Tag: NYC

New Tunesday – The Summer Wrap-Up

While we were out enjoy the sun, the sand, the surf, and all of the other spoils of summer, the titans of a cappella still churned out some great new music. Here are the highlights:

Pentatonix

There were a lot of mixed feelings about the Lion King remake, but there no questioning the PTX take on this classic song off the soundtrack.

BYU Vocal Point

Not to be outdone, the men of Vocal Point released their own Lion King harmonies with their cover of Circle of Life.

MICappella

It was a busy summer as always for these Singapore superstars and rumor has it there will be even more music coming soon. Get your abbreviated Chinese music history lesson now.

N’Harmonics

It is almost time to submit your applications for the 2020 ICCA season. Be inspired by the set from the 2019 champions.

Nor’Easters

They may not have made an ICCA appearance last season, but these collegiate powerhouses did take their talents to Memphis to win the NACC Collegiate Competition.

m-Pact

There’s never a bad time for Earth, Wind & Fire, especially not when covered by m-Pact, who we can’t wait to see in November for the m-Pact Vocal Festival in Kansas City.

From The Roots

SING! Texas is just around the corner, but not before you can relive this gem of an original written by Hannah Lewis.

Plus, they released another new original “Broke My Window.”

Midtown

This year’s BHS International 5th place medalists have been making quite a slash with their music videos. Have a little fun with this cover from the Goofy Movie, a follow up to their Spiderman Theme Song.

Pitch Slapped

If this is how the ladies of Pitch Slapped are kicking off the new year, we’ve got a lot more amazing music coming our way.

New England Voices in Harmony

Harmony, Inc. unleashed part of the winning set from the 2018 International Champions. Enjoy “I See The Light” arranged by Kevin Keller.

New Tunesday – June 25, 2019

Clearly, there’s no slowing down a cappella this summer. Set aside a good deal of time to catch up on all of the great new music we found this week!

The Filharmonic

A Sing-Off favorite brings us a Jonas Brothers cover for a little summer fun – live.

Business Casual

This Bay Area group is on a monumental rise, and this new video featuring their original tune “Ain’t No Way” is just another step at the top.

N’Harmonics

The final installment from their winning ICCA set, the reigning champions mixed modern with classical to wow the audience.

Vadé

This group wins over our hearts more and more with each video.

Postyr

Capturing the sentiment wrapped up in family scattered around the world, this futurist Danish quartet continues to blaze forward.

New England Voices in Harmony

Harmony, Inc. has unleashed a treasure trove of videos from the 2018 International Contests, including this one featuring the chorus gold medalists.

Zero8

Need to hear something spectacular? How about one of the world’s best barbershop choruses fronted by one of the world’s best barbershop quartets singing something from one of the world’s best barbershop arrangers? Ok, then.

Midtown

With BHS International in Salt Lake City just around the corner, we were thrilled to get a little peek at one of the world’s top quartets through this clever video.

MVP 

This quintet out of Australia keeps us well stocked in fun content – party along with their latest release.

Flow

The fascinating art of pop rock a cappella choirs makes everything a bit more interesting. What would you do with this many voices?

Mendicants

The group responsible for bringing the legend that is Bill Hare into the a cappella fold back in 1988 and many years later, the relationship still stands.

Crimson & Slate

The Colorado a cappella scene is growing and mighty.  Enjoy this throwback video with an arrangement by Johanna Vinson.

The Lost Keys

Who doesn’t love a classic Elvis tune every once in a while?

Council Rock High School South Vocal Ensemble

While we’re on lovable guilty pleasures, here’s a spot on cover of the music of Phineas & Ferb,

New Varsity Vocals Champions Named

The stages of Town Hall and the PlayStation Theater brought a cappella to Broadway this weekend for the 2019 ICHSA and ICCA Finals.

After two evenings of performances that marked the culmination of a year of hard work from all of the finalists, two new groups joined the legacy of Varsity Vocals champions – InToneNation and the N’Harmonics.

