OC LIVE is proud to present “A Community in Harmony: An Unforgettable Evening of Music” on Tuesday, May 13th, at 6pm in the beautiful Oxnard College Performing Arts Building.

Experience an unforgettable evening of music, showcasing the dedication and talent of our local high school ensembles alongside Oxnard College students and alumni. Join us as we celebrate the power of music to unite and inspire our community!

The following bands are scheduled to appear:
Mariachi Ocho Estrellas de OUHSD consists of all 7 comprehensive high schools within Oxnard Union High School District as well as Oxnard Middle College High School. This group has a prominent presence and history performing for community events such as graduation ceremonies, school rallies, etc. This group also showcases the talent and leadership brought by young musicians and students bound to be leaders.

Channel Islands Raider Band is a student-centered and student-led music performing group from Channel Islands High School. During the course of the school year the band, also known as "The Tsunami of Sound" focuses on Marching Band in the Fall semester playing at school events, rallies, and sporting events in addition to parades and other community events. In the Spring semester the band shifts gears to include Symphonic Band and Jazz Band activities.

The Hueneme Viking Concert Band is a talented and versatile high school group known for their adaptability and innovative performances. Comprised of musicians playing a variety of instruments including flute, clarinet, saxophone, trombone, trumpets, and percussion, the band excels in interpreting music from modern day composers, often from underrepresented groups. Over the past two years, the band has made remarkable progress, including a record-breaking, marching season with their highest score in the last four years. They’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with renowned composers, like Randall Standridge and Kelijah Dunton. With student conductors and Drum Majors like Olivia and Nayra, the band continues to grow, with one of their most popular groups, Drumline, gaining a reputation for their high energy and skill.

This is a FREE event that is open to the public. No tickets are necessary. Parking is FREE in Lot “H.” Find all of our event information on the web at oxnardcollege/oclive.

Oxnard College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or sexual orientation.

El Colegio de Oxnard no discrimina por motivos de raza, color, origen nacional, sexo, discapacidad, edad u orientación sexual.

OC LIVE, along with the Oxnard College Chicana/o Studies Department, invites you to join us for “Mariposas del Campo” a documentary on Thursday, April 24th, at 6pm in the beautiful Oxnard College Performing Arts Building.

Mariposas del Campo shares the stories of indigenous Mixtec, Zapotec, and Purépecha teenagers from Mexico striving to change their families’ destinies in the strawberry fields of Oxnard, California. Through a stormy year of sanctioned racism and anti-immigrant policies, the documentary captures their journeys — with help from the characters’ own intimate videos — as they navigate cultural identity, parental expectations, economic challenges, and the justice needs of their migrant farmworker community. For young people whose lives have always been steeped in uncertainty, it takes a leap of faith to chase a dream. A Q&A with the directors, Bill Yahraus and Robin Rosenthal, will follow the screening of the film. This documentary features: Bill Yahraus, Robin Rosenthal, and Elizabeth Villa Rosales.

This is a FREE event that is open to the public. No tickets are necessary. Parking is FREE in Lot “H.” Find all of our livestreams and event information on the web at oxnardcollege/oclive.

Artist Bio:
Bill Yahraus and Robin Rosenthal are the husband-and-wife team at Pony Highway Productions. They’ve been collaborating on intimate films with self-contained communities since they ran away with the Tarzan Zerbini Circus in 1996. Their award-winning documentaries — made with the members of a traveling tent circus, a Hall of Fame racehorse trainer’s barn, and a team of Mexican American female equestrians — have aired nationally on PBS and toured internationally.

Oxnard College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or sexual orientation.

El Colegio de Oxnard no discrimina por motivos de raza, color, origen nacional, sexo, discapacidad, edad u orientación sexual.

Join us at the Oxnard College Performing Arts Center on April 15th for a presentation summarizing the U.S. Latina GDP Report, outlining how Latinas in the United States are steady and growing drivers of economic growth and recovery from the pandemic. There will be an opening reception at 3:30pm and then a presentation from 4:30pm - 6:30pm.

The report was issued by California Lutheran University’s Center for Economic Research & Forecasting and will be presented by their Executive Director, Dr. Matthew Fineup and Dr. David Hayes-Bautista, the Director of the UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture.

