SAVANNAH'S WEEK LONG CELEBRATION OF SONG FEBRUARY 9-19, 2021 AMERICANTRADITIONSCOMPETITION.COM All events will begin at 7pm on the date listed, and remain available to watch at the audience’s leisure until February 28, 2021. TUESDAY FEB. 9 Quarterfinal 1 Sponsored by Tricia & David Guggenheim WEDNESDAY FEB. 10 Quarterfinal 2 Sponsored by Kathie & Les Anderson THURSDAY FEB. 11 Quarterfinal 3 pro Sponsored by Nancy McGirr & David Goslin FRIDAY FEB. 12 Quarterfinal 4 Sponsored by Patty & Heyward Gignilliat TUESDAY FEB. 16 Judges Concert Sponsored by The Charles C. Taylor and Samir gram Nikocevic Charitable Foundation WEDNESDAY FEB. 17 Semifinal 1 Sponsored by Hedy & Michael Fawcett THURSDAY FEB. 18 Semifinal 2 flow Sponsored by Danny Cohen FRIDAY FEB. 19 Final Round Sponsored by Savannah Morning News 14 ATC PRESIDENT 15 ATC DIRECTOR 16 ABOUT THE ATC ATC BOARD OF DIRECTORS EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH 17 JUNIOR ATC 18 IN-KIND DONATIONS of 19 VOLUNTEERS table 20 ATC DONORS 22 AWARDS 24 PAST GOLD MEDAL WINNERS 25 SPONSORS 26 2021 JUDGES cont 28 PIANISTS 29 INSTRUMENTALISTS 30 2021 CONTESTANTS ents W E C R E A T E D Y N A M I C V I D E O C O N T E N T F O R B U S I N E S S A N D C R E A T I V E P L A T F O R M S . S A V A N N A H , G A 3 1 4 0 1 | 7 0 6 . 4 4 9 . 1 2 1 2 WELCOME TO THE 28TH YEAR OF ATC A N O T E F R O M A T C B O A R D P R E S I D E N T Greetings all. Welcome to the 28th year of The The ATC was able to reinvent ourselves thanks American Traditions Vocal Competition. to the generous donations of our supporters and collaborators. We were able to provide Timing is everything. This was never more true live music for thousands of appreciative than last February, 2020. The ATC welcomed listeners. We look forward to partnering with our amazing judges, our wonderful pianists and the City of Savannah’s ACE program to further of course, our talented contestants to the develop our educational outreach, our Give Hostess City. Our guests in attendance were Back Free Concert initiative and our second moved by the passionate and virtuosic display annual Junior ATC, a high school age version of musicianship. Our Savannah visitors enjoyed of our signature event to be held in May, 2021. all it has to offer. Then...the world shut down. We are beyond excited to bring you The Endless numbers of non profit organizations Virtual ATC, 2021! Our judges, pianists and have struggled and even ceased to exist during contestants come from many musical worlds the pandemic. The arts world was hit and were thrilled to safely stretch their particularly hard as performers saw their work versatility as musicians. opportunities disappear...completely. Our priorities were to find a way to support our ATC The ATC is fortunate to have a diverse and artists while honoring our beautiful city and talented collection of professionals on our staying afloat. board. Thank you for your dedication and hard work. And lastly, to our Artistic Director, As everything moved outdoors, we developed Mikki Sodergren, who is now a Savannah two new initiatives...our Porch Party Series and resident... thank you for your passion and our Give Back Free Concerts. From July through vision. September, we were able to hold eight concerts. Three were Porch Parties, two were “Those who wish to sing always find a song”- free Give Back performances in downtown Swedish Proverb. Enjoy our 2021 Virtual Savannah, and three events were held at The American Traditions Vocal Competition! Landings Club in a new outdoor venue. Sincerely, The decision to hold the American Traditions Kellee Love Vocal Competition virtually was made in early Haselton autumn. We were catapulted into a whole new world. To our delight, we set a record for number of applicants. These vocalists were obviously eager to safely sing again. W W W . A M E R I C A N T R A D I T I O N S C O M P E T I T I O N . C O M 1 4 A YEAR LIKE NO OTHER A N O T E F R O M A T C A R T I S T I C D I R E C T O R The Virtual ATC, this special presentation for We at the ATC are very lucky to work with our 2021 competition, marks my ninth year gifted editors – Michael Gaster and Brad with this organization. In these years, I have Binion of Michael Gaster + Associates went been a competitor (twice) a winner (once), an above and beyond, coming in on weekends assistant, a social media director, a wrangler, and staying late at night to adjust balance. a friend to