Profile

Justin Binek assumed the role of Assistant Professor of Jazz Voice at the University of the Arts in the fall of 2005. In this position, Justin directs the Jazz Singers and teaches musicianship, improvisation and applied voice. A 2000 graduate of the University of Mary in Bismarck, ND., Justin completed graduate school at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Mich., and received national recognition as a recipient of two DownBeat Magazine awards (Outstanding Collegiate Vocal Performance 2001 and Outstanding Collegiate Jazz Choir 2002). Prior to teaching at UArts, Justin returned to the University of Mary, where he served as the Director of Jazz and Choral Ensembles and taught vocal and keyboard jazz studies, musicianship and musical analysis. An active performer as a singer, pianist, saxophonist and steel drummer, Justin is also in demand as a clinician, arranger and composer. He serves as the Vocal Jazz and Show Choir Coordinator at the International Music Camp in Dunseith, N.D., and is a partner in the Heartland Vocal Jazz Camp in Tiffin, Ohio.

Justin Binek is the Director of Vocal Jazz Studies at UArts, where he directs the UArts "Jazz Singers," the "Sus4" vocal quartet and "Jamaican Meh Crazy" Caribbean jazz ensemble; teaches Jazz Improvisation, Musicianship and Applied Voice; and serves as an accompanist and vocal coach. Under his direction, the UArts Jazz Singers co-headlined the Ohio Jazz Summit, has performed at the regional conferences, including Delaware and New Jersey Music Educators Associations and the Collegiate Music Society Northeast Region, and performed at the 2008 Berks Jazz Festival and at the 2008 International Society for Music Education World Conference in Bologna, Italy. He was the recipient of the UArts President's Award for Teaching Excellence in a Junior Faculty Member in 2007.

Justin also maintains an active jazz and classical performing schedule as a singer, pianist, steel pannist and saxophonist, as well as being a frequent adjudicator and guest performer at premiere jazz festivals. He is an active arranger and composer whose works are performed by ensembles across the country. A contributing author to Diana Spradling's groundbreaking new book, Jazz Singing:  Artistry and Craft, Justin presented "The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Scat Singers" at the 2008 International Association for Jazz Education annual conference in Toronto, Ontario. He also premiered a concert of sacred jazz music with Polish pianist Bartosz Hadala at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Palm Sunday 2007, a concert that was videotaped and broadcast by the Prayer Channel.

Justin regularly works with high school and collegiate choral and instrumental ensembles, including recent collaborations with the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) and the Projazz Esculea Internacional de Musica in Santiago, Chile. He has spent the past six years as a partner in the Heartland Vocal Camp in Tiffin, Ohio, and also served as a show choir and vocal jazz clinician for the International Music Camp in Dunseith, N.D., for nine years. He has directed jazz and concert honors choirs at collegiate, high school and middle school levels, and was the featured choral presenter at the 2007 Pennsylvania Music Educators Association summer conference. He has also presented workshops at the Delaware, New Jersey, North Dakota and Pennsylvania Music Educators Association annual conferences.

Prior to joining the UArts faculty, Justin was the Director of Choral and Jazz Ensembles at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D. Under his direction, the university's Concert Choir was prominently featured in the Public Television documentary "A Soulful Sound: The Music of the Germans from Russia." A North Dakota native, Justin received a BS in Music Education and a BA in Music Performance from the University of Mary (2000). He then earned an MM in Voice Performance from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Mich. (2002), where he was the Assistant Director of the award-winning vocal jazz ensemble "Gold Company." An amateur photographer, he and his wife, Claire, also a member of the UArts voice faculty, live in Philadelphia.

To email Justin: jbinek@uarts.edu