What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/959991
APRIL 1-7, 2018 WHAT'S UP! 3 FAQ VoiceJam Festival WHEN — VoicePlay headliner concert, 7:30 p.m. April 6; VoiceJam competition, 7:30 p.m. April 7 WHERE — Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville COST — VoicePlay concert $15-$30; VoiceJam competition $19-$39 INFO — 443-5600, waltonartscenter. org FYI — Visit website for full sched- ule, plus details on workshops. Let Your Voice Be Heard A cappella competition bigger, better than ever JOCELYN MURPHY NWA Democrat-Gazette T he aca-awesome Walton Arts Center- produced VoiceJam A Cappella Festival returns to Fayetteville for its fourth consecutive year. The festival will see groups from across the nation take to the Baum Walker stage in competition and will give local and visiting musicians the opportunity to enhance their skills through workshops. It will again host the "father of contemporary a cappella" and producer of NBC's "The Sing-Off," Deke Sharon. Just before their arrival in Fayetteville, What's Up! heard from a few of the competitors: Impromptu Indianapolis "Because we all come from such different vocal backgrounds, we all have the ability to sing solos within the group, so we have a wide variety of styles and genres that we could hit," says Edric Mitchell, a member of the only community group (not part of a school) participating in this year's competition. "We [also] have three of us that are capable of arranging our own music for the group. I do think that sets us apart from a lot of groups, as well. A lot of groups purchase their arrangements from other people — which is great because there are always people out there getting work arranging for a group — but it really is something special for us to be able to put our own spin on the entire arrangement that we want to do." Mind the Gap University of Oregon (Eugene, Ore.) "It's a much more personal experience being your own instrument and having to convey the message based on your voice and your face and in a group setting, as well," says Mind the Gap member and business manager Emilie Ormsby. The group took third in the 2016 VoiceJam competition and returns this year. "Mind the Gap opened me up to the emotional part of a cappella, for sure. A lot of our songs — including one we're actually competing with, called 'Till It Happens to You' — it's very personal to each of us. The song itself was … written for sexual assault awareness, but each of us take it in our [own] sense and convey this really just deep message from each of us personally. To be able to do that on a stage all together, it's unlike anything else." Ars Nova Miami Valley School (Dayton, Ohio) "We always try to say something a little deeper with our music — we're not there just to sing pop songs and sound good. We're making a point when we're on that stage," says Taylor Felder, high school senior and member of VoiceJam's only high school competitor Ars Nova. "We don't want to just be a good high school a cappella group; we want to be a good a cappella group. And I think by seeing not just other high school groups, but experiencing and learning from college groups and groups made up [of] young adults, we can learn a lot." "What this group brings is a lot of depth of emotional resonance," adds director of vocal music at Miami Valley School Christopher Diaz. "I think a lot of times, young people, their feelings are dismissed as cursory or burgeoning — not as valuable or resonant as that which adults feel. So when you see this set, you're going to see a really thoughtful group of young people who understand the world is in gray scale — it isn't in black and white. And this set is really about the marriage of the highs and lows, and hopefully bringing them together under an umbrella of hope." Photo courtesy: Jamie Seed The Texas Songhorns from the University of Texas at Austin perform at the 2017 VoiceJam competition. The group returns this year to take another shot at the winning spot. FYI Festival Expansion "What we've always wanted to do with VoiceJam was to build more a cappella groups in our region," says WAC public rela- tions director Jennifer Wilson. "We thought this would be a good opportunity to put in place a [chance] for people who are inter- ested in being part of a group, but may not have one at their school … and give them some pretty intensive training so they … might be able to develop their own groups, or work with their schools to develop a group." Cue the VoiceJam Varsity Singers — a new auditioned, workshop intensive program for high school and college singers that will offer them the tools to grow the a cappella presence in Northwest Arkansas with the hope there will be even more local partici- pants in the festival in the coming years. In that same vein, the Walton Arts Center will also offer professional development credit for the first time for music teachers attending the festival workshops. "When you're talking about professional development geared toward music teach- ers, it's something that's really lacking, and it's an area that we wanted to be able to step up and [provide] some additional train- ing, again, with the thought that we would like to grow a cappella as an art form," Wilson shares. There is no additional charge to register for the professional development credit. Interested parties simply choose the "+ Professional Development" option on the VoiceJam Workshops registration page. Call WAC with questions. FAYETTEVILLE