Michael Feinstein's Great American Songbook Vocal Competition Set for Today in Chicago

High school vocalists from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri will compete today, June 1 at a regional for the Great American Songbook Vocal Academy & Competition. Sponsored by the Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative, the annual endeavor is the only U.S. competition dedicated solely to the music from Broadway, Hollywood musicals and the Tin Pan Alley era of the early to mid-twentieth century.

"Through this competition, we are reaching a new generation to teach this music and the American history that inspired and influenced these composers," said Michael Feinstein, the Initiative's founder and noted American Songbook ambassador.

The North Central regional is taking place at Ganz Hall at Roosevelt University, 430 S. Michigan Avenue (Seventh Floor). The regional features 10 high school vocalists. The public is invited to attend a free performance by the competitors at 7 p.m. in Ganz Hall (use entrance at 425 S. Wabash Auditorium Bldg - RM 745).

The North Central regional competitors are:

Katelyn Grogg Bloomington, IL Normal Community High School

Brittany Bauerly Dubuque, IA Hempstead High School

Drew Mabusth Dubuque, IA Hempstead High School

Zofia Warpeha Milaca, MN Perpich Center for Arts Education

Andrea Schumann Lake Barrington, IL Barrington High School

Molly Hernandez Glen Ellyn, IL Glenbard West High School

Anna Joaquin Bloomington, IL Normal Community High School

Kara Ryan Chicago, IL Chicago High School for the Arts

Kyrie Courter Chicago, IL Chicago High School for the Arts

Lauren Goskie Pevely, MO Hillsboro High School

Judges will select students at regional competitions held in five cities across the country. The regional competitions, held May-June 2013, include a full day of workshops followed by an evening performance. Two finalists will be selected in each region. The ten regional finalists will be invited to the Feinstein Initiative's headquarters in Carmel, IN, July 21-26, 2013, to participate in a five-day "boot-camp" on interpreting and performing the music of the Great American Songbook. Five-time Grammy nominee, Michael Feinstein, and other top music industry professionals will conduct workshops and master classes throughout the week. The final competition performance will be held in the 1,600 seat Palladium Concert Hall at the Center for the Performing Arts.

The first place winner receives $3,000 and the chance of a lifetime: the opportunity to perform with two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award nominated entertainer and founder of the Feinstein Initiative, Michael Feinstein. The first place winner will serve as the Great American Songbook Youth Ambassador for one year and will have opportunities to perform throughout the year. Second place will receive $2,000 and third place will receive $1,500 toward continuing music education.

Regional finalists for the 2013 competition will be selected from the following eligible states: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Wisconsin.

North Central Regional mentors include:

Beckie Menzie has appeared at some of the nation's top nightclubs and concert venues including the legendary Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, Chicago's Auditorium Theatre and Park West, as well as at concert halls and art series across the country. As one of cabaret's most in demand entertainers, Beckie was featured in Michael Feinstein's "Now & Then" Series for her Carnegie Hall debut. She has been a featured performer at many of the Mabel Mercer Cabaret Conventions in New York, The Hamptons and in Chicago, as well as many performances for the Chicago Humanities Festival, where she has served as a performer, director and musical director. Beckie has two acclaimed solo CD's, Real Emotional Girl and Heart & Soul that have received national airplay. Both are an eclectic mix and classic ballad, standards jazz favorites as well a couple of her own songs. Cabaret Scenes Magazine called Real Emotional Girl "one of the year's finest recordings." Beckie is an award winning songwriter and also teaches in the musical theatre department of Northwestern University.

Tom Michael is recognized by Billboard Magazine as "extraordinary...a voice tailor-made to travel far and wide in the world of adult pop," two-time Chicago After Dark Award winner Tom Michael performs across the country to critical acclaim. Appearing on such concert stages as New York's Lincoln Center, Town Hall, and The Supper Club; Chicago's Auditorium Theatre, Empire Room, Davenport's, Millennium Park Pritzker Stage, and Park West; The Royal Room in Palm Beach; and Guild Hall in East Hampton, Tom has delighted audiences with his warm, expressive style. His three solo CD's, "Let Me Be Your Home," "Written in the Stars," and "Sailing On," have received international critical acclaim and radio play, and were named "# 1 CD of the Year " by such publications as Show Business Weekly Magazine, After Dark Chicago, and WDVR-FM Radio. His recordings have also earned positions on the album spotlight page of Billboard Magazine, and received praise from Playbill, The Advocate, and Chicago's #1 Radio Station, WGN. Tom regularly performs with his musical partner Beckie Menzie. With their unique blend of whimsy, nostalgia and imaginative twists on jazz standards, contemporary pop, and show tunes, their concerts and duo CD "Better Two-gether" have won audience and critical acclaim nationwide.

