"Afternoon of Jazz" Features VocalPoint, Guest Artists & Students
Proceeds to Benefit School Music Programs
Santa Barbara, Calif., April 9, 2009 -- Lilting jazz, coveted raffle and auction prizes, wines from Herzog Wine Cellars and delectable appetizers and desserts promise to enhance “An Afternoon of Jazz,” on Saturday, April 25, as Santa Barbara Vocal Jazz Foundation (SBVJF) hosts its annual benefit event from 3 to 6 p.m. Tickets are $35 for adults, with no charge for children under 12. Please call 805-729-2627 to reserve a ticket, make a donation or pledge a sponsorship.
The benefit’s casual outdoor setting is 4150 Ladera Road in Santa Barbara’s Hope Ranch. VocalPoint will offer up its distinctive a cappella jazz, with special guest Jon Crosse on horns and the Hip Replacements Jazz Combo. Jewelry by Silverhorn and four tickets to Dave Brubeck at The Lobero Theatre in September highlight the enticing array of raffle and auction prizes.
VocalPoint Music Director Kim Collins will also present a special feature: Chelsea Chavez, a graduate of one of the group’s initial workshops for 8th graders. Now a student of vocal performance at Santa Barbara Community College, Ms. Chavez will sing, and share her experience as a workshop participant.
Proceeds of the spring benefit fund SBVJF school workshops and its all-new summer sessions. “An Afternoon of Jazz” is one of SBVJF’s two principal fund-raisers, both deemed “critical” by Development Director Melissa Brooks.
“As school budget cutbacks become more and more drastic, any program deemed non-essential will be eliminated or compromised, including music in our schools,” said Brooks. “To say we appreciate the support of our community is an understatement—we simply cannot continue without that support.”
Brooks said that donations of goods and services and/or financial contributions are equally welcomed. “We invite everyone who loves music in general and jazz in particular to come, enjoy and see just what this program means for our school children,” she added.
The Santa Barbara Vocal Jazz Foundation (SBVJF) is a local nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing vocal jazz education to schoolchildren. VocalPoint, a 12-member a cappella ensemble, is the Foundation’s performing arm.
The Foundation has presented VocalPoint jazz harmony since 1999, reaching more than 22,000 school children in the Santa Barbara area. The SBVJF has taught 22 vocal jazz workshops in local elementary and junior high schools. It partners with other nonprofit organizations to advance music education in our schools, particularly the art of vocal jazz harmony.
