Friday, April 10, 2026
Guest Artists/Clinicians: Take 6
Take 6 (Claude McKnight, Mark Kibble, Joey Kibble, Dave Thomas, Alvin Chea and Khristian Dentley), heralded by Quincy Jones as the “baddest vocal cats on the planet!,” is the quintessential a cappella group and the model for vocal genius.
Vocal Jazz Festival Q&A:
When and where is the festival taking place?
The 11th Annual UWSP Wausau Vocal Jazz Festival will take place on the UWSP Wausau campus in Wausau, WI on Friday, April 10, 2026.
Where on the UWSP Wausau campus is the festival taking place?
The majority of festival events, including check-in, will take place in the UW Center For Civic Engagement building located at 625 Stewart Ave, Wausau, WI 54401. Bus directions can be found HERE.
How much does it cost?
Festival registration costs $325 per vocal ensemble. This does not include lunch or discounted concert ticket fees. Festival attendees will also be able to purchase lunch and discounted $10 tickets to the evening guest artist concert. We will ask for lunch and concert ticket numbers 2 months prior to the festival so we can send out a separate invoice for these payments as needed.
What does the festival include?
Each participating ensemble should prepare 2-3 songs in a jazz/pop style. You will have a warm-up room/time, performance time on stage in the Theater, and a clinic room/time to work with one of the members of Take 6.
Each school will also be able to nominate a solo singer to participate in a solo singing clinic with one of the members of Take 6.
Take 6 will also be offering a masterclass to all attendees as well as a Q&A session.
Do schools need to bring their own sound equipment/rhythm section instruments?
UWSP will provide 18 wireless handheld microphones for the onstage performance for all vocalists. We will also supply a drum set, bass amp, and piano. The warmup room will have a rhythm section setup as well (keyboard, bass amp, and drums).
Is there an evening concert?
Yes! Take 6 will perform a concert at 7p.m. UWSP’s award-winning vocal jazz ensemble will open the concert with a couple songs. Concert tickets are $20 general admission, with a reduced price of $10 for festival participants. It promises to be a great night of music!
For any other questions you may have, please feel free to contact Timothy Buchholz
CONCERT
7 p.m. UWSP at Wausau, James F. Veninga Theater
$20 – general admission ($10 for participating school groups)
A limited number of general admission tickets will go on sale in January and any remaining after high school participating tickets have been reserved will open up to the general public in March.
Don’t miss the opportunity to see Take 6 perform as part of our Vocal Jazz Festival. With 10 Grammy Awards, 10 Dove Awards, a Soul Train Award, and they as Members of the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, this musical phenomenon has six virtuosic voices united in crystal clear harmony, against a backdrop of syncopated rhythms, innovative arrangements, and funky grooves that bubble into an intoxicating brew of gospel, jazz, R&B, and pop.
A limited number of general admission tickets will go on sale in January and any remaining after high school participating tickets have been reserved will open up to the general public in March.
General admission tickets are available in advance online (starting in January) by clicking here. If tickets remain, they will be sold at the box office beginning half an hour before the performance.
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