Professor of Music at MCC. “His artistry is an inspiration to our students, and this concert promises to be one of the area’s must-see events of the year.”

The concert will feature Alexander Zonjic on flute and guitar, Demetrius Nabors on keyboards, Kris Kurzawa on guitar, Mike Harrington on bass, and Jeff Canady on drums. They will perform works by Bob James, Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Mann, James Lloyd, and Ken Navarro, arranged for Jazz Big Band by Terry Herald.

Also performing will be the MCC Jazz Band, directed by Frank Yon.

Purchase tickets by calling 810-237-7333 or visiting thewhiting.com. If you are unable to attend, but would like to support Music at MCC, visit mcc.edu/music and click on the yellow Donate to the Music Fellowship Fund button. Masks are required at The Whiting. Masks will be provided at the door, along with a temperature check station.

A native of Windsor, Ontario, Zonjic is a 15-time Detroit Music Awards winner with deep and multi-faceted ties to, and influence on, the city. He has been a multi-media personality since he began hosting the morning radio show at the longtime smooth jazz station WVMV rom 1998 –2010. Since 2016, he has hosted “Alexander Zonjic from A to Z,” a weekly half hour hybrid TV show on WADL TV-38, mixing live concert elements with special guest live interviews. His guests have included numerous contemporary jazz greats, including Lorber, Alex Bugnon, Nick Colionne, Eric Darius, Peter White, Lin Rountree, Jackiem Joyner, Lindsey Webster and Phil Denny.

Also in 2016, Zonjic launched “Doin’ The D,” a magazine-style talk radio and music show, airing on WFDF 910-AM. Between in studio guests and call-ins, his mostly Detroit-centric interviews have included Kenny G, Martha Reeves, former Detroit Police Chief Ike McKinnon and legendary Grammy and Emmy Award winning keyboard icon Bob James, who discovered Zonjic in 1981 when the flutist was playing in Detroit’s Baker’s Keyboard Lounge.

Over the years, as Zonjic puts it, he has morphed from “that flute guy from Canada” into the artistic director and producer of more than 10 annual festival events in the region, and a philanthropist under the umbrella of his Hi-Falutin Music. His events include Jazz on the River in Trenton; the River Raisin’ Jazz Festival in Monroe; Alexander Zonjic’s Shoreline Jazz Festival in Muskegon; the St. Clair Jazz Festival; and the Southfield Rhythm on Rhymes Festival.

Zonjic also presents a series called Dearborn Jazz on the Avenue, now going on its 12th year. During the pandemic Zonjic had time to focus on finishing his new album Playing It Forward, which features one of the last performances by late guitar great Chuck Loeb in addition to Paul Jackson, Jr. , Michael Thompson, drummer Gary Novak and horn player and arranger David Mann. 

In addition to his Jazz and Pop music, Zomjic has performed with orchestras nationwide, including The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, The Windsor Symphony Orchestra, The Florida Symphony Orchestra and many others.

The MCC Music Program

MCC currently offers two music degrees, the Associate in Fine Arts Degree-Music, designed for students who plan to transfer to a university, college, or conservatory and major in music; and the Music Technology Associate Degree in Applied Science that prepares students for careers in music production, recording, and audio engineering.

“The MCC Associate Degree in Fine Arts music curriculum is commensurate with the first two years of the academic curriculum at all music schools,” said Miller, Professor of Music at MCC. It is focused on music foundation classes and general education requirements that are designed to easily transfer to four-year institutions and music conservatories. This major qualifies for the Fellowship in Music Scholarship.

The MCC Music Technology degree integrates the latest in audio technology with diverse courses involving music creation, post-production, scoring for media, and live sound reinforcement, supplemented by music fundamentals, ensemble performance, and music business courses. Emphasis is placed on the technical, logistical, and creative skills required to be competitive in today's music technology and sound engineering job market.

This press release was produced by Mott Community College. The views expressed here are the author’s own.