REGISTRATION
Festival headquarters is located at the registration/information desk at Cabrillo
College.
Directors should check in at the registration/information desk prior to going to a
performance site. At the registration/information desk, the director will be given
festival buttons for performers, as well as updated schedules. In addition, the
registration/information desk will have maps and other information related to the
festival, Cabrillo College and Santa Cruz County.
Directors should settle all outstanding fees at the registration/information desk prior
to going to a performance site. Festival treasurer, Margaret de Faymoreau, will be
available at the registration/information desk to answer any questions about
application fees and buttons for participants.
Directors should meet student guides 30 minutes before warm up. Check-in at the
information table outside the assigned performance room. If the student guide has
not checked in with the director by 15 minutes before warm up time, the director
should immediately contact the registration/information desk.
FESTIVAL PAPERWORK
At the pre-warm up check-in, the student guide will ask the director for adjudication
paperwork. This paperwork is required before performance and includes the
following:
• Scholarship Identification Form/Stage Plot.
• Conductor’s scores or lead sheets for each judge. Bands perform before
three judges. Vocal groups and combos perform before two judges.
When a group has finished participating in all performance and clinic events, the
director may pick up completed evaluation forms from judges, as well as cassette
tapes of the performance and any outstanding performance certificates for
individual performers, from the registration/information desk. Please allow festival
staff a minimum of 30 minutes after the end of the sight reading/clinic event to
compile and check all materials before asking for them at the
registration/information desk.
If a participating group qualifies for a Command Performance (more info below in
FEATURED PERFORMERS AND CONCERTS section), the director will be
responsible for resubmitting a Scholarship Identification Form/Stage Plot, as well
as a signed acknowledgement of the festival’s command performance policies.
EQUIPMENT
The Santa Cruz Jazz Festival provides backline equipment for performance and
clinic venues but not for warm up rooms. Warm up rooms contain a piano or
electronic keyboard only. To speed the change-over between performing groups, the
festival requires participants to use the following equipment provided in
performance and clinic venues:
• A complete drum kit with cymbals
• A bass amplifier
• A guitar amplifier
• An acoustic or professional electronic piano with weighted keys
• The vocal clinic room may have an electronic keyboard with weighted keys instead
of an acoustic piano.
The festival does not supply any additional equipment, such as vibes or auxiliary
percussion. Performing groups must supply all equipment not listed above and
transport it from the bus-loading zone in the parking lot on top of the Cabrillo
College campus to all performance and clinic venues.
JUDGING POLICIES
All judges’ comments and ratings are final. Adjudicators will not be allowed to
change ratings once they have been submitted to festival staff after judged
performances. The festival board of directors welcomes comment and criticism of
adjudicators but will not ask a judge to revisit or otherwise reconsider a score.
Directors who wish to comment on any judge’s performance may ask to speak with
Festival Director, Mark Bidelman, or Board of Directors President, Dan Young, at the
registration/information desk.
Judges are directed not to use plus (+) or minus ( - ) modifiers to scores and ratings.
If any judge does use such a modifier, the festival will disregard it and only enter the
associated numeric score or rating into the final results. In all cases, a numeric score
supercedes a rating. The festival will record ratings derived from numeric scores if
any discrepancies arise on any adjudication forms.
The Santa Cruz Jazz Festival conducts an evaluated sight-reading event
immediately following a participating band or vocal group’s performance. All groups
of a given age range will sight read the same chart, which has been chosen in
advance by the festival’s board of directors. For high school bands and vocal
groups, the chart is approximately grade 3 1/2. For middle schools, the chart is
approximately grade 2.
To be eligible for the Command Performance, bands and vocal groups must
participate in the sight reading event. However, any director may choose not to
participate in sight reading and instead trade the time allotted to sight reading for an
extended performance clinic. Following are guidelines specific to the sight reading
event:
• Ten minutes will be allotted to sight reading.
• For the first five minutes, the director may review the chart with the group.
The director may note any element of the chart and may illustrate rhythms
and phrasing by singing. Band members may not sing or play their parts.