Following the presentation, Dr. Celina Benavides of Oxnard College will moderate a panel discussion comprised of local Ventura County community and business leaders.

This event is free of charge and open to the entire community. To learn more about this event and to reserve your seat today, please register here.

Sponsored by: California Lutheran University, UCLA Health Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture, Oxnard College, the Oxnard College Foundation, the West Ventura County Business Alliance, and the PAcific Coast Business Times.

About the Inaugural U.S. Latina GDP Report
The Inaugural U.S. Latina GDP Report builds directly upon six annual U.S. Latino GDP Reports released since 2018 as well as eight State and a dozen Metro Latino GDP Reports written in partnership with Bank of America. Those reports provide a factual view of the large and rapidly growing economic contribution of Latinos living in the U.S. and document substantial economic growth premiums enjoyed relative to Non-Latinos. These premiums exist across a wide range of economic indicators, and Latino economic premiums are large – for example, U.S. Latino labor force growth is 9 times faster than Non-Latino labor force growth. U.S. Latino GDP growth is 2.4 times faster than Non-Latino GDP.

Analysis of U.S. Latinas reveals that, in almost every case, the economic growth premium enjoyed by Hispanics females is even larger than the already impressive premium for all Hispanics. It is not enough then to say that U.S. Latinas are drivers of economic growth and a critical source of resilience for the broader economy. They are drivers of economic vitality. U.S. Latinas are giving life to the U.S. economy, dando vida a la economía.

Oxnard College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or sexual orientation.

El Colegio de Oxnard no discrimina por motivos de raza, color, origen nacional, sexo, discapacidad, edad u orientación sexual.

OC LIVE invites you to join us for “The Lioness Within: An Evening with Graciela Casillas” on Wednesday, April 9th, at 6pm in the beautiful Oxnard College Performing Arts Building.

Oxnard College’s own Graciela Casillas joins us for a conversation after a screening of the documentary about her life, The Lioness Within. Meet Graciela Casillas, a pioneering, undefeated world champion in martial arts. Her story unfolds a hidden champion breaking barriers for women, embodying resilience, and embracing empowerment. A celebration of martial arts and a transformative teacher-student dynamic.

This is a FREE event that is open to the public. No tickets are necessary. Parking is FREE in Lot “H.” Find all of our livestreams and event information on the web at oxnardcollege/oclive.

Artist Bio:

Graciela Casillas is a Black Belt Hall of Fame inductee, "Woman of the Year," and Inside Kung-Fu Hall of Fame member. She has earned international acclaim as one of the world's top martial artists and self-defense instructors. Casillas’s 50 years as student, instructor, and professional competitor have given her an eclectic approach to the martial arts that she shares with students at home and abroad.

Casillas is the first athlete, male or female, to simultaneously hold world titles in two fighting sports — kickboxing and boxing. Casillas also achieved world champion status in Filipino stick fighting and was the first and only woman to be certified in the advanced level of instructor under the late Grandmaster Angel Cabales.

After retiring with an undefeated record, she spent the last three decades incorporating her knowledge and experience to formulate a highly effective street defense system. Her devotion to martial arts, coupled with two advanced degrees in Education, and Physical Education, has led Casillas to dedicate herself to the promotion of self-defense as a teacher, student, and accomplished writer and journalist.

Casillas has trained in a diversity of martial arts systems and is a certified Close Protection Specialist and graduate of Executive Security International (ESI), an elite school for executive protection specialists, and the Lethal Force Institute (LFI).

When not in training, Casillas, who retired as a tenured counselor, professor and department chair of counseling continues to advise college students as an adjunct at Oxnard College. As department chair of the physical education department, she developed a variety of courses for the department ensuring that students are able to take jujitsu, escrima, boxing, kickboxing, self-defense, and health courses, which transfer to any Cal State University (CSU) or the University of California (UC) for university credit.

Prime Video is currently airing a documentary on her life as a professional fighter: The Lioness Within Documentary and she also has published a women's self-defense book called The Lioness Within.

Oxnard College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or sexual orientation.

El Colegio de Oxnard no discrimina por motivos de raza, color, origen nacional, sexo, discapacidad, edad u orientación sexual.