Local Jazz Star to Perform May 21

PULLMAN, Wash. — Downbeat magazine’s 2002 college vocal winner Julie Silvera, who is completing her master’s degree at Washington State University, will present a May 21 concert. The 8 p.m. program is planned for Kimbrough Concert Hall and is open to the public without charge.

The three-time Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival vocal winner earned her Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from WSU. She is completing a Master of Arts in music with an emphasis on conducting vocal jazz ensembles.

Also performing will be WSU music faculty member Charlie Argersinger, piano; Gary Gemberling, trumpet/flugel horn; Geoffrey Bradfield, saxophone; Richard Dozier, bass; and Dave Jarvis, drums.

Argersinger refers to Silvera “as a natural talent.”

“With a deep, rich, mahogany voice and an innate understanding and affection for jazz, Julie ‘swings hard,’” he said. “She possesses not only an extraordinary vocal instrument, but an outgoing, gregarious approach to singing jazz that is utterly infectious.

Dee Daniels, a jazz vocalist who has worked for 28 years as a professional musician, said Silvera has a “warm and sincere personality…and has a wealth of potential as a jazz vocalist.”

The WSU vocalist has been an invited guest performer at the Washington International Band Convention, Music Teachers National Conference and the Pacific Northwest Regional Conference of the Piano Technicians Guild.

Silvera plans to travel to the East Coast to explore her performance potential in the fall. Her compact disc will be for sale after the concert.

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