FINE ARTS

The HutchCC Choral Music area of study challenges student musicians through the performance of quality choral literature while the Vocal Jazz area of study is recognized nationally and even internationally!  The students and ensembles within Vocal Jazz have won numerous DownBeat awards, have performed on the international conference of the Jazz Educators Network, and have given eight performances at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

We believe that Choral Music and Vocal Jazz is not just part of the human experience – it is an essential part.  To understand music is to know an entire range of human expression and to be able to perform music means participating in that communication.  Like writing and mathematics, music represents a special form of literacy with its repertoire of emotional and intellectual content.  The art of Music illuminates our culture and connects us with our humanity.  It is no wonder that the understanding of music and the ability to perform it has long been regarded as a mark of a well-educated individual.  Music is an essential part of the human experience!

For the past 30 years, Hutchinson Community College has been one of the most highly regarded community college choral music programs in the nation.  The program’s ensembles have earned a reputation for presenting exciting and artistic concerts of challenging choral literature.  Choral ensembles from HutchCC have presented numerous performances at Carnegie Hall, as well as concerts in across the U.S.; and consistently receive invitations to participate in international choral festivals.  HutchCC choral ensembles have also presented 10 performances at Kansas Music Educator State Conventions.  The HutchCC Choral Music program has also been recognized in the McGraw-Hill publication, “1001 Exemplary Practices in America’s Two-Year Colleges.”              

In addition to performing the standard choral literature of motets, madrigals, spirituals, folksong arrangements, etc. the HutchCC Concert Chorale has also performed larger extending Masterworks such as Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Mozart’s Requiem, Faure’s Requiem, Rutter’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s Symphony #9, and Orff’s Carmina Burana.  During the holiday season, the Chorale has given many performances of either the traditional Nine Lessons and Carols or a Renaissance Madrigal Feast.  The Concert Chorale has performed as a guest choir at concerts at Kansas State University, Wichita State University, Friends University, and Fort Hays State University.

The Vocal Jazz area of study has two vocal jazz ensembles, Badinage and Sonance.  These ensembles accept up to 12 vocalists through audition and are accompanied by an instrumental jazz combo.  Auditions for this group are open to any student regardless of major.  All members of a vocal jazz ensemble must also enroll in the Chamber Chorale at HutchCC.  The repertoire performed by the group includes a variety of jazz styles: Standards, Swing, Latin, Ballads, Fusion, and Bebop.  This ensemble rehearses two days a week.  Members are expected to learn to improvise, scat, and prepare solos.  Badinage has performed at the Carnegie Hall, Disney World, KMEA Conventions, and major vocal jazz festivals around the nation.