Enjoy an evening with BYU’s vocal jazz group Syncopation
Though snow may start to cap the mountains and leaves may drift away in the sharp autumn breeze, music lovers can warm themselves in the Madsen Recital Hall with moving tunes from BYU’s vocal jazz ensemble Syncopation. This fall concert will feature familiar favorites, like “Route 66” and “Summertime,” as well as some less well-known but innovative pieces.
“We have a nice variety of tunes that we’re going to be doing,” said Syncopation director Hayley Kirkland. “[There’s] some swing tunes and Latin tunes and acapella tunes.”
Syncopation will be accompanied by a student bassist and percussionist, as well as a pianist. The title of the concert, “The World Keeps You Waiting,” comes from one of the songs that the group will be performing that evening.
“We had the opportunity of singing with New York Voices two years ago,” said Kirkland. “Right before the shutdown they came to BYU and Syncopation sang with them.” But due to the pandemic shutdowns, the jazz group was not able to perform the song in concert. “I decided to bring it back so that the group could perform it,” the director added. “It’s a really great song.”
The concert will also include a song titled “Refugee,” written by one of Kirkland’s friends and co-arranged with vocal jazz arranger Kerry Marsh. Sung from the perspective of a refugee, this song encourages compassion and service, one of the main messages from the concert.
“There’s a running theme with the tunes we’ve chosen about blazing a new trail despite what the world wants you to do and lifting others in the process through service,” said Kirkland.
The director added that she has been impressed by the ability of the group to blend together so well. “We have a group of soloists that can also blend incredibly well,” she said. “And with vocal jazz, that is our biggest asset … to hit these really hard chords, these really tight chords, and just sound like one voice.”
For an evening of delightful music and heartwarming messages, come enjoy a fall concert worth waiting for.
For ticket information, go to arts.byu.edu.