UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival

     Wednesday, March 15, 2015, Cardinal Singers boarded the bus for the prestigious jazz festival put on by University of Northern Colorado and the city of Greeley, Colorado. Since Christmas, Cardinal Singers have been working on a set of jazz music consisting of: "The Pink Panther," "Seasons of Love," "It Don't Mean a Thing," a jazz arrangement of "Amazing Graze," and "Puttin' on the Ritz" from Young Frankenstein.
     On Thursday, the group arrived early at the event center to watch the Chadron State College Jazz Ensemble, and then performed to a panel of judges for fifteen minutes, and received critique for another fifteen minutes. Overall, both groups received great ratings and did very well.
     After the Cardinal Singer's performance, they were allowed to attend a circle singing class, and a microphone and tech class to learn about microphones and the control board that controls everything. In the circle singing class, Kerry Marsh taught the idea of circle singing for 45 minutes. What circle singing is, is a type of music Bobby McFarin derived for sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses to be able to sing completely different parts and words at the same time: Click here to see the Circle Singing. "The circle singing was very fun. It was a great learning experience for all of us, and I hope we can continue to use circle singing in our group," explained Emmy Mills.
     When the circle singing class was over, the cardinal singers went to the mic class that was taught by a worker of the famous group- The Pentatonix. The instructor had also worked with other groups, including Straight Note Chaser. In the mic class, the group learned how to work a sound board to make the quality of the sound better.
      Later in the day, the whole group ate at Olive Garden and enjoyed some down time before a circle singing concert.
     At the circle singing concert, the same instructor, Kerry Marsh, brought together multiple schools to sing together in a circle group. "It was nothing like I have ever done before, and it was interesting to hear all of the different singing styles. It was a great experience to get to interact with other schools," said Cassie Sloan.
     The director, Wendy Mahr, and the Cardinal Singers hope to return to the festival next year.