GCH will be hosting its 1st Annual All That Jazz vocal jazz festival on Friday, Feb 25th. This is an all day event with a number of schools participating. Jazz groups will work with guest clinicians, Dr. Justin Binek and Jennifer Parker, and will then perform their jazz pieces. The festival finale is a Vocal Jazz Concert, headlined by Binek and Parker. Ram Jive, our own Greene County jazz choir, will open for these two giants in the vocal jazz field.
Dr. Justin Binek is an internationally recognized jazz and classical singer, pianist,
clinician, and composer/arranger. Justin is a co-author of the upcoming third
edition of Richard J. Lawn’s Experiencing Jazz textbook (Routledge); he is also a
contributing author to Diana Spradling’s Jazz Singing: Developing Artistry and
Authenticity and Katrien Van Opstal’s Vocal Jazz Technique: The Mixing Table Model.
A renowned scat singer and teacher of vocal improvisation, Justin is a featured
clinician in Michele Weir’s ScatAbility iOS app. Justin’s compositions and
arrangements are available from Kerry Marsh and Anchor Music, and his original
jazz-inspired mass, Missa Lucis, will make its Carnegie Hall debut in June 2022.
A 2022 GRAMMY Music Educator Award Quarterfinalist, Justin currently serves as
an Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Jazz Studies at Kansas City Kansas
Community College, where his students have earned multiple DownBeat Student
Music Awards. He also teaches on the faculties of The Jazz Harmony Retreat and the
Halewynstichting Jazz Workshop (Belgium). Justin is an active performer in the
vibrant Kansas City jazz scene. He lives in Olathe, KS, with his wife, Claire, an
accomplished vocal pedagogue and middle school choir director, and their
daughters, Cora and Iris. For more information, visit www.justinbinekjazz.com.
Jennifer Parker currently teaches at Inver Hills Community College with courses
including Choir, Applied Voice, Songwriting and Study Skills. She enjoys a busy career
working as an educator, performer, arranger, and songwriter throughout the U.S.
As a director, Jennifer has shared presentations at the Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, and
Washington State Music Education Conventions and directed All State Vocal Jazz
Ensembles in Illinois, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Colorado.
In 2019 she was commissioned to write and premier her composition, This Make Believe
in celebration of the 10-year anniversary of the Jazz Education Network in Reno, NV.
Her song Sign of Life was featured in the documentary My Dream, My Right, a
humanitarian awareness documentary focused on Syrian refugee children and premiered
in the 2015 Minneapolis film festival. Her song Home was recorded by the Los Angeles
based vocal quartet, True North and appears on her album of original solo work is set to
be released in the summer of 2022. Jennifer has been working in music education for over 20 years and is proud to have shared time with amazing colleagues and students at Washington State University, Concordia University, McNally Smith College of Music, North Central University and SUM and the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists.
What an opportunity! The public is strongly encouraged to attend this evening concert for a $5 admission fee.