September 26, 2011 // Comments (1)

Who Is Jenn Fiduccia?

brought to you by Mark Hines

As Executive Producer of the SoJam A Cappella Festival, I (Mark Hines) am less involved with the actual execution of the millions of tasks necessary to make the event a reality, and more just the manager of an amazing team of individuals. Each day, I’m blessed with the opportunity to hear about the plethora of accomplishments my team has made. One member of this awesome team is the multi-talented Jenn Fiduccia. If you live in NC, or subscribe to the North Carolina A Cappella Network, you know Jenn’s name well. Since Jenn has helped promote MY name so much over the last 6+ months, I figured it only RIGHT to return the favor:

Please state your full name (however you’d like it to appear on your check)

My name is Jennifer Lynne Fiduccia.

When you sing…

I am a coloratura soprano (and all-around badass <-- We added this part.)

A-capelo?  Is that that thing where you like, sing, without music?  I think I’ve heard of it…  Seriously, though, I heard some groups sing during first semester of my freshman year at Boston College and thought, “That is possibly the coolest thing I’ve ever heard and I MUST take part.”  I auditioned for the newly-formed, mixed BC Dynamics and became a member of their first incoming class.  My time with The Dynamics is actually what spurred my audition for and eventual transfer to New York University as a vocal performance major the following fall.

Haaaaa.  Whoever wrote these questions thinks he is pretty funny…  Um, when I attended college, social media didn’t even exist!  In the classes I took to fulfill the requirements for my Music Business concentration, they talked about things like “Permission Marketing,” and almost all of my MusBus books are now obsolete.  So, no, I don’t have a background in social media.  But is it really that hard?  Even my mom is on Facebook.  ALSO, Nicole Milano is a brilliant mentor.  Everyone should hire her.  For real.

You mean besides the fact that I don’t like to fail?  What could I write about a cappella that hasn’t already been said and isn’t incredibly cheesy?  There’s something about hitting that one chord, in perfect harmony that taps into something in me in a way that nothing else can.  A cappella is the one thing you can’t really do by yourself (excluding recorded stuff and Tibetian throat singing) and I believe that it can serve as a model for how we, as humans, can exist with practice and persistence - in perfect harmony.  (It’s still cheesy, even though I tried.)

Is this a trick question?  The Vocal Company, for sure! 

I would never use my children in such a manner.  Shame on you for suggesting this.  And I also have never brought them to a potential sponsor’s place of business and turned them loose until the sponsor agreed to my terms.  NEVER.

My singing experience is pretty varied and eclectic.  In college, I studied classical voice at NYU and did some contemporary a cappella.  Alongside singing in a chamber choir, I also sang in a grunge band or two.  The time I spent interning at Elektra and BMG Records led me to record a few demos.

During and after college, I gigged as a professional soloist working the church circuit in the NY Metro-area for ten years (wow, do I miss that income!), while still doing some community musical theater for fun.  I would also pick up the odd-job, singing in character (most memorable was the time I had to dress as Marilyn Monroe and sing to a dirty old man at his 60th birthday party.  I couldn’t pour enough bleach in my brain to erase that memory.)  Later, my time spent as a Youth Minister threw me into the world of CCM where I directed and sang lead for a few praise bands.  One such band afforded me the opportunity to tour in France, where I had the opportunity to headline in front of 10,000 people, a truly humbling experience.

After moving to NC, I had a part in the founding of two CAL groups, the short-lived “Hyperoctave,” and the now-thriving “Cognitive Resonance”.  Although I’m presently not a part of any group, I’m always looking.  Give me a shout if there are any takers.

Why would you even do that?  Do you have a lot of spare time?  I have a whole house that needs cleaning and about a thousand pounds of laundry that need washing…

There are these four little people that run around my home…I’m told they are my children.  They take up a lot of time and make a lot of mess.  I love them all to pieces, though, and they are the greatest things I’ve ever done with my life.  Plus, I’m creating a aca-army and that takes time.

Otherwise, I’m kind of boring and nerdy.  I like to read, especially classic authors like Dickens and Austen.  I enjoy going to local museums, touring historic homes and sites, and visiting wineries.  Our house has this great front porch where I often enjoy a nice glass of vino at sunset.  And baking - I LOVE to bake all kids of sweets.  Maybe I’ll bring some to SoJam.

There is nothing, I repeat, NOTHING typical about any day in my life.  Each day presents its own set of opportunities and challenges no matter how much I strive for consistency.  Today, for example, my two-year-old, Sammie, decided to wash my dining room windows.  The thought was nice, but her cleanser of choice was her leftover piece of pizza from lunch that she fished out of the garbage.  This happened while I was concentrating on answering a few SoJam emails and posting some North Carolina aca-events to the CASA calendar, all with Sonos playing in the background while the dog was barking at the bunny in the front yard, my one-year-old was shoving play kitchen pieces in the air duct, and the two older kids were wrestling.  Yup, just a “typical” day in the Fiduccia house.  (You won’t find any “Mom of the Year” awards decorating my walls.)

Depends on what we are talking about here…

I will stop at nothing short of aca-world domination.  To start, though, I would love to find a fantastic, talented vocal band to sing with.  I’d also like to perhaps organize a “Women In A Cappella” festival in partnership with The Sapphires and Encore.  Stay tuned…

I’d probably wait for a time when I was less sleep-deprived and more coherent.  But then again, where’s the fun in that???