Today's spotlight is on Dr. Jeffrey Benson, one of the judges of America's Top Choirs™ High School Edition 2022 (ATC).
Dr. Jeffrey Benson is currently Director of Choral Activities at San José State University in San José, California. He is a published composer and arranger with Colla Voce and Santa Barbara Music Publishing. Choirs under his direction have performed with the Rolling Stones, Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli, and Sarah Brightman.
ACDA recognized Dr. Benson with the first annual Colleen Kirk Award for his outstanding achievement as a young conductor. He is also the Artistic Director of Peninsula Cantare, a community chorus based in Palo Alto. Previously, Dr. Benson served as Director of Choral Activities and Fine Arts Department Chair at H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program in Arlington, Virginia. Dr. Benson is a published composer and arranger with Colla Voce Music and Santa Barbara Music Publishing, under the Charlene Archibeque Choral Series.
Dr. Benson made his international conducting debut with the Irish Chamber Orchestra and the SJSU Choraliers in Limerick, Ireland, and his Carnegie Hall conducting debut in 2015. Dr. Benson is an active member of the National Association for Music Education, and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). He currently serves as California National Board Representative for the National Collegiate Choral Organization.
The Washington Post hails his choirs for singing “with an exquisite blend, the subtlety of phrasing, confident musicianship and fully supported tone…that would be the envy of some professional ensembles”.
To get a chance to get evaluated by Dr. Benson, register for the upcoming edition of ATC here - https://www.feelitlive.com/americas-top-choirs
What is America’s Top Choirs™ (ATC)?
America’s Top Choirs™ is a virtual forum created to showcase the vast choral talent in the United States, and hosted by FeelitLIVE, the world's first all-in-one choir tech platform. The Grand Finale will be broadcast live on the FeelitLIVE platform on October 23, 2022, at 5 pm PT / 8 pm ET.
ATC celebrates high school choirs that generate beautiful music every day and is the embodiment of teamwork, resilience, talent, diversity, hope, and positivity. Being one of the largest and most inclusive online high school choral competitions in the United States, ATC aims to bring your choir’s talent to audiences around the world through the power of digital.
How to participate?
High school choirs from across the country are invited to upload a song performance of up to 5 minutes, recorded during the 2021-2022 academic year (between September 1, 2021, and October 7, 2022). A $100 entry fee will be applied when completing the online submission form. When entering more than one choir from the same school, each subsequent choir entry (after the first one) will be $50 per choir.
The last date for submissions is Friday, October 7, 2022, till 11.59 pm PT.