General Requirements:
Participation:
Instrumental participation is open to High School and Junior High School Jazz Bands. Any instrument is acceptable and the competition is judged by grade level.
Vocal participation is open to College, High School, and Junior High School Vocal Jazz. The solo competition is open to either Vocal Jazz or soloists that are a part of a competing ensemble (or a non-competitive College Vocal Jazz Ensemble).
Admission:
The festival utilizes a venue pass admission policy to all competition and clinic venues. The venue passes will be provided for the quantity of student participants outlined in the registration process. Each director will receive two free complimentary venue passes, upon request. Registering directors will have an opportunity to purchase additional venue passes at the time of their registration at a reduced price. Additional venue passes may be purchased at any time by contacting the Fine Arts Box Office in the spring time.
Vocal participation is open to College, High School, and Junior High School Vocal Jazz. The solo competition is open to either Vocal Jazz or soloists that are a part of a competing ensemble (or a non-competitive College Vocal Jazz Ensemble).
Deadline:
The deadline to apply is Friday, January 31st, 2025. If the deadline has passed, please contact us to see if there are slot available.
Insurance:
All participating schools attending the Fullerton College Jazz Festival need to provide general liability insurance A Certificate of Insurance, naming the NOCCCD (North Orange County Community College District) as insured, for minimum of $1 million, per incident/$3 million aggregate, AND an additional Insured Endorsement. The insurance needs to be provided in the form of an Endorsement (Rider) on your own insurance. Participating teachers are required to submit a copy of a certificate of insurance and additional insured endorsement naming North Orange County Community College District/Fullerton College, its officers, agents, employees, and volunteers as additional insured. Please contact your school district for assistance with this matter. You must upload (login and click your homepage), email or mail the copy to us. Sorry no facsimiles please.
Sound Systems:
We are equipped with professional sound systems in all our sites. In addition, we will have qualified persons operating these systems. Groups may provide an audio adviser to verbally assist our sound engineer prior to and during performance. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL GROUPS ARE TO USE THE SOUND SYSTEMS PROVIDED. SORRY, YOU CANNOT PROVIDE YOUR OWN P.A. SYSTEMS OR MICROPHONES. THIS WILL PROVIDE A MORE EQUITABLE COMPETITION FOR ALL GROUPS. At each performance venue, we will provide an acoustic piano, music stands, bass amp, guitar amp, and drum set without cymbals. We absolutely cannot loan or rent any of our instruments, including vibraphones. You must bring all the instruments you will need. (Please note, warm-up rooms are equipped with a piano or keyboard and music stands only -- no amps or drums are provided.)
Recorded Comments:
Digital recordings of the judges’ comments will be available to download starting the week after the festival concludes. Directors must log back into the site to access these comments from their Home Page.
General Schedule Overview:
Friday:
8:00am - 12:00pm, 1:00 - 5:00pm Vocal Competition and Clinics
12:00pm - 1:00pm Fullerton College JTrain Featured Concert
5:30pm - 7:00pm Faculty Jazz Cadre Concert and Awards Ceremony
12:00pm - 1:00pm Fullerton College JTrain Featured Concert
5:30pm - 7:00pm Faculty Jazz Cadre Concert and Awards Ceremony
Saturday:
8:00am - 12:00pm, 1:00 - 5:00pm Instrumental Competition and Clinics
12:00pm - 1:00pm Fullerton College Big Band Featured Concert
1:00pm - 5:00pm Instrumental Competition
5:30pm - 7:00pm Faculty Jazz Cadre Concert and Awards Ceremony
12:00pm - 1:00pm Fullerton College Big Band Featured Concert
1:00pm - 5:00pm Instrumental Competition
5:30pm - 7:00pm Faculty Jazz Cadre Concert and Awards Ceremony
Festival Entries:
Vocal
College Vocal Jazz: | |||||
| Cost: | $250.00 + $1.50 per participant. | ||||
| Time Limit: | 25 min. | ||||
| Equipment: | Twenty-two hand-held cabled microphones with stands and a piano microphone. | ||||
| Levels: | |||||
Non-Competitive- | This group will have had solid festival experience. A larger quantity of good soloists who improvise well. The arrangements are complex. Accompaniment group is complete, comprised of piano and/or guitar, bass, and drums, and plays various styles and breaks away from the written accompaniment. The use of an all-student rhythm section is highly encouraged. The group should demonstrate sophisticated jazz styling. | ||||
