SUNY Fredonia graduate Kristine Hsia will make another homecoming visit on Friday. Hsia, who graduated from Fredonia in 2010, is the lead vocalist for the Commodores, the U.S. Navy's premier jazz ensemble, which will perform at 7:00 PM in King Concert Hall at the Rockefeller Arts Center. Tickets for the concert are available through the Fredonia Ticket Office in the Williams Center. While the concert is free, tickets are required. They are available online and may also be obtained by phone at (716) 673-3501 or in person at the Fredonia Ticket Office in the Williams Center during the same hours.
Hsia earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from Fredonia. During her time on campus, she was a featured vocalist in Rockefeller’s 2010 Commencement-Eve Pops concert "All That Jazz" and performed in Department of Theatre and Dance Walter Gloor Mainstage Series productions including "Kiss Me, Kate."
A native of Holbrook, NY, Hsia enlisted in the Navy in 2012. She has been the lead vocalist for the Commodores jazz ensemble since 2014. This will be her third performance at Fredonia with the Commodores.
The Commodores' mission includes public concerts, national concert tours, ceremonial support in honoring our veterans, jazz education classes and clinics, and protocol performances for high-level military and civilian government officials. Formed in 1969, this 18-member group continues the jazz big band legacy with some of the finest musicians in the world.
Their concerts are described as "an eclectic mix of traditional big band music, exciting jazz vocal arrangements and fresh new instrumental music" written specifically for the Commodores of today.
The Commodores are held in high regard nationwide by concert patrons and critics alike. The list of guest artists that have appeared with the Commodores includes jazz and popular music icons like Ray Charles, Branford Marsalis, Clark Terry, Grover Washington, Jr., Chris Potter, Jerry Bergonzi, Eddie Daniels, James Moody, and many more.