The remaining five minutes are for a run-through of the chart from
beginning to end, observing all repeats and without stopping unless
absolutely necessary. During the run-through, the director may call out
rehearsal numbers.
Adjudication criteria will include consideration of the group’s age and
experience. The score should be based not upon the quantity of right and
wrong notes but primarily upon proper jazz phrasing and interpretation.
SCHOLARSHIPS
As part of its educational mission, the Santa Cruz Jazz Festival provides
scholarships for individual private musical instruction. During performance events,
judges recommend individual performers to the board of directors. After the
conclusion of all regular performance events, the board of directors determines all
awards from the pool of recommendations from judges. The festival board of
directors reserves final judgment on the number and distribution of all scholarship
awards.
Several institutions with musical education programs also offer scholarships to
Santa Cruz Jazz Festival participants including the Berklee School of Music and the
University of the Pacific (U.O.P.).
PHOTOGRAPHS
Participating groups will have an opportunity for a group photo at the conclusion of
the sight reading/clinic event. Shaun's Still Photography provides this photo service
and makes prints available to any student, parent or friend for a fee. Directors will
receive a free photo. Representatives of Shaun's Still Photography will have
complete details and pricing at the festival.
FOOD AND MERCHANDISE
Cabrillo College food service will provide snacks, beverages and light breakfast and
lunch fare for purchase outside the theater. A budget of $10-$15 should prove
sufficient for a snack and a nutritious lunch.
On Saturday morning, the Cabrillo Farmers Market takes place on the top of
Parking Lot A and Lot B. Great food and produce for sale. Coffee and pastries; hot
corn-on-the-cob & baked potatoes; fresh oysters, etc. ready to eat.
The festival will have stickers, T-shirts and sweatshirts for sale.
FEATURED PERFORMERS AND CONCERTS
The festival is proud to present two evening concerts after the conclusion of daytime
events and both are open to festival participants as well as the general public. A
festival button is required for admission to all events.
7 PM Friday GUEST ARTIST Concert
Allen Vizzutti has visited 55 countries and every state in the union to perform with a rainbow of
artists and ensembles as both a classical and jazz artist. He has appeared as guest soloist
with symphony orchestras, in recital, on television and in jazz venues around the world. Allenʼs
souring trumpet sound can be heard on over 150 movie and game soundtracks including ʻStar
Trekʼ and ʻHalo 1,2,&3ʼ. Allenʼs love of expression through composition has led to premier
performances by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Budapest Radio Orchestra, the Royal
Philharmonic of London, the Nuremberg Symphony, the Summit Brass and many others. He is
a strong proponent of music education and his method books have become standard works for
study worldwide.
Opening the Friday Night Featured Performer Concert will be "Cuesta College Voce" (myspace.com/cuestavoce)
7 PM Saturday COMMAND PERFORMANCE Concert where the festival presents the best
groups from daytime events in an encore performance:
To qualify for the Command Performance Concert, a participating group must
earn a unanimous superior rating. A unanimous superior rating is comprised
of a rating of I from each judge, including the sight-reading judge. A group will
not qualify for the Command Performance Concert without participating in
sight reading.
The Santa Cruz Jazz Festival provides backline equipment for groups participating
in the Command Performance Concert. To speed the change-over between
performing groups, the festival requires participants to use the following equipment
provided on stage:
• A complete drum kit with cymbals
• A bass amplifier
• A guitar amplifier
• An acoustic piano
Groups participating in the Command Performance Concert will have 10 minutes for
performance. Following are guidelines for groups participating in the Command
Performance:
- Participating groups should check in at Cabrillo College 30 minutes before their
assigned performance time.
- Warm up and case storage rooms will be provided.
- Performers may not warm up on instruments in parking lots or surrounding
areas.
The performance is timed from the downbeat of the opening tune to the cutoff
of the final tune. Directors who exceed this 10-minute allotment will
disqualify all members of their group from eligibility for scholarships and
awards chosen during the Command Performance Concert. The festival will
provide signal lights during the performance: green for the first nine minutes,
yellow for the final minute and red after 10 minutes has elapsed.
The festival asks directors to inform students and parents that the concerts are open
to the public and should be attended with respect for all performers and other people
in the audience.