pianists, contestants, board They made sure each song was perfectly members and students, and of course, Artistic aligned and brought the individual vision of Director. This year I added some new hats: each artist to life. Jamie and Diana McGaw researcher, resident music licensing expert, of Tremble Productions are truly passionate and amateur audio engineer. I have learned about the ATC’s mission and spent their that I neither want to be a music producer nor mornings, nights and weekends editing and a copyright lawyer, and that I have great perfecting these performances and respect for those who hold such positions! combining them to make a cohesive performance that is beautiful, lively and fun. To let you peek behind the curtain, this year our pianists and singers rehearsed on Zoom We have a wonderful board who made and Facetime, and recorded all nine songs. Southern Hospitality a priority, sending hand- Our 2021 contestants turned in full ‘rounds’ of picked goodies in hand-packed boxes to competition, just like you would see onstage: each contestant, pianist and judge. They met three songs back-to-back. They dealt with this special year’s challenges head on with car alarms, garbage trucks, kids playing immense dedication to this organization, and I outside, and all sorts of other distractions, consider myself very grateful. and would restart their cameras until they caught their full, uninterrupted video and Thank YOU for supporting us and supporting audio takes. The dedication that these artists the arts by keeping American music alive, this presented is over-the-top. year and every year. We felt a great responsibility to honor what With Love, these performers sent to us, and give them Mikki each a fair shot at excelling in this Sodergren competition so the only deciding factors were the judge’s scores -which were managed internationally while the judges recorded albums, presented galas and continued on with their careers, virtually. W W W . A M E R I C A N T R A D I T I O N S C O M P E T I T I O N . C O M 1 5 W W W . A M E R I C A N T R A D I T I O N S C O M P E T I T I O N . C O M 1 6 ABOUT THE ATC Now celebrating its 28th year, the American Traditions Vocal Competition (ATC) is Savannah’s premiere professional vocal competition. Established long before American Idol, this vibrant event has showcased competition winners and genres of music from around the world, in furtherance of ATC’s mission to celebrate and preserve all styles of classic American music. The 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization awards over $40,000 in cash prizes. Winners have gone on to Broadway, recording careers, and other exciting professional opportunities in the musical world. EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH As part of its community-driven service initiative, the ATC also The ATC seeks to educate and introduce students in the provides musical education, Chatham County area to different genres of American music. exposure, and performances for Through performances in the community and presentations in the Savannah locals of all ages. school system, the ATC is engaging tomorrow’s educators, performers and music lovers, while teaching them a respect and appreciation for American music that spans all genres and time periods. The ATC, with investment from the City of Savannah, is excited to further expand our curriculum by continued BOARD OF educational events in the Savannah area. Both virtually and safely in person, we will bring engaging and fun programming to DIRECTORS our schools and our community. If you are passionate about supporting arts education and want to support our efforts Kellee Haselton, President financially, please contact Kellee Love Haselton or Mikki Allen Henderson, Past President Sodergren, our call the ATC phone number, (803) 702-0305. Nathan Godley, Vice President Starr Holland, Secretary MarcTate, Treasurer Les Anderson Carol Bell Danny Cohen Tricia Guggenheim Beverly Jaques Diana Langer Trish Lorenz Diane McCabe Laurel McCorkle Samir Nikocevic Dan Rizzo Brenda Rucker Jim Wann Susan Whitaker W W W . A M E R I C A N T R A D I T I O N S C O M P E T I T I O N . C O M 1 7 "IF I CANNOT FLY, LET ME SING" - Stephen Sondheim JUNIOR ATC Our 2019 inaugural Junior ATC was a great success, helping to give performance feedback to young singers in the Savannah area and shine a spotlight on students who were selected to take part in this performance experience.