All-State High School Music Festival
Apply to participate in the Cal Poly Festival Wind Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra or Jazz Band
The 2010 Cal Poly All-State Festival Wind Orchestra, Festival Symphony Orchestra, and Festival Jazz Band will be ensembles made up of carefully selected high school wind, string, and percussion musicians chosen by recorded (CD or tape) audition who will begin rehearsals on Friday evening, April 16, 2010, and give a concert on Sunday afternoon, April 18, 2010 at 2:30 p.m. in the prestigious Performing Arts Center located on the Cal Poly campus.
Festival Conductors:
Maestro Julien Benichou at 39, is a young conductor with a long musical career behind him. At 19, he directed his first choral ensemble. At 22 he conducted his first orchestra. Twenty years of professional experience, along with studies in the most prestigious conservatories and music schools in two continents, had prepared him well to take over the baton when he joined the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra as Music Director. He just completed three successful years with the MSO.
Benichou is also music director of the Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the New Music Ensemble at Towson University. Previous positions have included assistant conductor of the Johns Hopkins Symphony Orchestra, acting music Ddirector of the Johns Hopkins Medical School Choir and Orchestra, assistant conductor of the Skokie Symphony Orchestra, the Columbia Orchestra and director of the Pre-College Chamber Orchestra at Juilliard. Benichou's guest conducting opportunities have included the Annapolis Symphony, the Londontowne Symphony and the North Shore Chamber orchestras.
Before coming to the United States in 1995 for graduate study with Gustav Meier at the Peabody Conservatory, Benichou held positions in his native France leading choral ensembles in Martigues, Berre and Montmartre. Further studies were at the Rueil-Malmaison Conservatory where he studied conducting with Jean-Sebastien Bereau. He received a diploma in harmony and counterpoint from La Schola Cantorum in Paris and was the recipient of several awards.
Benichou received a graduate performance diploma from Peabody Conservatory and during that time interned as assistant conductor of the Baltimore Opera Company. He earned a master's degree in orchestral conducting from Northwestern University under Victor Yampolsky, and did further graduate studies at Yale University with Lawrence Leighton Smith. Among the conductors with whom he has participated in master classes are Leonard Slatkin, Yuri Temirkanov, Marin Alsop, Michael Tilson Thomas, Jorma Panula and JoAnn Falletta. At the Hot Springs Music Festival Mr. Benichou received a fellowship as assistant conductor and the following summer as associate conductor.
Benichou has a special interest in new music and has led commissions, premieres and a recording on the Centaur label. He has also written and conducted the sound track for a recent film. Another strong interest is music education. Mr. Benichou has taken the Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra on two European tours and in the summer of 2008 traveled with fifteen music students to the Chaillol Festival in France where he led them in performances of classical and baroque repertoire. In the fall of 2009, he will conduct performances of Damon Ferrante’s Opera, Jefferson and Poe in North Carolina and Manhattan as well as Gounod’s Faust with Baltimore Concert Opera.
J. Eric Schmidt For the past twenty years Schmidt has been one of the busiest freelance composers in Los Angeles. He has composed, orchestrated and conducted the music for over 300 episodes of animated series produced by Disney and Warner Bros. His work has been featured in dozens of motion pictures, commercials and theme park shows. He is currently teaching conducting and composition at the USC Film Scoring Program. Schmidt’s concert repertoire includes numerous works for concert band, solo piano, choir, chamber ensembles and children’s choir. For several years he conducted and orchestrated for the pianist, John Tesh. He has served as composer, orchestrator or conductor on projects that have received the following nominations: two Grammys, three Emmys, two Golden Reel Awards and one Annie Award.
Charles Wood is professor emeritus of music from Santa Barbara City College, where he served as the director of bands and jazz studies for 15 years. He was the director of bands at Bakersfield College for 24 years. He is the recipient of the Jazz Masters Award given by the Santa Barbara Jazz Society and received an Honorary Service Award from the California State PTA for outstanding service to the youth of the community. He has extensive experience as a trumpeter in both orchestras and jazz bands, and worked as an arranger for the "Ted Mack Amateur Hour" while in New York. He is also active as a composer, having recently completed orchestrations for the CD “Infinita” featuring guitarist Lawson Rollins.
