IOWA ALL-STATE JAZZ CHOIR 2013

ICDA is pleased again to sponsor the sixteenth annual Iowa All-State Jazz Choir under the direction of Kerry Marsh. Kerry Marsh is a composer and arranger specializing in contemporary music for vocal jazz ensembles.  In high demand as a commissioned arranger for many of the nation's top educational vocal and instrumental jazz ensembles, Marsh has a large and varied catalog of music performed regularly around the world.

Since 2003, Kerry has directed the vocal jazz ensembles at Sacramento State, and in that time, his ensembles and individual students have earned eleven Down Beat Magazine Student Music Awards, distinguishing it as one of the premiere programs in the country during that time.  Marsh is busy year-round as an adjudicator and clinician for jazz festivals and workshops and he serves as a traveling clinician and high school honor vocal jazz ensemble director for the Monterey Jazz Festival. Marsh has directed all-state jazz choirs in California, Arizona, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Wyoming, Illinois, New York, Maine, and New Hampshire.

Kerry graduated in 2000 from the University of Kansas with a B.M.E. in Music Education and in 2003 with a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the University of North Texas. Marsh's university training included study with Paris Rutherford, Dan Gailey, Simon Carrington, and Rosana Eckert. If you would like to know more about Kerry Marsh, please feel free to peruse his website at www.kerrymarsh.com.

Between twelve to twenty high school jazz choir singers will be chosen to participate in this event.  Rehearsals will begin on Saturday, July 20, and culminate with a concert given in conjunction with the ICDA Summer Convention at Mason City's NIACC Campus on Monday, July 22.  Two additional rehearsals prior to the All State Jazz Choir Festival will be required.  The dates and locations of these rehearsals will be given to the singers after acceptance into the ensemble.

1. ELIGIBILITY:  There are new eligibility requirements this year for directors and students.

1.Each student auditioning for the ICDA All-State Jazz Choir must be recommended by his/her director, who must be a member in good standing of ICDA, and the school principal.
2. Each student auditioning for the ICDA All-State Jazz Choir must be a member of his/her school choral program and academically eligible to participate in this activity according to the rules of the Iowa High School Music Association.  Academic eligibility applies at the time of both auditions, the rehearsals and concert, and membership in the school choral program is assumed until the end of the school year. The school principal and the choral director must certify that all applicants are eligible.
3. Upon signing the ICDA All-State Jazz Choir Acceptance Contract, (given to students upon acceptance) the student agrees to: attend and sing in all rehearsals and the final concert; be responsible for learning and performing all selected music materials, among other things.
4. It is the responsibility of the sponsoring director, to make sure that students receive their materials and information, are musically prepared, and are aware of financial responsibilities.
Each student selected will be responsible for the cost of their own housing, food, music and rehearsal CD, as well as all registration and entry fees, and any transportation needs.  Directors are responsible for chaperoning and transporting their own students to all rehearsals or obtaining a parental chaperone to do so during this event.

AUDITION INFORMATION
Auditions will take place on Tuesday, March 26, 2013 in Ballard, IA, in conjunction with the Iowa Vocal Jazz Championships. Auditions will begin in the morning with one judge adjudicating each voice part.  The top singers will be recalled and evaluated by the entire judging panel during the afternoon, with the announcement of the members selected to the 2013 All-State Jazz Choir being made during the Iowa Vocal Jazz Championships Awards Ceremony.  Singers will be judged in the following categories:  Time/Feel, Intonation, Accuracy, Tone Quality, Scales, Sight-Reading and Jazz Concepts.

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Please link the three audition cut sound files to the page and label them as

ALL-STATE JAZZ CHOIR REHEARSALS INFO TO COME