Hi, Ben.  The curriculum can say whatever it wants to, but I suspect that a number of us find it difficult to accept that a single choir can be BOTH a show choir and a jazz choir under what seem to be the current definitions.  Specifically, Show Choir implies a heavy emphasis on movement, group choreography and dance, while Jazz Choir implies exactly the opposite, an almost single-minded concentration on singing and tight harmonies with very little or no movement.  And the goal determines the kind of singer, dancer, or singer-dancer that you would be auditioning to find.

 

And since your question is about competitions, I suspect that they will either be limited to one or the other, or they will have similarly limited subcategories, again because the valuable qualities are so different.

 

Now I CAN picture a single choir that does BOTH but in separate numbers, or separate parts of a program, of something similar.  But what I prefer to picture is a single choir that concenrates on entertainment and uses elements of each as the music itself seems to demand it.  And that is what I've always tried to build (but at the college level).  But unfortunately there are probably not a lot of competitions for that kind of choir.  Festivals, yes, perhaps, but not necessarily competitions.

All the best,

John

perhaps the curriculum needs to be revisited.

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