Ensemble Director: Dr. Darden Purcell
The Mason Jazz Vocal Ensemble, directed by Dr. Darden Purcell, is the award-winning vocal group of George Mason University. This group has performed at Jazz4Justice™ concerts, Mason Jazz Vocal Nights, the Kansas City Jazz Summit, American Choral Directors Association Regional Conference, Jazz Education Network Conference, and ACCENT Vocal Festival at Tiffin University.
Members of the Mason Jazz Vocal Ensemble have been featured with:
- American Festival Pops Orchestra
- Mason Jazz Ensemble and Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra, directed by Jim Carroll,
- Capitol Bones All-Brass Big Band, directed by Matt Niess
- Ben Folds, as back-up vocalists
- National Symphony Orchestra (Wolf Trap)
- Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and
- Virginia Beach Symphony.
Accolades for 2023-2024
- Spring 2023 - Won a DownBeat Student Music Award (top Jazz award for students in the world) for "Outstanding Performance - Large Vocal Jazz Ensemble, Undergraduate College."
- Fall 2023 - Invited to perform at the Virginia Music Educators Association (VMEA) conference (the largest educational conference in the state of Virginia), in Richmond, Virginia.
- January 2024 - Invited to perform at the Jazz Education Network (JEN) conference in New Orleans, LA. MJVE is one of only six vocal jazz groups that will perform at the conference.
The Mason Jazz Vocal Ensemble shared the stage with The New York Voices, The Manhattan Transfer and Accent.
Mason Jazz Vocal Ensemble, Fall 2023. Photo: Joyce Boghosian
Vocal Jazz Soloist, Dominique Bianco, won a Downbeat 45th Annual Student Music Award for Undergraduate College Outstanding Performance. Dominique is a student of Dr. Darden Purcell.
Established in 1976, the DownBeat Student Music Awards are considered the most prestigious awards in jazz education. Hundreds of musicians, music educators, and music industry professionals compete for the international recognition of a DownBeat Student Music Award Winner.
The Jazz Vocal Ensemble performs at the Center for the Arts in the Spring of 2024.
In 2018, the Mason Jazz Vocal Ensemble recorded their album, Voice of Reason.
The Mason Jazz Ensembles Recordings
The Voice of Reason CD featuring the Mason Jazz Vocal Ensemble can be purchased at amazon.com.
A second CD by a collection of Mason jazz ensembles called Life, LIberty and the Pursuit of Swing can also be purchased at amazon.com.