2025 Featured Performers

Singcopation, which was formed in 1997, consists of eleven auditioned singers who specialize in vocal jazz music. During their existence, they have performed numerous concerts at Mt. San Antonio College and have participated in a variety of collegiate festivals and competitions including Monterey, CA and Reno, NV.  Singcopation performed to standing ovations at the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) Conventions, in New York City, Toronto, and in Long Beach, as well as the Jazz Education Network (JEN) National Conference in New Orleans.

Singcopation has participated as guest artists for the L.A. Vocal Jazz Workshop where they performed with Steve Zegree, Michele Weir and Darmon Meader from the “New York Voices” and have won the Downbeat Magazine award for being the number one college vocal jazz group in the country on fifteen occasions, also winning a special Downbeat Award in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 & 2013 for Outstanding Performance. Singcopation has performed at the 2002 ACDA Western Regional Convention in Honolulu, Hawaii in a special workshop presentation, gave special performances at B.B. King’s and the Baked Potato nightclubs in Hollywood, as well as Steamers Jazz Club in Fullerton and Campus Jax in Newport Beach, they were the headline performers for a concert engagement at Lincoln Center in New York City, with special guest artist Darmon Meader, and were the headline performers at the Canadian Rocky Mountain Music Festival in Banff.  Singcopation won first place honors at the “Next Generation Jazz Competition” in Monterey, California, and then were invited to perform as guest artists at the prestigious Monterey Jazz Festival in 2010, 2013 & 2020. In the summer of 2010,  Singcopation traveled to Australia to perform at the ANCA Choralfest Convention in Port Macquarie and in 2011 they competed at the International American Choral Competition in Reno, Nevada and took home a first place trophy in the vocal jazz category and the overall “Grand Prix Prize.” They participated in an extremely successful concert tour to Guangzhou, China, where they competed at the 1st Xinghai International Choral Competition and won the prestigious Platinum Medal and their most recent international competition took place at the Grand Prix of Nations choral competition in Magdeburg, Germany, where they received a gold medal and a 2nd place finish against seventeen other groups. In the Fall of 2009, these talented singers combined with a professional orchestra from Los Angeles to perform “Star Wars in Concert” to sell-out audiences at the Honda Center and the Nokia Theater and in 2016, Singcopation had the honor of opening for the “Real Group” at the Apollo Theater in New York City.

Gary Meek is an American jazz and fusion saxophone and keyboard artist. As a featured artist or session musician he has contributed to more than 150 albums.

Meek was born in 1961 in Encino, California. His father played piano recreationally. Meek attended El Camino Real High School, where he was active in the music department on clarinet, saxophones and keyboard. After high school he attended Los Angeles Pierce College and subsequently enrolled in the Dick Grove School of Music Professional Instrumental Program.

Meek began his career in the early 1980s playing woodwinds in the big bands of the Los Angeles Jazz Workshop, and keyboards and woodwinds for local club dates, weddings and private parties. In the mid-'80s he toured with Dionne Warwick, playing keyboards.

In 1987, Meek began a two-decade association with Brazilian jazz artists Airto Moreira and Flora Purim. In 1990, joined by Jose Neto, they formed Fourth World. This band toured the U.S., Europe, Asia, South Africa and Eastern Europe for five years, releasing a live album in 1992, Live at Ronnie Scott's. Three years later, Meek joined Herb Alpert's world tour in support of Alpert's Second Wind album. The following year, Meek toured the U.S. and Europe playing saxes, flute and keyboards for Al Jarreau.

Meek's first album as a leader and saxophonist, 1991's Gary Meek, comprises 11 songs all written or cowritten by Meek. He has released four other solo projects to date, including Time One, Live at Ronnie Scott's, Good Friends, and Step 7.

Through the 1990s and early 2000s, Meek began several enduring collaborations, some with artists who contributed session work for his solo efforts. After keyboardist Jeff Lorber appeared on Gary Meek, Meek played for several Lorber albums, including the Billboard Top 5 West Side Stories in 1994. Meek's first studio work for bassist Brian Bromberg, on 1997's You Know That Feeling, led to several tours and albums including Downright Upright, nominated for the "Best Contemporary Jazz Album" Grammy in 2007.

Meek lives with his wife, Maureen, in the Monterey, California area, where he is a traveling clinician for the Monterey Jazz Festival. He also teaches privately, sharing methods passed on to him by Phil Sobel, his teacher of more than 25 years. Meek collaborates globally through Internet recording sessions, and travels to Los Angeles for session work. He plays Cannonball saxophones and D'Addario reeds and mouthpieces.