AMEA 2017 Performing Groups
Borrowing it’s name from a line in the County High Alma Mater, the “Velvet Blue Orchestra” is the top Jazz Ensemble at Tuscaloosa County High School. The VBO is comprised of approximately 25 students in grades 9-12. Membership in the organization is by audition. Amongst recent engagements by the VBO are performances for the Tuscaloosa Historical Society, The Tuscaloosa Character Council, The West Alabama Chamber of Commerce, and the Tallassee Jazz Festival. Many students from the VBO have participated in All State Jazz Band and the group has been consistently rated superior at assessment. The VBO is led by TCHS Associate Director of Bands, Michael Guzman.
Troy University Collegiate Singers is a non-auditioned choral ensemble designed to provide a quality performing experience for students of all majors utilizing excellent repertoire from a wide variety of historical and cultural styles. The ensemble performs mature choral literature learning skills in vocal technique, music reading, and ensemble performance techniques. Recently, Collegiate Singers have been ambassadors for new music, performing a number of world premieres. Collegiate Singers continues to showcase excellence through their performances on and off campus.
In 2016-17, the Department of Music at UAH will celebrate its Golden Jubilee – 50 years of training musicians for the state of Alabama. The Wind Ensemble was among the university’s first musical ensembles and, as such, has enjoyed a storied near 50-year history with early appearances under the batons of James Cavanaugh and William D. Revelli. For many years, the UAH Wind Ensemble personnel also comprised the early talent of the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, a strong partnership still enjoyed today in annual combined programs of the two organizations in what has become Huntsville’s signature holiday event, “Peace on Earth.” In recent years, the UAH Wind Ensemble has led or participated in consortiums to commission over a dozen new works for wind band by composers Paul Dooley, Steve Danyew, Roy Magnuson, Kevin Krumenauer, and three works and several associated residencies by David
Maslanka. Additionally, the UAH Wind Ensemble features frequent guest conductors of international acclaim, including recent appearances by: John Lynch (Sydney Conservatory), Gary Green (University of Miami), Col. Timothy Holtan (U.S. Army Band), and Catherine Rand (University of Southern Mississippi), to name a few. The UAH Wind Ensemble has twice hosted the Alabama All-State Solo Competition and, in 2014, gave the feature performance for the Alabama All-State Festival. The UAH Wind Ensemble is an audition-only ensemble, open to all students at UAH, regardless of major – making it, uniquely, a true campus ensemble while maintaining high performance standards required by the modern wind band repertoire.
The Concert Choir is the premier choral ensemble at the University of Montevallo and is among the most highly regarded choirs in the southeast. Under the direction of Dr. Melinda Doyle, this auditioned ensemble comprised of both music major and non-music major students performs a diverse repertoire ranging from choral masterworks to spirituals. The choir tours annually and has made appearances throughout Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Tennessee, and has performed featured concerts for the Southern Division of the American Choral Directors Association and the Alabama Music Educators Association In-Service Conference. Most recently, the choir performed in some of the world’s best-known musical venues on their inaugural invitational 2015 European Performance Tour of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria. The choir has also performed several major works with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, including performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Brahms in Deutsches Requiem, Fauré Requiem, Vivaldi Gloria, Haydn’s Missa Sancti Nicolai and Mozart’s Missa in C Major, K 317. In addition to concerts on campus each semester, the Concert Choir is frequently featured in concerts throughout the Birmingham area and presents the annual "A Montevallo Choral Christmas" at the beautiful Lucille Ryals Thompson Colonial Chapel at the American Village in December. The choir has recently received an invitation to record new manuscripts for Hinshaw Music, an international choral music publishing company.
Just Singin’ is one of eight choirs at Vestavia Hills High School. Students chosen for Just Singin’ sing in at least one other choir during the school day. This Acapella Pop group began in 2007 as an experiment to gather the best of the Vestavia Hills High School Choral Department. They perform throughout the State and enjoy writing their own arrangements as well as performing others’ arrangements.
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October/November 2016
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