Vocal Jazz Choir
Grade: 9-12 and collegiate section leaders
Dates: January 12-13, 2024 (Registration 9:00am on Friday; Concert at 1:45pm on Saturday)
Location: Paper Valley Hotel & Lawrence University (Appleton)
Coordinator: Tim Buchholz vocaljazzallstate@wischoral.org
Nominations & Auditions: WCDA will create a select ensemble of 14-18 of the best vocal jazz singers in the state, grades 9-12 with collegiate section leaders, to present an exceptional program of vocal jazz literature at the state convention in January. Each director may submit up to 4 singers through the online nomination form. Each student applicant must also submit an audio audition via .mp3, .m4a, or an unlisted YouTube video. The All-State Vocal Jazz Ensemble has spots for four collegiate section leaders (one per section) to join this all-state group. College applicants follow the same audition procedure as high school applicants by receiving a nomination from their director and sending in two recordings. College participants are responsible for their own lodging during the convention. See audition details.
Directors: Fill out this Nomination form:
https://www.cognitoforms.com/ZanderPressInc1/VocalJazzChoirNomination
Audition Process for Students
Student applicants must create and submit two recordings to be considered for Vocal Jazz All-State:
1. Sing a jazz standard of your choosing at a steady tempo, preferably with accompaniment.
2. Sing your voice part on the SATB audition excerpt. PDF excerpt and mp3s HERE. Please record your SATB audition excerpt while singing along with the “Audition Backing Track.” Part tracks of the excerpt are provided to help you learn your part but should not be used when making your audition recording.
These two recordings are to be sent directly to Dr. Buchholz at vocaljazzallstate@wischoral.org by September 30. These audio recordings may be submitted as either .mp3/.m4a files or as links to unlisted YouTube videos.
Cost: $195
Guest Conductor: Matt Falker
Matt Falker is a jazz and gospel pianist, vocalist, and clinician. As a prominent jazz choir arranger, Matt now distributes his music through his publishing company, Anchor Music Publications (formerly Sound Music Publications founded by Frank DeMiero in 1988), as well as the music of dozens of other arrangers and composers in the vocal jazz community.
Matt is also the executive director of the Vocal Jazz Academy: a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to training and supporting vocal jazz educators primarily through a series of one-day jazz workshops for teachers and students around North America, and hosts an Educator Support community for hundreds of educators on Facebook.
As a full-time professor at MiraCosta College since 2006, Matt directs the Downbeat award-winning Frequency vocal jazz program, and is founder and director of the Oceanside Jazz Festival, a non-competitive vocal jazz festival hosted at MiraCosta.
As a vocalist and pianist, Matt has presented featured sets at events such as the Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conference. He directed the Jazz Immersion Choir at the 2023 ACDA National Conference, and also presented a clinic with Cedric Dent (formerly of Take 6). In 2019, he presented a performance of his singing, playing, and arranging at the International Jazz Voice Conference in Helsinki, Finland. Matt has also served as the guest conductor for many All-State Vocal Jazz Ensembles, most recently in Indiana, California and North Dakota.
Matt also arranged and scored a new musical based on the life and music of Nat ‘King’ Cole, which premiered at Morgan State University in Baltimore. facebook.com/ThereWasaBoy100
anchormusic.com / vocaljazzacademy.com / oceansidejazzfestival.com
Dates: January 12-13, 2024 (Registration 9:00am on Friday; Concert at 1:45pm on Saturday)
Location: Paper Valley Hotel & Lawrence University (Appleton)
Coordinator: Tim Buchholz vocaljazzallstate@wischoral.org
Nominations & Auditions: WCDA will create a select ensemble of 14-18 of the best vocal jazz singers in the state, grades 9-12 with collegiate section leaders, to present an exceptional program of vocal jazz literature at the state convention in January. Each director may submit up to 4 singers through the online nomination form. Each student applicant must also submit an audio audition via .mp3, .m4a, or an unlisted YouTube video. The All-State Vocal Jazz Ensemble has spots for four collegiate section leaders (one per section) to join this all-state group. College applicants follow the same audition procedure as high school applicants by receiving a nomination from their director and sending in two recordings. College participants are responsible for their own lodging during the convention. See audition details.
Directors: Fill out this Nomination form:
https://www.cognitoforms.com/ZanderPressInc1/VocalJazzChoirNomination
Audition Process for Students
Student applicants must create and submit two recordings to be considered for Vocal Jazz All-State:
1. Sing a jazz standard of your choosing at a steady tempo, preferably with accompaniment.
2. Sing your voice part on the SATB audition excerpt. PDF excerpt and mp3s HERE. Please record your SATB audition excerpt while singing along with the “Audition Backing Track.” Part tracks of the excerpt are provided to help you learn your part but should not be used when making your audition recording.
These two recordings are to be sent directly to Dr. Buchholz at vocaljazzallstate@wischoral.org by September 30. These audio recordings may be submitted as either .mp3/.m4a files or as links to unlisted YouTube videos.
Cost: $195
Guest Conductor: Matt Falker
Matt Falker is a jazz and gospel pianist, vocalist, and clinician. As a prominent jazz choir arranger, Matt now distributes his music through his publishing company, Anchor Music Publications (formerly Sound Music Publications founded by Frank DeMiero in 1988), as well as the music of dozens of other arrangers and composers in the vocal jazz community.
Matt is also the executive director of the Vocal Jazz Academy: a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to training and supporting vocal jazz educators primarily through a series of one-day jazz workshops for teachers and students around North America, and hosts an Educator Support community for hundreds of educators on Facebook.
As a full-time professor at MiraCosta College since 2006, Matt directs the Downbeat award-winning Frequency vocal jazz program, and is founder and director of the Oceanside Jazz Festival, a non-competitive vocal jazz festival hosted at MiraCosta.
As a vocalist and pianist, Matt has presented featured sets at events such as the Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conference. He directed the Jazz Immersion Choir at the 2023 ACDA National Conference, and also presented a clinic with Cedric Dent (formerly of Take 6). In 2019, he presented a performance of his singing, playing, and arranging at the International Jazz Voice Conference in Helsinki, Finland. Matt has also served as the guest conductor for many All-State Vocal Jazz Ensembles, most recently in Indiana, California and North Dakota.
Matt also arranged and scored a new musical based on the life and music of Nat ‘King’ Cole, which premiered at Morgan State University in Baltimore. facebook.com/ThereWasaBoy100
anchormusic.com / vocaljazzacademy.com / oceansidejazzfestival.com