Here are the full results:

ICHSA Finals
InToneNation ICHSA 2019

OVERALL STANDINGS
1st Place: InToneNation (New Manchester High School) – 441 Points
2nd Place: Skyline Blues (Skyline High School) – 338 Points
3rd Place: The Thursdays (Chelmsford High School) – 331 Points

SPECIAL AWARDS
Outstanding Soloist: Tyler Lewis (InToneNation) for “Dancing On My Own”
Outstanding Vocal Percussion: Chris Ekpiken (Skyline Blues) for the entire set
Outstanding Arrangement: InToneNation for the entire set & Griffin Prillwitz (Free to Breathe) for “Sweet Dreams”
Outstanding Choreography: Evolve for the entire set

ICCA Finals
N'Harmonics ICCA 2019
OVERALL STANDINGS

1st Place: N’Harmonics (New York University) – 444 Points
2nd Place: BisCaydence (University of Miami) – 358 Points
3rd Place: ScatterTones (UCLA) – 352 Points

SPECIAL AWARDS
Outstanding Soloist: Tyler Lewis (HardChord DynaMix) for “Trainwreck”
Outstanding Vocal Percussion: Lora Riehl (Pitch, Please) for the entire set
Outstanding Arrangement: Brett Castro (N’Harmonics) for the entire set
Outstanding Choreography: Brett Castro and Devon McDowell (N’Harmonics) for the entire set

The Open Approaches

The week of #AcaOpen is here and we’re gearing up for an incredible weekend in a cappella. The Finalists will fill Carnegie Hall on Saturday, September 22nd with the sweet sounds of a cappella and one will walk away with the $25,000 prize.

Tickets are still available – See the action in person.

We’ll be catching up with all of the finalists in NYC, but here’s a preview:

Wild Card: Business Casual
San Mateo, CA

Current National Harmony Sweepstakes Champions and certainly a force to be reckoned with. With a deep repertoire of originals and unique covers, their sense of brand is as strong as their stage game.

Wild Card: COLLAB
Los Angeles, CA

Bringing together performers from UCLA and CSUN these 13 singers were inspired by the first year of the Open to give it a shot themselves. They earned a shot at the Wild Card after placing second to HIVE – we think the talent pool in California runs deep.

Northeast Champion: Ember
Baltimore, MD

What do you get when you pull from a top notch collegiate group and students at Peabody Conservatory and THEN add some handpick specialty talent? Oh, and then debut a full set of stellar originals? The hottest thing to come out of Baltimore since Old Bay.

West Champion: HIVE
Los Angeles, CA

Five superstar voices. Personality for days. If you’re in the audience live, you might just catch the talent that spills out of them on stage.

New England Champion: Iris
New York, NY

Only three members and first performed as Iris on the semifinal stage at Berklee College of Music and they walked away the winner and also took home Outstanding Arrangement and Outstanding Vocal Percussion. So new that there’s no trace of them online – this may be the very best kind of a cappella witchcraft.

2018 ICHSA Champion: Legacy
Los Angeles, CA

Founder Rob Dietz taps into to some serious scholastic talent with this high school community group. This will be the group’s second appearance in the Open, representing Southern California in last year’s inaugural event.

Midwest Champion: LUXE
Columbus & Dayton, OH

Another new group – this one full of  ICHSA and ICCA all-stars, many of whom are already making huge strides as young and rising pop stars. Can they use their former success to guide them to the big prize?

Virtual Champion: RISE
Arlington, TX

After taking 4th place in the ICCA Finals, RISE will return for another shot at the top. They make their own rules and they are clearly ready for more.

2018 ICCA Champion: The SoCal VoCals
Los Angeles, CA

5-time International Champions and a legacy in the ICCA. Will this collegiate magic win at a new level? We don’t expect the audience to stay in their seats, that’s for sur

International Champion: VoCollective
London, UK

This sextet is just getting warmed up. Largely unknown outside of the UK – making their US debut on none other than Carnegie Hall feels like a good start.