Register NowChamber Choirs and Specialty Choirs coming, to Orlando, Florida, to participate in OrlandoFest will captivate both their peers and nationally renowned adjudicators with their vocal talents. Your high school, junior high, middle school or elementary school Chamber Choir and Specialty Choir can choose to perform and receive performance evaluations in either a non-competitive or competitive setting, which allows your Chamber Choirs and Specialty Choirs a chance to build their confidence and performance ability. Your Chamber Choirs and Specialty Choirs will perform in a state-of-the-art performing arts center, which accentuates your Chamber Choirs and Specialty Choir’s performance. Each Chamber Choir and Specialty Choir is provided 15 minutes for their performance, along with a 10-minute, on-stage, clinic following their performance.
Schedule
Chamber Choir and Specialty Choir Directors can choose to perform and receive performance evaluations in either non-competitive or competitive settings. And music directors are encouraged to schedule time for their students to observe other ensemble performances.
All registration forms are reviewed and ensembles are scheduled based on ensemble classification and student crossover considerations. Every attempt will be made to accommodate requested dates. All directors will receive an OrlandoFest handbook with important event information. Final schedules are sent at least thirty (30) days prior to the event.
- OrlandoFest Itinerary:
- Friday Performances — Chamber Choir and Specilaty Choir Festival performances will be held at the following locations in Orlando, Florida:
- Celebration of Praise (All day Friday performances are available, based upon schedule availability)
- Olympia High School (Performances will be available beginning in the afternoon and evenings)
- Freedom High School (Performances will be available beginning in the afternoon and evenings)
Saturday Performances —Festival performances will be held all day at either of the following locations:
The OrlandoFest Awards Ceremony will be held at Universal Studios® Florida, inside the Animal Actors on Location Stage, on Saturday evenings.
Please note that the OrlandoFest dates, of April 20-21, 27-28, and May 4th, run in conjunction with a Universal Orlando® Resort special event, called Grad Bash. Due to this special event, both Universal parks will close early which will also move the OrlandoFest Awards Ceremony to an earlier start time, on April 21 & 28. Further details, will be provided upon your registration for these specific dates.
- Complete 2012 OrlandoFest — Chamber Choir and Specialty Choir Festival Performance Dates:
-
March 2012 Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 April 2012 Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 May 2012 Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 June 2012 Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Performances
When your Chamber Choirs and Specialty Choirs come to Orlando, Florida to participate in OrlandoFest, you will perform before nationally renowned adjudicators whose focus is providing feedback and comments that will accentuate your ensemble’s performance. Our nationally renowned adjudicators will provide both written and digitally recorded comments for your vocal ensemble.
- Chamber Choirs and Specialty Choirs Ensemble Guidelines
-
-
Each Chamber Choir and Specialty Choir will follow the following schedule:
- Warm up: 15 minutes
- Transfer to stage: 10 minutes
- Performance: 15 minutes (maximum)
- On-Stage Clinic: 10 minutes
Please visit our performance guidelines page, for more detailed information.
- Penalty Information
- OrlandoFest may assess up to two (2) penalty points for each of the following infractions:
- Ensemble exceeding the total allotted time within their assigned routing schedule
- Utilization of non-student performers in a participating ensemble
- Inappropriate and/or unsafe student conduct
Clinics
OrlandoFest provides the opportunity for your chamber choirs and specialty choirs to participate in a personalized on-stage clinic with one of our nationally renowned adjudicators immediately following your performance. During this clinic, your ensemble will have the opportunity to receive immediate positive feedback on their performance and obtain key educational advice on how to improve and fine tune their performance.
Adjudicators
OrlandoFest is honored and privileged to have some of Florida’s and the Nation’s leading music experts adjudicate our festival performances and serve as clinicians for our performing arts educational workshops. Please see our list of those professionals that will be assisting us for the 2011-2012 season of OrlandoFest.Choral Adjudicators
Ms. Michelle Amato- Professional Singer- Ms. Amato is a dynamic vocalist whose abilities convey the deep passion of a lyric, as well as soar effortlessly through the stratosphere are making her one of the most in demand names is music today. She has performed and recorded with an incredibly diverse array of artists, including Liza Minelli, Al Green, Sandi Patty, Jon Secada, Donna Summer, Michael McDonald, Ira Sullivan, Jon Hendricks, Celia Cruz, Rita Marley and world renowned composer Yanni. Michelle’s Master’s Degree from the prestigious University of Miami School of Music has created great demand for her expertise as an educator and clinician.
Mr. Joseph Caulkins- Artistic Director Key Chorale, Sarasota, FL- Joseph has led the Chorale on an interesting journey performing rarely heard works like Campra’s Requiem, Charles Ives’ The Celestial Country, and a dramatic performance of Richard Einhorn’s dynamic oratorio, Voices of Light, written to accompany Carl Dreyer’s 1928 silent film classic, “The Passion of Joan of Arc” at the Sarasota Opera House—a collaboration with the Sarasota Opera and the Sarasota Film Society. In addition to Key Chorale, Mr. Caulkins was also Associate Conductor and Director of Choruses with the Southwest Florida Symphony (Fort Myers) for nine seasons. During his tenure, Mr. Caulkins founded the Stained Glass Series, led semi-staged opera productions with students of the Juilliard School, conducted their annual Holiday Pops and Messiah concerts, directed numerous regional premieres, and released two chorus CDs.
