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Singing Festival

March 2023 NATS Online Singing Festival and Scholarship Audition
March 4th, 2023
The Green Music Center on the Sonoma State Campus
​1801 East Cotati Avenue, Rohnert Park, CA 94928

What is the Redwood Empire Singing Festival?
This is a day devoted to developing performance skills and collegiality for students of singing. The best way to practice performing and auditioning is to, well, practice! Our festival is a supportive environment for singers to have growth experiences.

Participating in this festival can be helpful to singers in many ways:
  • Give singers time and space to practice and gain performance skills
  • Give singers the opportunity to practice auditioning for colleges, or to get roles in performances/shows 
  • Give students and their teachers outside feedback from other industry professionals
  • Give students the opportunity for family and friends to hear them sing in the Green Music Center
  • Gives students the opportunity to win scholarship money to help them continue their study of singing

Workshops and Talks
  • Throughout the day we will be having short workshops on a variety of topics:
    • College auditions & admissions for voice majors
    • Demystifying the vocal process 
    • How to get seen on social media as a performer
    • Songwriting
    • The Answers are Changing
    • & More….
  • Auditioning singers and their guests may drop in on any or all workshops
  • Final workshop schedule will be posted online and in the lobby closer to March 4th​

Submit Registration

Submission Instructions:
​Entry forms, payment, and copies of sheet music (if applicable) are due by February 22, 2023 at midnight.
  1. Submit Registration: If entering for more than one category,  fill out the entire form for every category they enter. For example, if entering for both CCM and classical, fill out the form twice.​​
  2. Pay Submission Fee of $40 Per Category: If entering in more than one category, you may pay the total fee just once, you do not need to submit multiple payments. For example, two entries would be one payment of $80.
Submit Registration
Pay Submission Fee

Event Information

Finalists will be invited for the Finalist Competition on:

​March 4th, 2023 at 6:30 PM
The Green Music Center on the Sonoma State Campus
1801 East Cotati Avenue, Rohnert Park, CA 94928

$5 parking pass required
(good for all day and for leave and return)
Campus Map
Event Information Sheet

SINGING FESTIVAL 2023  --  ESSENTIAL INFORMATION

 FOUR DIVISIONS
Division I: Ages 10-14
Division II: Ages 15-18 (still in High School)
Division III: Post High School ages 18-24
Division IV: Ages 25 and above
 
In all Divisions, both songs are required to be memorized.
Total time for both songs is 8 minutes – INCLUDING:
Introduction of 1) performer’s name, 2) title of composition and 3) composer.


CCM -- CONTEMPORARY COMMERCIAL MUSIC (CCM) CATEGORY
Requirements are two songs, prepared and memorized:
Language:  one or two in English; one may be in a foreign language (optional). 
Repertoire:  Two contrasting contemporary songs, NOT from a musical or stage production.  One song may be an original composition (optional).  Students may accompany themselves. 
A microphone for the singer will be provided in the adjudication room. 


CLASSICAL CATEGORY requirements are two songs, prepared and memorized:
Language:  one in English and, in Div. II-IV, one in a foreign language. 
Repertoire:  For all divisions, one must be an Art Song.
The other song must be an Art Song of a different period, a classical folk song including classical gospel,
Opera, Operetta, or Oratorio.


MUSICAL THEATER CATEGORY requirements are two songs, prepared and memorized:
Both songs from a staged Broadway, Off-Broadway production, or film musical.  
ONLY Division I may use one song from a movie score.
Singers should ensure that contrasting selections represent the spectrum of their vocal and dramatic abilities (Classical, Contemporary, Pop/Rock) and use a variety of vocalisms (belt, mix, legit).

MEET THE JUDGES


JIM MEREDITH, tenor, received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Tulane University. He is a musical partner with mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade. As a solo pianist, vocal and instrumental accompanist and conductor in America, Europe and Asia, his work has brought him into contact with such artists as Elly Ameling, Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, Eleanor Steber, Gerald Moore for whom he has played masterclasses. For four summers he was pianist Dalton Baldwin's assistant in art song in masterclasses at the French Conservatory in Nice. Concerts with Ms. Von Stade included two appearances on Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion," each reaching a National Public Radio audience of over two million listeners.” He has been conductor of the Oakland Symphony Chorus, was on the faculty of Merritt College, taught masterclasses at Holy Names College, was Festival Opera chorus master, taught Art Song masterclasses at San Jose State University and has been on the voice/piano faculty of the award-winning Young Musicians Choral Orchestra for 17 years where his students have won many competitions and been accepted at major US universities and conservatories.
 
