Jazz saxophonist Mitch Paliga will perform Jan. 31 at North Central College.

The performance begins at 8 p.m. in North Central’s Madden Theatre at the Fine Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Ave. Tickets are $20/adults and $15/students and seniors; call the North Central College Box Office at 630-637-SHOW (7469) or visit northcentralcollege.edu/showtix.

Paliga is an active performer, educator and composer based in the Chicago area. He has taught at Benedictine University, Governor’s State University and the Old Town School of Folk Music. Since 2007 he has been touring with actor/musician Gary Sinise’s Lt. Dan Band. As a member of the band, he has performed around the world.

In 2008, he performed with the band Kimotion at the Ho Chi Minh Conservatory of Music and the Hue Festival in Vietnam. He also has previously performed with Marie Osmond, Randy Brecker, The Temptations, Bob Newhart, Victor Kraus and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra.

Paliga has a master’s degree in jazz pedagogy from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in music from Eastern New Mexico University. He has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Chicago Community Arts Assistance Program Grant. 

Ringtone project—Jonathon Kirk, North Central College assistant professor of music, is among 40 classical composers from around the country who were commissioned to write pieces for the Mobile Miniatures ringtone project.

Spektral Quartet, an ensemble-in-residence at the University of Chicago, has devised an alternative to routine ringtones enabling cellphone users to carry around new music in their pocket. In partnering with the 40 composers, the quartet creates, records and distributes tiny pieces of contemporary string quartet music that’s tailor-made for iPhones, Androids and other handheld communication devices. Kirk and the other composers submitted pieces lasting between three and 30 seconds in a wide range of compositional styles.

The Mobile Miniatures project is part of the quartet’s mission to provide living composers with new platforms for their music. The quartet will rehearse the submitted pieces before recording and mixing them in late January and early February. 

On March 29, the Spektral Quartet plans a release party at Constellation, a music venue in Chicago. The various Mobile Miniatures will be made available through the group’s website, spektralquartet.com, and eventually downloadable from digital music retailers.

–News Bulletin news sources