Solo Competition
Festival participants will have the opportunity to audition to become the winner of the Festival Solo Competition Award. Participation in the solo competitions is optional, but highly recommended. The solo competition winner(s) will perform as a soloist on the Sunday afternoon festival concert on April 18, and, if coming to Cal Poly as a music major will receive a music major scholarship. Professional piano accompaniment is provided both for the audition and for the winning solo performance. Winner(s) will receive a plaque and recognition at the April 19 concert. The competition takes place during the Saturday morning rehearsals.
Cal Poly Performance
As a part of the Festival and as a part of Cal Poly’s Open House, the university will perform an exciting Open House concert on Saturday evening, April 17, at 8 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center. Featured on the concert will be the Cal Poly Symphony, the University Jazz Band, and the Cal Poly Wind Ensemble. Titled “Shades of Blue,” this concert will include a great deal of exciting and entertaining music. Attendance at this concert will be required of all Festival participants.
Housing
Some festival participants live close enough to Cal Poly to stay at home on Friday and Saturday, April 16 and 17. Most, however, need housing. Housing for the Festival will be at the Marriott Courtyard Hotel in San Luis Obispo. Bus transportation will be provided to and from the hotel. There will be lots of people to help with luggage and instruments, and to make sure each participant is comfortable with his/her accommodations. Advisors will be present 24 hours a day. Just in case the participant’s family wants to spend the night here in San Luis Obispo, a list of recommended local hotels/motels will be sent. The cost for housing will be $50 per person per night, two nights, a total of $100.
Meal Plans
- Meal Plan 1
- Costs $48 and includes the Friday night sub-sandwich social, the Saturday evening pizza party at the hotel, Saturday and Sunday full breakfast at the hotel and the Sunday awards banquet at the Madonna Inn.
- Costs $48 and includes the Friday night sub-sandwich social, the Saturday evening pizza party at the hotel, Saturday and Sunday full breakfast at the hotel and the Sunday awards banquet at the Madonna Inn.
- Meal Plan 2
- Costs only $26 and includes the Sunday awards banquet at the Madonna Inn. This plan is for members who will be staying at home or having their meals and accommodations with parents.
Concert Dress
Each Festival participant should wear the same outfit as worn at concerts at home. If there is any doubt about what to wear, black and white is traditional concert dress.
Schedule
- Friday, April 16, 2010
- Afternoon/Evening: Arrival, chair placement auditions
(4:30-6:30 p.m.), rehearsal and orientation (7-9 p.m.), sandwich social (9-10 p.m.)
- Afternoon/Evening: Arrival, chair placement auditions
- Saturday, April 17, 2010
- Morning: Rehearsals and Solo Competition
- Afternoon: Enjoy Cal Poly Open House, rehearsal late afternoon.
- Evening: Concert: Cal Poly Symphony, University Jazz Band I, and Cal Poly Wind Ensemble.
- Morning: Rehearsals and Solo Competition
- Sunday, April 18, 2010
- Morning: Rehearsal
- 11:30 a.m.: Festival Banquet
- 2:30 p.m. Concert: Festival Symphony Orchestra, Festival Jazz Band, Solo Competition Winner(s) performance and the Festival Wind Orchestra in the Performing Arts Center. Departure: 4:30 p.m.
- Morning: Rehearsal
Music
Copies of all the music to be played by all of the ensembles will be mailed to each participant as soon as possible after auditions are complete. Chair placement audition repertoire on Friday, April 16, will be selected from this music.
Open House
The Festival will be held on the same weekend as Cal Poly’s Open House. This outstanding event features departmental exhibits, entertainment activities and a wonderful opportunity for high school students to become better acquainted with the university environment.