Monday, December 19, 2005

Chabot Panhandlers Move to San Mateo



The Chabot Panhandlers, the Bay Area's premier pan program, is leaving Chabot College in Hayward where the program was founded by Jim Munzenrider 22 years ago. The group will set up new residence at the College of San Mateo.

Jim said the move became inevitable after irreconcilable differences with the honchos in Chabot's music department. On the other hand, the College of San Mateo extended its hand in welcome (and who wouldn't) to a well-established and internationally recognised pan music program in the Panhandlers.

There are other perks to being at CSM, Jim pointed out. They have a 400-seat auditorium that works perfectly for Panhandlers concerts. At Chabot, the options were a 200-seat theatre, too small; or a 1600-seat concert hall, way too large.

But best of all is the amount of publicity and exposure the Panhandlers stand to get from the presence of world renowned CSM jazz station. All in all, it's a great start for the Panhandlers in 2006.

Tip: Look out for the return of David Rudder with the Panhandlers, perhaps in the fall. Stay tuned.