Glenn Miller Scholarship

LGSMom
Mon, 26 Mar 2012 22:05:01 +0000

My D was a vocal finalist last year. It was interesting because you’d think it would mainly be jazz at Glenn Miller but that was not the case. It was actually overwhelmingly classical.

Each vocal contestant took the stage in front of a live audience for their two songs and then the judge joined them on the stage to provide comments. In fact, each contestant got a mini voice lesson where the judge ran them through some basic vocal exercises and asked one or two personal questions based on the submitted essay. The audience, mainly of members of the Glenn Miller Society, was very welcoming. They were clearly delighted to watch the performances and enjoyed how the judge interacted with the contestants.

The tenor who won last year was a high school senior on his way to BoCo. The first runner up was a Freshman soprano from Eastman. We didn’t attend the instrumental competition but the winner was a tuba player from NEC and I believe the runner up was a flautist from Rice. So the competition is improving in terms of the caliber of the contestants - definitely better than All States.

Clarinda was a very picturesque town and very friendly. We were able to get a hotel room at the Days Inn but I think the competition coordinator was somewhat disappointed because the Glenn Miller Society members are happy to put you up in their homes. That’s how much they love the contestants.

They also held a reception the night before the competition so the contestants could meet each other, review the rules and have some cake & punch. How cute is that? D did not win a scholarship but she did get some hugs from the Glenn Miller Society. Did I mention how friendly they are? Guess I can’t say that enough.