Wednesday, January 29, 2020
The annual JazzNIC Festival is back at North Idaho College with more than 200 middle school and high school students participating in jazz clinics Feb. 4-5, and a free concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4, in NIC’s Boswell Hall Schuler Performing Arts Center.
This educational event features hourly clinics for vocal jazz and instrumental jazz groups. The clinics allow students to receive instant, specific feedback on how to improve their performances.
The community is invited to Boswell Hall’s Schuler Performing Arts Center from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 4, and 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5, to hear performances by local schools and watch guest clinicians work with educators and students.
Clinicians for the two-day education event are Jeff Pellaton, Rhys Gerwin, and Max Mendez. Pellaton is a U.S. Air Force veteran from Castro Valley, Calif. He was the Director of Percussion Studies at Mississippi Valley State University prior to beginning his career with the Department of Defense Dependent Schools, where he served in positions in Okinawa, Japan; Wurzburg, Germany, and Ramstein, Germany.
Gerwin is the current guitar instructor at North Idaho College. He specializes in jazz guitar and is an active performer throughout the Inland Northwest. Mendez is currently a Professor and Director of Choirs at NIC. He has been an active part of the Inland Northwest music community for the last 15 years. He divides his time between conducting, teaching and performing. For the last 12 years at NIC, he has conducted the NIC Cardinal Chorale, Chamber Singers, and Cardinal Voices.
Cardinal Voices, led by Mendez, will perform an eclectic mix of songs by various songwriters, including “Keep on the Sunny Side,” “In My Room,” and “Big Yellow Taxi.” Cardinal Voices is a new commercial music ensemble at NIC, in which students focus on performance of studio-quality popular music. It provides an ensemble atmosphere with an emphasis on small group dynamics, ensemble singing/performance, solo performance, songwriting, and arranging – all within versatile musical/singing styles.
The NIC Jazz Ensemble, directed by NIC Director of Bands Bryan Hannaford, will perform with both guest clinicians. Pellaton will perform on drums for the Latin jazz piece “Cabeza de Queso,” by Fred Sturm and there will also be some straight-ahead jazz drumming with the up-tempo number “Anything More?” by Lars Halle. In addition, the NIC Jazz Ensemble will feature guitarist Gerwin, on “Squiggly,” by Kris Berg.
Information: (208) 769-3424.