BCC jazz choir takes first again at Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival; Student Zach Trandum named best bass vocalist

BELLEVUE, WASH.– For the second time in three years, the Bellevue Community College vocal jazz ensemble "Celebration!" has won first place among two- and four-year college jazz choirs at the annual Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival.

BCC student Zach Trandum, of Snohomish, who sings bass in Celebration!, won first place in the Collegiate Bass Voice competition.

The competition, which was held Feb. 23 and 24 in Moscow, Idaho,attracted 14 vocal ensembles from colleges and universities across the nation.

As a result of his victory, Trandum was invited to perform in the Festival’s Thursday night concert featuring professional jazz entertainers. Trandum performed "My Funny Valentine,” accompanied by a professional rhythm section.

Celebration! also won first place at the 2004 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival.

The annual Lionel Hampton event is one of the largest jazz festivals in the world.

Earlier this year Celebration! performed at the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) annual conference in New York, one of only four college vocal groups nation-wide invited to appear.

Celebration! may be heard in performance locally on March 20, at 7:30 p.m., at the Triple Door jazz club in downtown Seattle, and June 1, at 7:30 p.m., in concert at Carlson Theater on Bellevue Community College’s main campus (3000 Landerholm Circle S.E., Bellevue).

For information on tickets for the Triple Door performance, call (206) 838-4333. For information on the concert at BCC, call (425) 564-3114.

Celebration!, made up of 22 BCC students (18 vocalists and four instrumentalists), is directed by Tom Almli.

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