Category: News

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

Nor’easters Capture NACC Title as AEA Announces Huge News

Some of the best a cappella groups converged in Memphis this weekend to participate in the National A Cappella Convention for showcases, competitions, and educational sessions from the best in the business.

For the first time, the high school competition was swapped out for a showcase of ten top high school groups. While groups received full feedback from judges, the stress levels were reduced as no winner was named. Instead, the audience was the winner as each set was remarkable. With performances from groups like Limited Edition, Unstrumental, Forte, and G-E-T Vocal Point, this showcase was a true highlight of the weekend.

Saturday kicked off with a convention-wide TedTalk-like session from Convention founder and AEA President, Dr. J.D. Frizzell. His motivational talk put all attendees in the right mindset to learn and use their music to leave an impact on their audiences.

The day was a mix of classes, masterclasses, and more showcases, including performances from RESOUND, OneVoice, and Impromptu before the Convention came to a close with the Collegiate Invitational featuring:

EQ Blu
No Comment
The Green Tones
Voices In Your Head
The Nor’easters
Texas Songhorns
Mosaic Whispers
All-Night Yahtzee

With visually creative and emotional sets, the judges chose to honor:

Outstanding Aesthetic – All-Night Yahtzee
Outstanding Scene Painting – Voices in Your Head
Outstanding Choreography- UNT Green Tones
Outstanding Soloist – Anthony Rodriguez (The Nor’easters)

2nd Place: UNT Green Tones
WINNER: Nor’easters

The evening also featured a guest performance by Nomadic, the first group formed out of the June Foundation.

And just when we thought the weekend was over, Dr. Frizzell and Executive Producer A.J. Marino took the stage with a huge announcement – NACC would not happen in 2020. But before the audience could get too upset, Frizzell shared that the reason was that AEA will be hosting an even larger Convention in the Spring of 2021 in Orlando. Make your plans now, a cappella fans – it’s going to be the biggest event we’ve seen in a cappella yet.

 

2019 CARA Nominations Announced

The much anticipated annual Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards nominations were announced today and both long-standing favorites and new stars are among the talents honored.

Standouts include Boston-based experimental group Birdland Avenue who landed five nominations for Come Around including Best Non-Scholastic Debut Album, Best Electronic/Experimental Album, Best Pop Album, Best Electronic/Experimental Song (“Rabbit Hole”), Best Original Song by a Professional Group (“Breeze Baby”) and DCappella who earned four nominations for Best Non-Scholastic Debut Album, Best Rock Song (“Immortals”), Best Showtunes/Soundtrack/Theme Song (“The Glory Days”), and Best Professional Arrangement for a Non-Scholastic Group (“Immortals”).

We also saw multiple nominations for The Swingles, Pentatonix, 多么幸福 East West Collective, and Rebel Bit.

On the Scholastic side A Cappella Academy, The G-Men, The A Cappella Group, VoiceBox, The Coda Conduct, The Sons of Pitches, and Dragon Scales were among some of the groups heavily recognized for their work this year.

2009 International Quartet Champions Crossroads led in barbershop music with four nominations in barbershop and arrangements.

See the full list of nominations and then follow along as we catch up with nominees and broadcast live from BOSS and the CARA Ceremony in April.

After Hours Visits Harmony Hall

A visit to Harmony Hall is high on anyone’s barbershop bucket list, but when you are the newly instated International Quartet Champions it holds an even more special significance.

During #BHSOpry, After Hours got a special tour and got to see their physical mark on barbershop history. Here’s a little inside peek at their visit, with footage courtesy of Bryan Lynch, BHS Public Relations/Brand Manager.