G. Thomas Allen wins 1st place in international vocal competition

Vocal Arts alum, vocalist, composer, and music educator G. Thomas Allen recently placed 1st in the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition. Allen is known for his remarkable vocal flexibility, warm timbre and cross-genre experimentation. He has worked with the late David Baker and the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, performing Duke Ellington’s: Sacred Concerts at the Strathmore Hall, and has shared the stage with influencers such as Bobby Broom, Pharez Whitted and Dennis Luxion. As bandleader, he released his debut self-titled album in 2020, which hit No. #1 of the iTunes jazz charts. He currently serves as the Jazz and Contemporary Voice Instructor at ChiArts and on the voice faculty of Columbia College Chicago (CCC).

About the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition:

The Search for the World’s Next Great Jazz Singer

On a Wednesday night in 1942, Newark teenager Sarah Vaughan went to the Apollo Theater to compete in an amateur singing contest. It was the chance to win $10 and a week long engagement performing on the Apollo stage. Instead, Vaughan’s win launched a career that would transform America’s original art form and an icon who elevated the craft of jazz vocal music and garnered the respect and adoration of millions. Now, it’s time for history to repeat itself.

The Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition is open to solo vocalists of all nationalities who are not signed to a major record label. Singers are judged on vocal quality, musicality, technique, performance, individuality, artistic interpretation and ability to swing.