Jalen Kirkman, a college student from Florence, Alabama, was named to as a national semifinalist in The American Pops Orchestra “NextGen National: Finding the Voices of Tomorrow” competition. He was among 30 singers chosen for the competition from hundreds of auditioners.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF UAB
NextGen gives collegiate vocalists the opportunity to learn from industry professionals while competing for a chance to win scholarship money and paid performance opportunities with the American Pops Orchestra in New York. The APO brings American popular music to audiences and builds community by preserving, promoting and reimagining it. The APO presents live and virtual performances, educational initiatives, and collaborations to make the highest-quality art accessible to the broadest audiences. The orchestra often performs with such artists as Kristin Chenoweth from Wicked, and each year they host this vocal competition for young adults.
Jalen, a UAB junior who is pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in musical theater from the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Theatre, first heard about the competition and entered in late November 2023. Applicants must submit a self-taped performance of a song strictly from before the 1970s, and he sent in a performance of himself singing in class. “That part is really cool to me because it is a next generation vocal competition using older music, whether it be Golden Age or jazz or classical,” says Jalen. He performed the jazz piece “Guess Who I Saw Today.” The timeless classic has been sung by Nancy Wilson and Samara Joy, whose version inspired Jalen. “One of the big things I set for myself and would love to do in this competition is singing jazz throughout because it is something that I have always loved to do,” he says. “I don’t really get to sing jazz often, just being in musical theater. If I can get as far as I can doing that, it will be awesome.”
The competition’s semifinals were broadcast virtually January 7. Four judges, along with audience votes, chose 10 finalists to receive an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City to compete in the finals at Lincoln Center. Jalen made it. He now advances to the final round, to be held this month. Jalen will attend master classes and events and work with professional artists, then perform at Lincoln Center at 2 p.m. EST on February 11.
At UAB, Jalen is in the UAB Honors College on a Personalized Path. He studies voice with Head of Musical Theatre Valerie Accetta and Emily Jaworski-Koriath, DMA, in the college’s Department of Music. For acting and performance, he studies with Department of Theatre professors Accetta, Dennis McClernon, Jack Cannon, and Roy Lightner, artistic director at Red Mountain Theatre and with whom Jalen also trained in dance. Jalen also performs with the Department of Theatre’s student tour group, a company of students who annually travel to schools and community venues to present theater shows.
For more information,
visit theamericanpops.org/nextgen.