Vocal Jazz Auditions
Auditions for KU Jazz Singers and Commercial Voices, Fall 2025
Auditions are required for KU Jazz Singers and Commercial Voices, meeting MWF 12:00-12:50pm and meeting MWF 1:00-1:50pm.
Download a document with all of the audition instructions and audio guide materials here:
KU Jazz Singers and Commercial Voices Audition Procedure and Materials - Fall 2025
Auditions will be in person and will be located in Murphy Hall, Room 554. Audition times are available on Saturday Aug. 16 through Tuesday Aug. 19 (via sign-up link below).
All of the info for your audition can be found in the pdf document linked above, and you should be sure to download and read it carefully as you prepare to audition. However, here is a condensed overview of the audition process and the key information about these two ensembles:
- Both Jazz Singers and Commercial Voices will meet in Murphy 114, with first rehearsals on Wednesday, August 20th. Each student must be available for every weekly rehearsal and able to arrive on time.
- Both groups will have two evening performances (Oct. 28 and Nov. 24) and will participate in a Kansas City vocal jazz festival during the day on Nov. 19, with excuse notes for any classes missed. You must be available for all performances
- Start the audition process by filling out your audition info form at THIS LINK
- Your audition will consist of the following:
- Two brief prepared part-singing excerpts (with part learning tracks provided in the document)
- 60 to 90 seconds of a solo song of your choice, with or without an accompaniment track. Non-classical styles will be most appropriate
- Guided vocal and ear-training exercises
Please don’t hesitate to email Kerry Marsh at KerryMarsh@ku.edu with any questions.
Thank you for your interest in auditioning for KU Jazz Singers and Commercial Voices!
My name is Kerry Marsh, and I’m honored to be the director these two exciting groups. I graduated from KU in 2000 with a BME in Music Education and from The University of North Texas with an MM in Jazz Studies in 2003. I’ve directed award-winning vocal jazz ensembles for over 20 years at Sacramento State University, The University of Northern Colorado and more, and I am a vocal jazz arranger and publisher. I'm immensely proud to say that KU Jazz Singers has been honored by Down Beat Magazine for two years in a row as one of the top university vocal jazz groups in the world! Click here to listen to some of the recordings that helped earn Jazz Singers these prestigious awards.
In case you haven’t had the experience of singing in a vocal jazz ensemble before and aren’t too familiar with this type of group, I’ll give you a brief introduction to the genre. Listening to the Jazz Singers recordings linked above is a great way to become acquainted with the type of music our groups will perform.
Another particularly helpful thing to do might be to visit my website at KerryMarsh.com, where my partner and KU colleague Julia Dollison and I publish over 380 vocal jazz arrangements, all with studio demos sung by myself and Julia. Clicking on a few of the ScoreFlippers on the site will give you a solid sense of the type of music we’ll be performing in our new groups.
Here’s a music video I put together with my group from Sacramento State back in 2012:
My Foolish Heart - Sacramento State Jazz Singers
And, finally, here’s a live recording my combined groups made to audition to be on a Ben Folds album (spoiler alert…we got the gig!):
Some key things to know about vocal jazz ensemble singing as an art form that will help you get into a good mindset for this audition and beyond:
- Vocal jazz groups can be made up of anywhere between 4 singers and 24 (or sometimes more!), and my plan for KU Jazz Singers and Commercial Voices is to aim for evenly balanced SATB groups of around 12 singers.
- Since we perform with microphones in vocal jazz groups, the vocal approach and aesthetic is different from bel canto singing style, because we mostly sing without vibrato in order to help us carefully tune complex harmonies. Theater singing styles are more closely related to what we do, but the best real reference is to listen to jazz, pop and R&B singers for solo style, and vocal jazz groups for the ensemble style (it’s sort of its own thing!). We use bright vowels and very conversational diction, and there’s a lot of focus on getting the most exciting sounds out of the interesting chords we sing together. The number one goal is expression, though, and giving our listeners an experience that emotionally impacts them.
- We most often perform with piano, bass and drums accompanying us, with occasional a cappella selections in our set.
- We’ll perform swing tunes with classic and modern styles, bossa-novas and sambas (“Latin” styles with straight eighth note grooves), pop music with added complexity, beautiful ballads and sometimes fairly esoteric and modern styles. My personal approach has been to keep vocal jazz groups on the more contemporary side, and I find that my groups have enjoyed being on the cutting edge, stylistically, while also spending some time learning about the history and traditions of the art form.
- Vocal improvisation (scat singing) is certainly a part of the experience for Jazz Singers, but not necessarily for everyone in a group, and nobody will be required to improvise, although there will be opportunities to learn about this form of expression. It’s a lot like learning a new language, so the journey involves a learning curve, but it can be really fun and some singer have just the right ear for it and learn it quickly and naturally.
Enrollment information
Everyone must enroll in the appropriate class for the ensemble or class they are placed in:
- Students placed in the 12pm to 12:50pm ensemble will register for “Vocal Jazz Ensemble" - JAZZ 412 #20913 (undergrads) or JAZZ 712 #20912
- Students placed in 1pm to 1:50pm ensemble will register for “Vocal Jazz Ensemble” - JAZZ 412 #25736 (undergrads) or JAZZ 712 #25737
I want to thank you for your interest in vocal jazz! When I found vocal jazz in my freshman year at KU years ago, it completely changed my life for the better, and I hope I can give you and other Jayhawks at least some part of that inspiration that I was lucky enough to get from my early experiences. Looking forward to meeting you and hearing you sing!