Student vocalists for Commencement Eve Pops were selected by audition

Eight student vocalists will be featured when Rockefeller Arts Center presents "All That Jazz: Commencement Eve Pops" on Friday, May 14 at 8 p.m. in King Concert Hall at SUNY Fredonia. They are: (front, from left) Amanda Hall, Kimberly Abrams, Kristine Hsia and Emma Traubert and (back, from left) Jason Weisinger, Tracy Robertson, Boris Van Druff and Jonas Barranca.

A wide variety of vocal styles have been responsible for bringing some of the world’s greatest jazz tunes to life – from Louis Armstrong with his gravelly voice and scat stylings to Ella Fitzgerald with her three-octave range and clear tone.

Twenty such jazz classics will be featured at the State University of New York at Fredonia on Friday, May 14 when Rockefeller Arts Center presents “All That Jazz: Commencement Eve Pops” at 8 p.m. in King Concert Hall.

With a repertoire that spans the best jazz from the 1930s through today, the program calls for a diverse group of voices. Eight of SUNY Fredonia’s most talented student vocalists – including two who were featured in the recent hit campus production of “Kiss Me, Kate” – have been assembled to bring the songs to life.

The student vocalists, who were selected at auditions held in March, are:

• Kimberly Abrams, a junior Musical Theatre major. Her credits at Fredonia include “Charlotte’s Web,” “Electra” and the chorus of “The Magic Flute.” Last summer, she was the assistant director for West Side Story at the Amadeus Conservatory Theater & Art Day Camp in Chappaqua.
• Jonas Amadeus Barranca, a junior Musical Theatre major. His experience in performing jazz began in high school when he played trumpet and sang in the senior jazz band at LaGuardia Arts. Previous Fredonia credits include “Dracula,” “Victor/Victoria,” “The 11:08 from London,” “Where The Cross Is Made,” “Marat/Sade,” “Hidden In This Picture,” “A Christmas Carol,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “La Boheme” and “Electra.”
•  Amanda Hall, a junior Voice Performance and Music Education major. She has appeared in productions of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” and Puccini’s “La Boheme,” as well as scenes from Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” In 2009, Ms. Hall toured Italy with Lyric Arts International, performing in Pergolesi’s “Il Maestro di Musica.”
•  Kristine Hsia, a senior Musical Theatre major. Her credits include “Kiss Me Kate,” Fredonia Dance Ensemble 2010, “Company,” “Dog Sees God,” “Urinetown,” “Marat/Sade,” “Cabaret,” “The Rocky Horror Show” and “Into the Woods.” She has also participated in the One-Act Play Festivals.
•  Tracy Robertson, a sophomore Music Education major from Watertown. Tracy has completed his second year as a member of College Choir and the Masterworks Chorus. He has spent the past two years singing with the Vocal Jazz Ensemble, Bruce Johnstone’s curricular jazz ensembles and playing congas in Fredonia’s Latin Jazz Ensemble. He participated in the Student Opera Theatre Association Opera Scenes production this past spring as an ensemble member of “Les Contes d’Hoffmann.”
•  Emma Traubert, a junior BFA Musical Theatre major with an American Studies minor. Her credits include “Kiss Me, Kate,” “Company,” “Soft Dude,” “365 Plays in 365 Days,” “Women of Manhattan,” “Grease,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “The Wiz” and “Miss Saigon.” Ms. Traubert is an active member of the national theatre honor fraternity Alpha Psi Omega and is currently vice-president of the Performing Arts Company.
•  Boris Van Druff, a senior Vocal Performance major. His performance credits include “Little Shop of Horrors,” “Hansel and Gretel,” “The Magic Flute,” and “La Boheme.” He has also performed in the Opera Scenes, in “Die Fledermaus,” “Don Giovanni” and “The Crucible.” Mr. Van Druff served as co-music director and coach for Vaughan-Williams’ “Riders to the Sea” in 2008 and as the tenor soloist in Haydn’s “Theresienmesse” and Bach’s “Ein Feste Burg ist unser Gott, BWV 80” with the Western New York Chamber Orchestra.
•  Jason Weisinger, a junior Vocal Performance and Music Education double major. His credits include Stravinsky’s “The Rake’s Progress,” Weill’s “Street Scene,” Johann Strauss’s “Die Fledermaus” and Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” Prior to attending Fredonia, Mr. Weisinger was a Vocal Jazz Performance major at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. Mr. Weisinger is currently the director of the Fredonia Vocal Jazz Ensemble. Last summer he travelled with Lyric Arts Italy to perform scenes from Verdi’s “La Traviata,” Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” and Rossini’s “La Cenerentola.”
• Backing the student vocalists will be the Little Apple Big Band. This 17-piece professional band is led by Bruce Johnstone, director of curricular jazz ensembles at SUNY Fredonia. Mr. Johnstone is a noted jazz baritone saxophonist and composer. He is a former featured soloist with big band jazz legends Maynard Ferguson and Woody Herman and a “DownBeat” magazine poll winner.

Tickets are available through the SUNY Fredonia Ticket Office in the Williams Center, by phone at 716-673-3501 (1-866-441-4928) or online at www.fredonia.edu/tickets.

“All That Jazz: Commencement Eve Pops” is sponsored by the Fredonia and Silver Creek Penny Savers. It is a DFT Communications Pops Series event as part of the 2009-10 Lake Shore Savings Season.