LCC Jazz Band and Happendance Host Concert

LANSING, Mich., February 6, 2026 — Music and movement will meet center stage as the Lansing Community College Jazz Band returns for its third annual collaboration with Happendance Professional Company. The concert, Sometimes Happy, Sometimes Blue, promises two evenings of rhythm, soul, and storytelling through sound and motion.

Under the direction of LCC music faculty member Jon Gewirtz, the 20-plus-member jazz band will perform timeless standards that have shaped generations of American music. Audiences can expect stirring renditions of Duke Ellington’s Black and Tan Fantasy, Memphis Slim’s Everyday I Have the Blues, and Billie Holiday’s God Bless the Child. Vocalist AnnaMaria Horn will lend her signature voice to several selections, bringing depth and warmth to the evening’s repertoire.

Adding visual artistry to the music, dancers and choreographers from Happendance Professional Company will perform original works set to four of the jazz selections. The professional company is led by CEO Rachel Miller and Rehearsal Director Jennah Quinn Gray, both of whom have choreographed pieces specifically for this collaboration. The fusion of live jazz and contemporary dance continues to define this annual performance as one of the region’s most dynamic creative partnerships.

Sometimes Happy, Sometimes Blue will take place February 20 and 21 at 7 p.m. in the Dart Auditorium, located at 500 N. Capitol Avenue in Lansing. Admission is free, and parking is available at no cost along Capitol Avenue, in LCC lots near the auditorium, and on the first floor of the Gannon Parking Ramp.

The concert offers an accessible opportunity for the community to experience live jazz and professional dance in one shared space — a reminder that some stories are best told not just in words, but in notes and movement.