Elaine Moebius recently retired after thirty-five years of teaching choral music at all levels in Ohio and Indiana. For twenty years, she was head of the choral department at Mooresville High School in Mooresville, Indiana. At Mooresville, Mrs. Moebius expanded the choral department to include eight choirs, three of which were competitive show groups. The Spotlighters of Mooresville High School won awards throughout the Midwest for excellence in vocals and choreography. Mrs. Moebius is currently teaching private voice lessons and is in demand as a choral clinician for schools in the Indianapolis area. She is an adjudicator for the Indiana State School Music Association and for the North American Music Festivals. She has been a vocal solo, choral and show choir adjudicator in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Kentucky. For eight years, Mrs. Moebius was a show choir clinician at the Eastern Illinois University Music Camps. Mrs. Moebius joined the Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative in 2008 and has enjoyed planning and working with the students in all of the High School Academy competitions.

Dan Stetzel is a musical director, arranger, vocal instructor and pianist. He has worked at most of the major equity theatres in Chicago, and for many of the LORT theatres across the United States. As a conductor, he has toured nationally, and continues to accompany many of the major Broadway auditions in Chicago. Dan has long been affiliated with the Chicago Humanities festival, overseeing and directing programs featuring Stephen Sondheilm, Jerry Herman, Stephen Schwartz, John Bucchino, Craig Carnelia, Cy Coleman, and a host of performers, lyricists, and composers. His work in musical theatre has been recognized many times by the Joseph Jefferson committee. Dan is proud to be a member of the faculty at the Chicago College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.

The Great American Songbook High School Vocal Academy & Competition is a celebration of the Golden Age of American Popular music. This program is the only high school vocal competition in the U.S. dedicated solely to the music from Broadway, Hollywood musicals and the Tin Pan Alley era of the early to mid-twentieth century. The Vocal Academy & Competition was created to provide an opportunity for young people to experience firsthand this uniquely American music and its cultural significance.

The Great American Songbook High School Vocal Academy & Competition is designed to be a collaborative, rewarding, and fun experience for all participants. Regional competitions consist of one-day intensives focused on singing and interpreting the music of the Great American Songbook, led by music educators and industry professionals. Two winners from each of the five regional events proceed to the final competition week at the Feinstein Initiative's headquarters at the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, IN. Students will have the opportunity to participate in workshops, one-on-one coaching sessions, and master classes with celebrity performers and music industry professionals. The final week's events will culminate in a live show on July 26, 2013, at the Palladium in Carmel, IN, where the top three winners will be selected. The first place winner will become the Great American Songbook Youth Ambassador and will have opportunities to perform throughout the year representing the Michael Feinstein Initiative.

Michael Feinstein founded the Great American Songbook Initiative in 2007 in order to preserve, promote, and perpetuate the music of the Great American Songbook. The mission of the Initiative is to bring the music of the Great American Songbook to young people today and to preserve it for future generations. The work of the Feinstein Initiative includes:

* High School Vocal Competition

* Educational programming

* Library, Archive, and Gallery

* Great American Songbook Hall of Fame

Michael Feinstein, the multi-platinum-selling, two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award-nominated entertainer dubbed "The Ambassador of the Great American Songbook," is considered one of the premier interpreters of American standards. His 200-plus shows a year have included performances at Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House and the Hollywood Bowl as well as the White House and Buckingham Palace.

More than simply a performer, Feinstein has received national recognition for his commitment to celebrating America's popular song and preserving its legacy for the next generation. In 2007, he founded the Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative, dedicated to celebrating the art form and preserving it through educational programs, Master Classes, and the annual High School Vocal Academy and Competition, which awards prizes to students across the country. Michael serves on the Library of Congress' National Recording Preservation Board; an organization dedicated to ensuring the survival, conservation and increased public availability of America's sound recording heritage.

Feinstein serves as Artistic Director of the Palladium Center for the Performing Arts, a $170 million, three-theatre venue in Carmel, Indiana, which opened in January 2011. The Center is home to the Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative Archive and museum. Starting in 2010, he became the director of the Jazz and Popular Song Series at New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center. In 2013, he will replace the late Marvin Hamlisch as the lead conductor of the Pasadena Pops.

Feinstein can be seen on PBS in his award winning series, Michael Feinstein's American Songbook. He can also be heard on NPR in his current show, Song Travels with Michael Feinstein. His new book, The Gershwins and Me, which is combined with a new CD of Gershwin standards performed with Cyrus Chestnut at the piano, was released by Simon & Schuster in October 2012.

The mission of the Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative is to bring the music of the Great American Songbook to our young people today and to preserve it for the generations to come.

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