The Kent Clarks have been rehearsing hard for this weekend’s Voice Fest, an intercollegiate a cappella competition at the 2^nd annual Wooster Jam. Singer Carrie Blazina says they're giving it all they've got.

“It would really mean a lot for us to win this competition. We would really like to get a chance to prove ourselves within the a cappella community."

Plus there's a $2,500 grand prize. 

Levin’s Idea 

The contest, like the Wooster Jam itself, is the brainchild of James Levin. He’s the founder of Cleveland Public Theater and  Ingenuity Fest, and  now directs the Center for Entrepreneurship at the College of Wooster. Levin says he got the idea for Voice Fest at last year's Wooster Jam. 

“I walk around the whole time troubleshooting, looking worried, especially when it’s drizzling for 48 straight hours. I saw a cluster of people around the stage and I couldn’t remember who’s performing there. There were a 150 people there just standing. And it turned out to be a group called The Round of Monkeys, an acappella group from the College of Wooster. And they were terrific.
"And then I remembered a group from Oberlin called the Obertones, which I had actually brought to the Ingenuity Festival a couple of years ago. And they were equally amazing. And then I started thinking, 'Wow, I bet Kent State has a group. I’m sure Ohio State has a group. I think Kenyon has a group.' And sure enough they did and we developed this idea of an intercollegiate a cappella competition.” 

Diverse offerings 

Along with a cappella, the jam will feature Irish, Pakistani, and Big Band music, plus folk, jazz, rock and roll, clog-dancers, theater, poetry, magic shows and storytelling. In all, more than 300 artists and performers are participating. 

Levin says he noticed soon after starting his work at the entrepreneurship center three years ago that the College of Wooster hosts a wealth of cultural offerings, and so does the surrounding community. 

“Like The Ohio Light Opera, the Wooster cellists ensemble for example, The Cedar Valley Cloggers, visual and ceramic sculptural artists living in this area . People on the campus are really unaware and the people who live outside very rarely go onto the campus to experience anything. So I thought, wow, we could showcase the richness under one umbrella event.”   

New arts entrepreneurs 

It's also an opportunity for Levin to cultivate a new generation of arts entrepreneurs through a course called The Entrepreneurship of the Event.” 

“There are 12 students who are receiving credit for interning for the jam. There’s somebody who’s in charge of marketing, someone in charge of graphics, somebody in charge of administration. So they will deal with the insurance company, the security firms, the fairground, the releases and this kind of stuff.” 

College of Wooster sophomore Ben Heavenrich says one reason he took the course is to improve relations between townspeople and the campus community. 

“And a festival like this gives us a chance to bring lots and lots of people together. “
Heavenrich says Levin has been an inspiration.

“The experiences that he’s undergone have really allowed him to sort of share thoughts with us as to how we can be pioneers in this industry.” 

James Levin invited the collaboration of the Wooster Ethnic Fair, the Wayne Center for the Arts, the Wooster Arts Co-op, and Cleveland's Progressive Arts Alliance this year. 

About 2,500 attended last year. Levin hopes to double that this weekend.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE VOICEFEST WINNERS!
First Prize : Ohio State University's "Buck That"
Second Prize: Obertones from Oberlin College
Fan Favorite: The Round of Monkeys from College of Wooster