Events Calendar » Audio Radiance Vocal Jazz Group

Audio Radiance, from Southwestern Community College, is now enjoying its 20th year as one of the cutting edge vocal jazz ensembles in the United States. Their recent touring schedule has included visits to Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York and Winnipeg.  Musical director for the group, Jason Smith, was nominated for a Grammy award for his work on the album Night in the City by The PM Singers. Graduates of this ensemble have gone on to the heights of the vocal ensemble profession, performing in groups like The Four Freshmen, m-pact, Vocology,and The Fault Line. This year, tours by Audio Radiance include the San Francisco bay area and the greater Los Angeles area, as they serve as headliners at two jazz festivals and open for the world renowned a cappella group m-pact.

Jason Alex Smith, director, and arranger of the bulk of writing for Audio Radiance, his vocal jazz ensemble at The School of Music Vocations at Southwestern Community College, is also the director of the college's concert choir as well as instructor in theory/composition, jazz piano, vocal arranging, conducting, and rehearsal techniques. As a member of the Grammy-nominated P.M. Singers, he shared the bill with artists such a Bobby McFerrin, Richie Cole, and Rob McConnel and The Boss Brass. His professional a cappella vocal group, Corner Market, toured with George Benson. He has performed at such venues and the Monterey Jazz Festival and Constitution Hall in Washington DC with the U.S. Air Force's Airmen of Note. He held various teaching positions at Foothill College, Wasington State University and The Phil Mattson School in Spokane before finding a Home at The School for Music Vocations in Creston, Iowa. He is active throughout the year with vocal jazz clinics and workshops across the country.