JENNI SAMUELSON is an award-winning soprano with repertoire that includes opera, oratorio, and art song as well as musical theater, jazz, and contemporary popular forms. She has performed in more than 25 lead roles with opera companies throughout the country, including the San Francisco Opera Center, Eugene Opera, Opera San Jose, Chicago Light Opera Works, and The Skylight in Milwaukee. Her signature roles include: Susanna (The Marriage of Figaro); Musetta (La Boheme); Phyllis (Iolanthe) and Johanna (Sweeney Todd). Concert appearances have been equally varied and include: Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 by Villa Lobos; Dona Nobis Pacem by Vaughan Williams; Bach's B minor Mass; and Mendelssohn's Elijah, with musical organizations including the Carmel Bach Festival, San Francisco Chorale, Santa Rosa Symphony, and Boston Metropolitan Chorale. In 2001, Samuelson was granted the Virginia Bess Adams Fellowship to study and perform at the world-renowned Carmel Bach Festival. She is a three-time Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and a U.S. Finalist in the Veronica Dunne International Voice Competition. She received her Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Northwestern University. From 1999 through 2005, she served on the voice faculty at Sonoma State University. She currently teaches in the Global Arts Studies Program at UC Merced.
 
SARAH WINTERMEYER’S first audition, performance, and speaking role all happened right here at SRJC at the age of 12. She went on to graduate with honors from UC Irvine's Dramatic Arts program, which led her to the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy, and the NYU Satellite Program and for intensive study of musical theatre styles.  After graduating, she performed professionally on stage and screen throughout California and later returned to Italy for two tours with Accademia Culturale Liguistica Educativa. 

Sarah went on to earn her MFA in Theatre Arts from the University of Connecticut and joined on as a company actor at Connecticut Repertory Theatre, where she received back-to-back Broadway World Regional Nominations for Outstanding Performance for her portrayals of Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing and Arlene Fletcher in O Beautiful.   After returning to the bay area, Sarah earned four consecutive nominations for Principal Performer in a Musical from the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle for her portrayals of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Peter in Peter Pan, Jo March in Little Women, and received the award for playing Vanessa in SRJC’s production of In the Heights. Her productions have also earned numerous SFBATCC, Marquee Theatre, and Theatre Bay Area awards and nominations. 
​
Sarah has been teaching theatre and working with students for over a decade, from private one-on-one and small group settings, to university acting labs and lectures for classes of 300+ students. She continues to work as a local actor and director to keep her skills sharp and knowledge of the business current.
 
MEGGIE CANSLER  is a Kansas native, and has been seen on Broadway in The Apple Tree, starring Kristin Chenoweth, Finian's Rainbow, and Wicked.  She toured with the first national company of Wicked as the Galinda understudy, and with Miss Saigon as Ellen. She has been seen Off-Broadway in Lucky Guy as the standby for Wanda and Chicky.  She has made frequent appearances in the City Center Encores! series, appearing in productions such as Finian's Rainbow, Bells Are Ringing, Fiorello, Where's Charley, and Little Me.  Meggie played the leading role of Stacia-Jane Hauser in the New York Musical Theatre Festival production of Shine.  Her television and film credits include:  CW's Carrie Diaries and a role in the independent film When Sunny Gets Blue.  Regionally, Meggie has performed at the St. Louis Muny as Penny (Hairspray) and Ariel (Footloose), St. Louis Rep as Celeste/Elaine (Sunday in the Park with George), Papermill Playhouse and the Asolo Theatre as Nellie u/s (South Pacific) and Portland Center Stage in the world premiere of Somewhere in Time where she sang the title song as the band singer.

Most recently she has been touring the United States promoting the upcoming tour of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.  This summer you can find her in the glorious vineyards of Sonoma Valley singing for Transcendence Theatre Company in the ruins of Jack London State Park.  Meggie holds a BFA from Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and is a proud member of Actor's Equity Association. 
 
 
ALI CECCHETTI has private vocal studios in Los Angeles and Sonoma, California, is a certified vocal coach, and songwriter.  She is known for her work in the entertainment industry working with TV, film and recording artists.  Ali offers a range of vocal techniques and services, including music theory, performance and songwriting skills.  Creating a fun, positive and professional atmosphere, Ali customizes each session according to her client’s needs and goals to help them achieve their true potential.  A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Ali is an award winning, published songwriter and international performer. She makes it her mission “to give all my clients the confidence, knowledge and techniques to make their mark in the entertainment industry.”
 
Vocal lessons are geared to each singer’s individual and unique voice.  From beginners to professional recording artists and performers each lesson incorporates the latest vocal science and research to develop vocal skills.   At the Voice Studio our focus is building vocal techniques, performance skills and creative development.  Keeping your voice healthy, fixing vocal strain and eliminating breaks are just a few issues we will identify and help you find your true voice and potential. 


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  • Home
  • Events
    • Singing Festival 2023
    • Partner Events
    • Past Events
      • Singing Festival 2022
  • Find a Teacher
  • Get Involved
    • About Us
    • Become a Member
  • Donate
  • Contact