HS A Cappella: | |||||
| Cost: | $250.00 + $1.50 per participant. | ||||
| Time Limit: | 20 min. | ||||
| Equipment: | Twenty-two cabled microphones with stands will be provided at each site. Stage will be lit, no special lighting needs are permitted. | ||||
| Levels: | |||||
All Levels- | Each category is an open category with all levels participating - Beginning, Intermediate, or Advance. An A Capella group includes Men's, Women's and Mixed Groups. All styles are allowed - R & B, Pop, Rock, Barbershop, etc. All groups must be unaccompanied. A Capella groups will have at least 3 singers with no limit to the maximum. All members must be amateur (non-professional). The performance time limit includes set up and tear down. | ||||
HS Soloist: | |||||
| Cost: | $65.00 + $1.50 per participant. | ||||
| Time Limit: | 15 min. | ||||
| Equipment: | One hand-held cable microphone with stand, music stand, small PA and piano will be provided. | ||||
| Levels: | |||||
Vocal Jazz- | Soloists should sing up to three songs with varying tempo and style. For example: An up-tempo Swing tune, a Ballad and a Latin or Bossa Nova/Rock Fusion. For the more experienced soloist, there should be some improvisation. It would be best to use a "live" combo for accompaniment, if possible. A microphone must be used. | ||||
HS Vocal Jazz: | |||||
| Cost: | $250.00 + $1.50 per participant. | ||||
| Time Limit: | 25 min. | ||||
| Equipment: | Twenty-two hand-held cabled microphones with stands and a piano microphone will be provided at each site. | ||||
| Levels: | |||||
Advanced- | This group will have had solid festival experience. A larger quantity of good soloists who improvise well. The arrangements are complex. Accompaniment group is complete, comprised of piano and/or guitar, bass, and drums, and plays various styles and breaks away from the written accompaniment. The use of an all-student rhythm section is highly encouraged, but not required, as the competition will solely be judged on vocals. The group should demonstrate sophisticated jazz styling. | ||||
Intermediate- | This group will have had some previous festival experience. One or two soloists who are improvising. Arrangements are more complex. Accompaniment group is complete, comprised of piano and/or guitar, bass, and drums, and plays various styles and breaks away from the written accompaniment. The use of an all-student rhythm section is highly encouraged, but not required, as the competition will solely be judged on vocals. The group should demonstrate good jazz styling. | ||||
Novice- | This group has little or no previous experience, very beginning soloists. Arrangements are fairly easy with occasional four-part harmony. | ||||
Instrumental
HS Band: | |||||
| Cost: | $250.00 + $1.50 per participant. | ||||
| Time Limit: | 30 min. | ||||
| Equipment: | Seven cabled microphones with stands, a piano microphone and twenty music stands will be provided at each site. | ||||
| Levels: | |||||
Advanced- | Solid festival experience. Several good soloists with advanced improvisational skills. Full instrumentation. Morning Slots Only. | ||||
Heavy- | A very experienced program. Challenging literature. A quantity of excellent soloists. Full instrumentation. Afternoon Slots Only. | ||||
Intermediate- | Have attended several festivals. One or two soloists who are beginning to break away from written solos. Instrumentation fairly complete. | ||||
Novice- | Little or no previous festival experience. Very beginning soloists. Incomplete instrumentation. | ||||
HS Combo: | |||||
| Cost: | $150.00 + $1.50 per participant. | ||||
| Time Limit: | 25 min. | ||||
| Equipment: | Four cabled microphones with stands and six music stands will be provided at each site. | ||||
| Levels: | |||||
Advanced- | The level of material should be such that there is a variety of styles and material. At least one of the charts should contain an advanced level of chord structure over which the soloists will perform a minimum of one chorus, but prefer two or more choruses. | ||||
Intermediate- | They will be able to perform an arrangement of the head and then improvise over the changes. The emphasis of this classification is on improvisation. Intermediate students should be able to improvise over simple changes such as a blues or easy standard. | ||||