Genesis ready for its Northwest Vocal Jazz Festival performances

Chelsea Van Baalen
The Advocate

Genesis is ready for the Northwest Vocal Jazz Festival today and Saturday, according to member Dylan Sundstrom.

The annual festival invites high school students to the college to perform and watch Genesis perform.

“It’s a great time for recruiting purposes and to perform in front of one of our largest audiences,” Sundstrom said.

There will be 20 groups from high schools, as well as three middle schools and one elementary school in attendance during the festival.

“It’s our biggest festival. All the high school groups will be there,” Genesis member Rose Reynolds said. “A lot of the kids look up to Genesis as what to strive for so we have to put our best foot forward.”

Sundstrom adds, “It’s really fun because all the high school students really get into it.” Sundstrom also said there’s a lot of work that goes into planning the festival and “just making sure everything runs smoothly.”

Reynolds said the group has also been learning a couple of new songs and “putting on our performance faces and getting into our groove.”

“I think we’re (Genesis) going to do great, the group we have is really energetic,” Reynolds said. “For the first years, it’s a great opportunity to see the impact the group has on younger students. It’s the end of the year so we work really well together as a group. We click.”

When it comes to performing, Sundstrom said, “It’s a great feeling.”
The festival starts at 10:45 a.m. today in the College Theater. There will be two series of events on Saturday, one in the College Theater and the other in the Visual Arts Theater. The Visual Arts events start at 1 p.m. while the College Theater events begin at 9:05 a.m.