Dr. Beth Gibbs- Director of Choral Studies at Florida Southern College- Beth earned the Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL, Master of Music degrees in Choral Conducting and Vocal Performance from East Carolina University in Greenville, NC, and the Bachelor of Music Education degree from Stetson University in DeLand, FL. Dr. Gibbs spent six years teaching at the high school level in Atlanta, GA. She has recently conducted in the Chartres Cathedral in France, St. Paul’s Cathedral in Vatican City, and at the International Festival of Choirs in Santiago de Cuba. Active as a performer, she was a member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus and Chamber Chorus under the direction of Norman McKenzie, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale with conductor Joshua Habermann, and sang under the batons of Michael Tilson Thomas and Helmuth Rilling.
Dr. Joseph Holt- Artistic Director of Gloria Musicae, a professional chorus based in Sarasota, FL- Dr. Holt served more than 20 years with The US Army Chorus in Washington, DC and was Associate Music Director for the Choral Arts Society of Washington before moving to Florida. He has performed throughout the United States, Europe and South America and will be taking a group to the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Italy in July, 2012. He holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Shenandoah Conservatory and the Catholic University of America.
Derric Johnson- Professional Singer and Composer- Mr. Johnson has written 150 original songs, 1500 vocal arrangements, 32 cantantas and musicals, and has produced 115 albums on 22 labels. Served for 6 years on the Musical Faculty at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon. For 30 years was a Creative Consultant in the area of music and programming for Walt Disney World where he arranged, staffed and produced the Voices of Liberty and the Christmas Candlelight Processional.
Michelle Mailhot- Professional Singer and Composer- Ms. Mailhot studied extensively with both Phil Mattson and Dr. Stephen Zegree and received her Bachelor of Music Degree from Western Michigan University. As an educator she has taught at the Phil Mattson Workshops, the Disney Sings Workshops, and Zegree Vocal Jazz Camps. She has been an adjudicator for festivals throughout the country and the world taking her to Singapore and Japan. Michelle has performed extensively at Walt Disney World and has also been featured on several Walt Disney recordings. Michelle tours and performs with the Drama Desk Award winning group Toxic Audio and is a sought after jazz artist and session singer. Michelle’s vocal arrangements are performed by high school, college and professional ensembles throughout the world. Michelle has performed with Bobby McFerrin, the Billy Taylor Trio, Mel Torme, Max Roach, Sheila Jordan, Sandy Patti, Thomas Dolby, Don Shelton of the Hi-Lo’s and Liza Minelli. She is a session singer for radio and television commercials and album recording projects around the country. She can be heard most recently on her own solo release “
Ms. Sarah Moore- Professional Singer and Composer- Ms. Moore has sung with and led vocal groups of all ages in thousands of sessions for theme parks, publishing houses, corporate clients, artists/labels, jingles, station ids and various other users of recorded music throughout the world. She also has multiple screen credits for music performance supervision, and has over 500 published compositions.
Mr. Gregory Ruffer- Music Department Chair at the Patel Conservatory and Chorus Master for Opera Tampa- Mr. Ruffer is recognized as a master voice teacher and has trained exceptional young singers for over 20 years. He oversees the Opera Tampa Apprentice Program and is the director of the Vocal Arts Academy at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts. Prior to this, Mr. Ruffer spent six years as the Director of Choral Activities and Applied Voice at the College of Central Florida. Mr. Ruffer holds the B.M. and M.M. degrees in music education from Bowling Green State University and is currently completing his doctoral degree from Columbia University Teachers College in New York City.
Venues
- OrlandoFest Itinerary:
- Friday Performances — Chamber Choir and Specialty Choir Festival performances will be held at the following locations:
- Celebration of Praise (All day Friday performances are available, based upon schedule availability)
- Olympia High School (Performances will be available beginning in the afternoon and evenings)
- Freedom High School (Performances will be available beginning in the afternoon and evenings)
Saturday Performances —Festival performances will be held all day at either of the following locations in Orlando, Florida:
The OrlandoFest Awards Ceremony will be held at Universal Studios® Florida, inside the Animal Actors on Location Stage, on Saturday evenings.
The performing arts centers at Celebration of Praise, Olympia and Freedom high schools are located in close proximity to Universal Orlando® Resort in Orlando. These 850-seat venues are equipped with the latest state-of-the-art technology for your music festival performance.
The OrlandoFest Awards Ceremony will be held at Universal Studios®, inside the Animal Actors on Location Stage, on Saturday evenings.
Performance locations are subject to change.
Awards Ceremony
An exciting, high-energy OrlandoFest Awards Ceremony will take place in selected venues at Universal Studios® Florida (subject to change with notice) each festival performance weekend! This fun and high-energy awards ceremony will take place on Saturday evening and will include the presentation of awards and entertainment.
Directors will be asked to select two (2) student representatives from each performing ensemble, in advance, to join them on stage to receive their awards. Casual attire is acceptable for the awards ceremony but must be appropriate for the stage. (Participants with attire in poor taste will not be allowed to represent their ensemble during the awards ceremony)
- OrlandoFest Participation Award
- All ensembles will receive an OrlandoFest participation award. This award will display the ensemble’s name, school name, and festival rating. (Ratings will be awarded for groups selecting “comments only”. Groups selecting comments only will not be eligible for division or grand champion awards)
- Division Awards
- OrlandoFest Gold, Silver and Bronze awards will be presented to the three highest scoring Ensembles within each Division and Classification.
- Concert Choir
- Chamber/Specialty Choir
- Show Choir
- Concert Band
- Concert Orchestra
- Concert Percussion
- Jazz Band
- Parade Band
- Auxiliary Units
.
- OrlandoFest Grand Champion Awards
- OrlandoFest is pleased to award custom-made Grand Champion Awards to the top three (3) overall scoring ensembles, one for the band division, one for the choir division, and one for the orchestra division. All participating ensembles that compete within the band, choir and orchestra divisions will be eligible, provided there are two (2) or more competitive ensembles within each of the divisions.
