Concert On The Lawn

Featuring all-star legendary L.A. musicians:    

• Rique Pantoja, Keyboard
• Alex Acuna, Drums 
• Mike Bagasao, Saxophone
• Abe Laboriel, Bass
• Linda McCrary, Vocals

These five powerful performers share a spiritual and artistic depth as they play across musical idioms encompassing jazz, contemporary Christian, latin and gospel music forms.
Bring a Friend! Concert is FREE and open to the public. Complimentary popcorn and beverages provided.

This celebratory concert features five all-star legendary LA musicians who share a spiritual and artistic depth as they play across musical idioms encompassing jazz, contemporary Christian, latin and gospel music forms. Join us for this exciting FREE event as Biola launches the Center for Christianity, Culture & The Arts and dedicates the Earl & Virginia Green Art Gallery.

Rique Pantoja, Composer, Arranger, Songwriter and Jazz Pianist

Multi-talented Rique Pantoja is a composer, arranger, songwriter and jazz pianist. Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, he has been based in Los Angeles for nearly two decades. He is in great demand worldwide for concerts, recordings, TV and film work, and advertising projects.  Rique’s work embraces a wide range of musical styles, from jazz to modern classical to pop to gospel music, and his distinctive stylings are recognizable for their cool beat, unmistakable passion, sophisticated harmonic voicings and highly original melodic lines.  Rique has also composed and arranged themes and underscoring for hit TV shows like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, Santa Barbara, Another World – as well as TV and radio jingles for major brands such as Coca Cola, Honda, Shell Oil, Globo Reporter, DeBeers Diamonds, Pepsi Cola, Nissan, Toshiba, and Marie Claire. He teaches courses at Southern California’s Biola University; leads workshops at Maranatha Worship Training, the Los Angeles Music & Performance School and Pepperdine University.

Alex Acuna, Drummer and Percussionist

Alex Acuna is a Peruvian drummer and percussionist, in the Afro-Cuban jazz style. Born in Pativilca, Peru, Acuña played in local bands from the age of ten. In 1974 Acuña moved to Las Vegas, working with artists such as Elvis Presley and Diana Ross, and the following year he joined the jazz-fusion group Weather Report. Acuña left Weather Report in 1978, and became a session musician in California, recording and playing live with Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Ella Fitzgerald, Chick Corea, Whitney Houston, Plácido Domingo, Phil Keaggy, Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana, Beck, Roberta Flack and U2. In the 1980’s Acuña also recorded and toured with the Christian jazz band Koinonia, which featured session musicians Abraham Laboriel, Justo Almario, Hadley Hockensmith, Harlan Rogers, and Bill Maxwell. He has also worked as an educator at the University of California, Los Angeles and Berklee College of Music. 

Abe Laboriel, Sr., 

Abraham Laboriel, Sr. is a Mexican bassist of Garifuna descent who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks. Guitar Player Magazine described him as "the most widely used session bassist of our time.” Originally a classically trained guitarist, he switched to bass while studying at the Berklee School of Music. Henry Mancini encouraged Laboriel to move to Los Angeles, California and pursue a recording career. Since then, he has worked with artists as diverse as Andraé Crouch, Donald Fagen, Lee Ritenour, Christopher Cross, Larry Carlton, Dave Grusin, Stevie Wonder, Barbra Streisand, Al Jarreau, Elton John, Ray Charles, Madonna, Paul Simon, Quincy Jones, Crystal Lewis, Herbie Hancock, and Michael Jackson. Laboriel was a founding member of the band Koinonia. Laboriel is now in the band Open Hands with Justo Almario, Greg Mathieson, and Bill Maxwell.

Mike Bagasao, Saxophone

Michael Bagasao grew up in a family of musicians. He owes much of his love for music to his father Lito Bagasao a classical pianist and his love for jazz to his late uncle Dan Bagasao ("Bagasoul"), a well-known trumpeter in the Los Angeles jazz community. During his college years, Michael has received numerous band and solo awards and to date has gotten the opportunity to perform at the Pori Jazz Festival in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Singapore, the Philippines and United States. Michael has been blessed to have recorded, played with as well as be mentored by artists such as Rique Pantoja, Justo Almario,  Fin Johnston, Eric Reed, Louie Bellson, Arturo Velasco, Oscar Cartaya, Abe Laboriel, Tommy Walker and BeBe Winans among many others as a freelance  saxophonist in the Los Angeles area where he lives with his wife Joy and 4 children.

Linda McCrary, Gospel Singer

Originally from Youngstown, Ohio, Linda McCrary was part of a family recording act consisted of her four siblings. In 1972, the quintet released a gospel album, Sunshine Day on Light Records. The group relocated to Los Angeles and recorded a series of R&B albums in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Their biggest hit was "You" (written by Alfred, Linda and Sam McCrary), which featured harmonica by Stevie Wonder. A huge R&B single, the song also achieved significant airplay on pop radio stations, peaking just below the Top 40. Linda McCrary has worked on sessions with Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Andrae Crouch, Phil Driscoll, Candi Staton, Philip Bailey, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Juice Newton and Angela Bofill.