Dr. Jeremy Fox
After graduating from The School for Music Vocations in 1996, Jeremy earned a B.M. degree in Piano Jazz Studies from Western Michigan University, and received his Masters and Doctoral degree in Studio Jazz Writing/Composition from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. He spent one year as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Jazz Voice at Indiana University, helping their Vocal Jazz ensemble earn a Downbeat award win before the college dissolved the ensemble. From 2001-2010 and now from 2018-2023, Jeremy had been one of the full-time faculty at the School for Music Vocations, teaching theory, arranging, studio recording, and jazz keys. He has remained as an adjunct faculty teaching an arranging class, while now serving as the Professor of Vocal Jazz at Mt. San Antonio College, 20 miles east of Los Angeles, California.
Jeremy has received ten awards from Downbeat magazine, including ones for: Jazz Song, Jazz Arrangement, Studio Engineering, and for his vocal jazz group. Jeremy has several charts published with Sound Music Publications, UNC Jazz Press – and his own publishing company, Foxtrot Publishing. He has written for such artists as: John Secada, Theo Bleckmann, m-pact, Terence Blanchard, and Metropolitan Opera singers Eric Owens and Denyce Graves. Twice in 2013, he conducted and was musical director for a concert of "Bossa Nova Sinfónico" with the Costa Rican National Orchestra and Brazilian singer Rose Max. He has also acted as the guest conductor for the famed Henry Mancini Institute Jazz Orchestra, based in Miami.
Jeremy was nominated for a Grammy award in 2015 for an arrangement from his album "With Love" (Jazzbill Records), which was released in 2014. The album – available on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, etc – features big band and orchestral arrangements for a phenomenal line-up of singers, including Anders Edenroth (from The Real Group), Kevin Mahogany, Kate Reid, Kate McGarry, Derek Fawcett, Rose Max, Wendy Pedersen, Sunny Wilkinson, and Lauren Kinhan and Peter Eldridge (from the New York Voices).
Tobi Crawford
Tobi Crawford is a highly sought-after vocalist, pianist, arranger and educator from Vancouver, BC, Canada. Tobi attended the School For Music Vocations in Creston, Iowa, while under the direction of Phil Mattson, the Grammy award-winning arranger and pianist, and recorded two albums with his flagship group: VoicesIowa in 1995 and again in 2000. She then moved back to her native city of Vancouver, BC where she completed her Bachelor’s Degree in jazz voice and piano performance with award-winning director, Réjean Marois. She then got her Bachelor’s Degree of Education in Secondary Music from Simon Fraser University. Tobi taught at the high school level in Canada for 10 years, teaching choirs, bands and music theory before moving to Shanghai, China where she was the Fine Arts Department head and Director of Music at Sino-Canada High School for 5 years. Tobi recently graduated with a Masters degree in Jazz Voice Performance from the esteemed University of North Texas where she served as a teaching fellow. Among the many teaching duties she undertook at UNT, she directed the Third Street vocal jazz ensemble and was an assistant director of the Downbeat award-winning vocal ensemble Jazz Singers.
Tobi previously directed and chaired BCMEA’s Honour Vocal Jazz Choir in BC, Canada and served as a guest clinician and lecturer in her province. Outside of the music world, Tobi enjoys travelling and has visited more than 15 countries with her son and family members and hopes to do more in the near future. Dog rescues, crafts, and photography are more of her favorite pastimes.
Since 2021, Tobi has been a full-time faculty member at the School for Music Vocations, teaching Arranging, Jazz Keys, and Conducting while now directing First Take, the Concert Choir and Chamber Singers. She inspires the SMV students and campers by being an outstanding pianist, singer, vocal pedagogue, and vocal arranger. She now directs the vocal jazz group First Take, which in January 2024 performed at the Jazz Education Network national conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.
LOREN BATTLEY
SMV Alumna Loren Battley is an award-winning vocalist whose artistry was cultivated in Downey, CA. Her early exposure to gospel, jazz, R&B, and pop influences her unique singing and songwriting style. Loren has served as a backing vocalist for many esteemed performers, including recently completing Michael Bublé’s “Higher” tour, enthralling audiences of 10,000 to 60,000 across 25 countries in over 100 shows. As a live & studio vocalist for the indie/pop duo Pomplamoose, Loren has appeared in over 50 videos, amassing over 100 million YouTube views. Loren was the featured vocalist for the Academy Award-winning short documentary Queen of Basketball and has made television appearances for shows such as New Girl, Live with Kelly!, Good Morning America, and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
With a Master of Jazz Studies degree from California State University, Long Beach, and a Bachelor of Jazz Studies degree from Western Michigan University, Loren has recently joined the jazz voice faculty at Mt. San Antonio College and is the jazz/commercial voice instructor at Occidental College and La Sierra University. Committed to nurturing the next generation of musicians, she serves as a board member of the Los Angeles Jazz Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to jazz education and the cultivation of emerging talent. Through her ample performance and education experiences, Loren has acquired the tools to give back to the community by reaching out to those who have a desire to learn music. Her goal when performing is to bring the audience along with her on a unique and memorable artistic journey.
FIRST TAKE from the School for Music Vocations!
First Take from the School for Music Vocations’ own FIRST TAKE will be on staff at the camps. The members of the ensemble will help to teach hands-on music classes at the camp, mentor camp participants, and give coaching sessions to camp participants. Many of the individuals in the ensemble were former camp participants themselves!
Over the past 4 years, First Take has earned three Downbeat Magazine Student Music Awards in the Vocal Jazz Ensemble category. First Take was the only college ensemble to be invited to represent vocal jazz at the 2023 American Choral Directors Association National Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio – and will perform for the entire conference membership. The ensemble performs at least 20 times per school year – and tours nationally each year (as all SMV ensembles do).