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Total Vocal

Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall

Acts

Deke Sharon, Arranger/Conductor
A Cappella music arranged by Deke Sharon

Also Featuring:

Kelley Jakle, Soloist

Shelley Regner, Soloist

Chesney Snow, Soloist

Sean Altman, Soloist

Participating Groups

Unstrumental/Bare Rhythm

Five Towns College

Chautauqua Lake Secondary School Chorus

The Blenders Chorus

Prime Note Ensemble

Eldred Key Elements

Serotonin

newchoir

G-E-T Vocal Point

Note Nerdy

Vital Signs

Hobson School Choir

Maine South Vocal Jazz Ensemble

Pace Academy

Vocal Academy at St. James

Louisiana State University Laboratory School Choirs

Special Guests

Artist's Name

Deke Sharon

Artist's Name

Kelley Jakle

Artist's Name

Shelley Regner

Artist's Name

Chesney Snow

Artist's Name

Sean Altman

Participating Group Directors

Unstrumental/Bare Rhythm
Joshua Barroll and Alana Weiss
Joshua Barroll and Alana Weiss have been working together with Unstrumental and Bare Rhythm for almost 15 years now. Under their direction, Unstrumental and Bare Rhythm have released 2 albums and won numerous awards and competitions. Most recently, Unstrumental won 1st place at the LAAF Scholastic A Cappella Competition against some of the best high school and collegiate a cappella groups in the country.

Five Towns College
Marc Silverberg
Marc Silverberg is an adjunct professor at Five Towns College and the Director of Education for CASA.org. He is the author of “Quest for the A cappella Major,” a blog that discusses the continuing education of contemporary a cappella music and group improvisation. He has presented workshops on vocal improvisation at several CASA.org sponsored festivals, SUNY Purchase, The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, and the American Choral Directors Association’s 2013 national convention. He is a graduate of the University of Delaware and Westminster Choir College.

Chautauqua Lake Secondary School Chorus
Jennifer Davis
Jennifer Davis is a vocal and general music teacher at Chautauqua Lake Secondary School in Mayville, NY. She directs 3 vocal ensembles in addition to teaching general music, guitar, songwriting and piano/theory. A native of Rochester, NY, Davis earned a Bachelor of Music degree from SUNY Fredonia (1995) and a Master of Music Degree from the Eastman School of Music (2000). Davis is also active in the New York State School Music Association, serving on the Curriculum Committee and as a presenter for both winter and summer conferences.

Eldred Key Elements
Justin Glodich

Serotonin
Jonathan Albertini
Jonathan Albertini is the Musical Director of 8-time BHA gold medalist choir, The Blenders Chorus.  He is passionately dedicated to the promotion of youth involvement in a cappella singing as current Musical Director and founder of the Blenders Youth Chorus. In 2013, Jonathan founded and directed of one of the largest annual youth development festivals, Voice In Paradise, which annually attracts hundreds of young male and female singers. Mr. Albertini is also the director of the mixed a cappella group at Griffith University called Serotonin, a High School all male chorus at A.B Patterson College, and a Sweet Adelines ladies chorus.

newchoir
Scott Pietrangelo
Artistic Director Scott Pietrangelo made his professional theatre debut at the age of nine in Hal Prince's "Show Boat". He has extensive performance background, including his lead role in recent productions of "The Last Five Years”, and as a featured soloist here at Carnegie Hall in March, 2012 as part of the bluegrass mass “The World Beloved” by Carol Barnett. Scott was assistant to the musical supervisor of Toronto's "Jersey Boys" and has been the Music Director of numerous shows at Port Hope's Capitol Theatre.  He enlivens many popular cabaret venues in Toronto, amassing a loyal following of rock and pop devotees.

G-E-T Vocal Point
Ryan Stuempges
Ryan Stuempges in his 9th year as the choral director at Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau High School in Galesville, Wisconsin. A graduate with a bachelors in K-12 Vocal Education from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Stuempges has helped strengthen the choral program at his high school. There are close to 400 students who attend his school and almost half of them are in the choral program. Vocal Point is the premier group at G-E-T High School that Stuempges has directed at the World Choir Games in Cincinatti, OH and recently placed in the top 12 groups at the International Championship for High School A Cappella two years ago. Stuempges and Vocal Point are very excited to be a part of this wonderful event.

