Voices rise in song

A crescendo of jazz and choral music will fill the air in Powell River when Vocal Summit 2012 takes place March 30 and 31. This will be the 17th Vocal Summit, which began when Peter Taylor and his wife Janice came to teach in School District 47.

Peter started the vocal jazz movement in British Columbia and founded his first vocal jazz festival at Carson Graham Secondary in 1974. As the movement grew, he went on to co-found the BC Vocal Jazz Festival, bringing the idea to Powell River with him when the family moved up here.

Now, the Vocal Summit is back with a committee of enthusiastic organizers. Peter has agreed to offer advice to the group of volunteers which includes Cathy Bartfai, Harold and Alice Carson, Roy and Shelly Carson, Joanne Hansen, Nancy and Alex Hollmann, Valerie Markle, Travis McDonough, Brent McKenzie and Richard Olfert.

Choirs will be visiting from other parts of BC and Washington State and groups from Brooks Secondary School, James Thomson and Grief Point elementary schools will represent Powell River. Visiting choir members stay in commercial accommodation and eat in restaurants so their presence has an economic benefit for local businesses.

“The summit is adjudicated but not competitive,” explains Nancy Hollmann. “From a total of four adjudicators, three are present at all times when choirs perform. After performing for 15 to 20 minutes, the choirs move to a different room for a workshop with an adjudicator. Choirs also receive recorded adjudications to give them different opinions about how they did and how they can improve.”

The four adjudicators include Frank deMiero, whose unique inspirational approach to music education caused him to be dubbed “the Vince Lombardi of vocal jazz.” He started school vocal jazz groups in the 1970s, which influenced Peter’s career. Nancy took a vocal jazz course with him and recalls him being “an amazing adjudicator and a force to be reckoned with.” The three other adjudicators are: Vijay Singh, composer, conductor, and professor of music at Central Washington University; Scott Leithead, founder of TIME and Kokopelli Choir associations, who has been a clinician and guest director on four different continents; and Kerry Querns, from the Lower Mainland.

In total there will be 20 performances over the two days, with Friday featuring concert choirs and Saturday jazz ensembles. Daytime concerts are free to the public and begin at 9:30 each morning in Evergreen Theatre at Powell River Recreation Complex. In addition, there will be two evening concerts, featuring adjudicator-selected choirs and special guest artists Louise Rose on Friday night and Groove For Thought on Saturday.

Besides performing on Friday night, Louise will arrive from Victoria on Tuesday, March 27 and conduct choral rehearsal workshops on Wednesday and Thursday evenings with a 50-voice gospel choir comprised of Powell River singers who will also join her for Friday’s concert. Louise wants the gospel choir to look like the world in which she lives—girls, boys, women and men—anyone keen and eager. She wants sopranos, altos, tenors and basses as well as people who have never sung in a choir but always wanted to sing with a group of people.

“The experience will be well worth the $100 fee that the singers have paid,” says Nancy. “Louise is so charismatic and one of those people who won’t take no for an answer.” She adds that being exposed to and participating in different types of music rounds out a singer’s experience. “It would be nice to have a few more men,” adds Nancy. “She wants a good mixture.” A versatile vocalist, recording artist, composer, and conductor, Louise will also be giving an “up close and personal” workshop for over 400 Powell River students and performing at Brooks.

Groove for Thought, a Seattle-based seven-member vocal jazz group, is the headliner for Saturday night. Recently, this exciting ensemble appeared as featured guests on the BBC Radio 2 program The Choir with Welsh singer Aled Jones. Groove for Thought’s performances have been described as having “infectious grooves, stunning arrangements and electrifying solos.”

Tickets for the two evening concerts, which start at 8 pm in the Evergreen, are $25 each and are available at Benjamin Moore Paint/Sunshine Décor on Alberni Street next to Scotiabank.

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