LIVE at Piedmont Piano Company
Pacific Standard Time
Cal State Long Beach Vocal Ensemble
Pacific Standard Time, directed by Christine Guter, is the top vocal jazz ensemble at Cal State Long Beach, and the winners of DownBeat Student Music Awards for the past 14 years in a row. They feature outstanding musicianship, leading-edge musical arrangements, incredible vocal skill, and amazing improvisation ability. Their show will include works by Duke Ellington, Bob Dorough, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Al Jarreau, Madison Cunnigham, India Arie, and more. Seeing them live is a breathtaking experience and not to be missed!
$22.50 General Admission
We are offering a limited number of tickets to attend this performance in person. Advance purchase is recommended. Masking is encouraged but no longer required.
PACIFIC STANDARD TIME
Pacific Standard Time, directed by Christine Helferich Guter, is the top vocal jazz ensemble at California State University Long Beach, Bob Cole Conservatory of Music. It is a highly select ensemble consisting of eleven vocalists and a four-piece rhythm section, performing jazz and jazz-influenced styles, featuring close vocal harmonies, leading-edge repertoire, and refined soloing and improvisational skills.
The group has been honored with DownBeat Magazine Student Music Awards for the past fourteen years in a row (2010-2023). Several students from Pacific Standard Time have also received multiple DownBeat Awards in the categories of Solo Jazz Vocalist, Pop/Rock Soloist, Latin Group, and Jazz Arrangement.
Pacific Standard Time has performed at the most prestigious state, national, and international music conferences and festivals, including the Jazz Education Network Conference, International Association for Jazz Education Conference, American Choral Directors Association Conference, and the California Music Education Conference. They have also performed at the Playboy Jazz Festival on the stage of the Hollywood Bowl, the Los Angeles Jazz Festival, the Newport Beach Jazz Party, and the West Coast Jazz Party. Pacific Standard Time has also had the honor of performing with internationally renowned jazz vocalists such as Kurt Elling, Peter Eldridge and Dena DeRose.
Pacific Standard Time has competed at the Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival and taken first place in the Collegiate Vocal Jazz Ensemble division four times. As winners of this competition, they were invited back to perform at the historic and prestigious 52nd, 54th, 57th, 62nd Annual Monterey Jazz Festivals.
Graduates of Pacific Standard Time have been featured on “The Voice”, “The Sing-Off”, National Harmony Sweepstakes, national TV commercials, movie soundtracks, and national tours (Michael Buble, Jennifer Lopez, Chaka Khan, The Jacksons, Knower).
CHRISTINE HELFERICH GUTER
Christine Helferich Guter is a jazz vocalist and studio singer in the Los Angeles area. She has a multitude of studio credits and has sung on dozens of Hollywood soundtracks including Disney’s “Wish,” Hocus Pocus 2, Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, Mulan, Star Wars Rogue One, Sing!, Ready Player One, Star Trek Beyond, The Jungle Book, Jurassic World, Despicable Me 2, Men in Black 3, and Spiderman 3. She is a member of SAG-AFTRA and AFM.
An extraordinary educator, Christine is active internationally as a lecturer, adjudicator, and clinician, and has conducted numerous All-State Jazz and Honor Choirs. Christine is a member of the California Alliance for Jazz (CAJ), the Jazz Education Network (JEN), the California Music Educators Association (CMEA), and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). She has served on the board of ACDA Western Division and the California Choral Directors Association as Vocal Jazz Chair. She is proud to be on the board for Jazz Education Abroad and is the jazz voice instructor for the Thailand Jazz Workshop.
In 2018, Christine received the prestigious “Jazz Education Achievement Award” from DownBeat Magazine, for her work as a jazz educator. She is currently the Director of Vocal Jazz at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University Long Beach where she teaches private jazz voice lessons, vocal styles classes, class jazz piano, jazz theory, and directs the university’s award-winning vocal jazz ensemble, Pacific Standard Time.