Note Nerdy
Becky Park
Note Nerdy is a mixed A Cappella group of 25 students from The High School of Saint Thomas More directed by Becky Park. Note Nerdy was created in the fall of 2013 in Park's first year of teaching at The High School of Saint Thomas More. The group consists of NHS scholars, all-state athletes, Scholastic Bowl champions and Pokemon enthusiasts. Note Nerdy competed in the ICHSA Midwest Semi-finals in 2014 and won Best Choreography for the song "Royals" by Lorde and took third overall. Fresh off of their competition high, Note Nerdy was asked to be a part of Total Vocal with Deke Sharon. They are honored to be in New York with all of these talented musicians and thankful for all of the opportunities that they have had to create music together in their short two years together.

Vital Signs
Nicholas Cook
Nicholas Cook is currently a Senior at Elon University pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre Arts (Acting) and a minor in Strategic Communications with a focus in Advertising. He is President of Vital Signs and has been a part of the group since his freshman year. Nicholas is involved in a lot of things on campus, including holding a job with Admissions as a tour guide, serving as the Philanthropy Chair for his fraternity, Delta Upsilon, and also being a part of Vital Signs. He has absolutely loved being part of such an incredibly talented and supportive group of people and also has seen how much the group has grown in just four years. Nicholas hopes to pursue a career in Admissions or Graphic Design after graduation and is beginning the search for careers up and down the East Coast in design. He resides in Greensboro, NC with his family and is the proud brother of five.

Hobson School Choir
Chris Bidwell
Chris Bidwell is currently in his 7th year of teaching public school music.  He received a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Eastern Kentucky University as well as a Master of Arts in Education with an emphasis in Music Education from Western Kentucky University.  He began his teaching career in Bowling Green, Kentucky in 2008 at Warren Central High School teaching high school choir, beginning guitar, as well as theater and drama.  After holding that position for three years, he then taught for one year at Foley Middle School in Berea, KY as the middle school band and choir director.  After relocating to central Montana, he began teaching at Hobson Public School and is currently in his third year of teaching there.  At Hobson School, Mr. Bidwell teaches all grades of music including elementary music, middle school band and choir, as well as high school band and choir.

Maine South Vocal Jazz Ensemble
Matthew Hanes
The Maine South Vocal Jazz Ensemble is the high school’s premiere a cappella group. Chosen from a rigorous audition process, the members of MSVJE learn traditional jazz and blues charts, Broadway arrangements, and contemporary a cappella pieces. These students are a diverse group who are involved in music, drama, dance, athletics, and Advanced Placement courses. Additionally, singers from MSVJE perform in and around the community, and are consistently chosen for the ILMEA District 7 Jazz Festivals. The members of MSVJE are honored to be a part of Total Vocal and thrilled about their Carnegie Hall debut.

Pace Academy
Susan Wallace
Atlanta's Pace Academy is a college preparatory school, which was founded in 1958. Their Upper School Chorus, under the direction of Mrs. Susan Wallace, is a 65 voice, SATB group, which performs accompanied and a cappella music from a variety of genres: classical, musical theatre, pop and jazz. They sing for numerous concerts throughout the year, as well as having performed on tours to Orlando, Washington D.C. and New York City. Off-campus concerts have been performed at schools, senior citizen facilities, hospitals, at the Georgia State Capitol Building, House Office Building in Washington, D.C., the Washington National Cathedral, Catholic University's Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, also in Washington. Chorus fundraisers have benefited the Orphelinat Marie Reine des Coeurs (orphanage) in Haiti and the American Heart Association. Singers from Pace's Chorus have successfully auditioned for All-State, and have been selected for the GISA Honor Chorus. Many Pace graduates have chosen to major in musical theatre, classical voice, or piano, at such prestigious institutions as Boston University, CCM, Indiana University, Julliard, Northwestern and Tisch @ NYU. 

Louisiana State University Laboratory School Choirs
Patti J. Hayes
A native of Brazil, Diego Daflon T. Pinto is currently in his 3rd year as choir director at LSU Laboratory School. Before moving to the U.S., Diego Pinto worked as assistant conductor at Globo TV and FENASEG company choirs (Rio de Janeiro), directed by Dr. Eduardo Lakschevitz. Mr. Pinto holds a Master's degree in Music Education from Louisiana State University (LSU) and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO). Diego Pinto and his wife Racquel Pinto are expecting their first baby to be born in July 2015.