Tag: barbershop

New Tunesday – December 4, 2018

In addition to all of the great variety of a cappella you can hear ’round the clock here at Acaville Radio, we’re going to bring you some bonus releases each Tuesday to make sure you’re finding all of the latest and greatest this talented community has to offer.

Here are our favorites this week- and yes, there are a lot of holiday tunes – a trend we expect to continue over the next few weeks:

The Swingles

The first video featuring the group’s newest soprano, Federica Basile, is a smash hit. You were expecting anything less?

Voctave

There may be nothing more beautiful than Voctave singing holiday songs. It’s certainly something to look forward to each year, and their latest release “O Come, O Come Emmanuel/The First Noel/I Wonder As I Wander” is as good as it gets.

Y-Studs

Combining the magic of Queen with Hanukkah? We’re here for it.

Six13

More Queen. More Hanukkah. More awesome.

The Turkish a cappella group teamed up with Finnish beatboxer Tuukka Haapaniemi for this performance of  Kerimoğlu Zeybeği, mixed by Bill Hare.

Face

Leave it to the all rock band in Colorado to reimagine O Little Town of Bethlehem to the tune of House of the Rising Sun.

Upper Structure

Treat yourself to the talent that just oozes out of these Berklee College of Music students with their lead track from their 2018 ICCA Competition Set, “Freedom.”

Highline Vocal Jazz

In celebration of nearly one year as a group, Highline treated us to an inspired arrangement of O Holy Night.

Venice Vocal Jam

Singing an arrangement by Homestay Music (you know them – it’s Erik Bosio, Vinther Sørensen, and Jussi Chydeniuss) we get some Beatles love out of Italy.

Beatsync

This Toronto group typically performs with a great deal of tech, but for their DCappella Tour submission, they stripped it all down to just acoustic voices.

Scott & Ryceejo

Enjoy this new take on a classic carol from the husband and wife duo out of Utah, singing Silent Night with support from Spark Singers.

AcoUstiKats

You may have become acquainted with this group through The Sing-Off, but the tradition lives on years after the show was retired. Here are the current ‘Kats singing a Nick Johnson arrangement of Deck the Halls:

Association of International Champions

Another gem from the 2018 AIC show, this week we get to relive and enjoy “It’s a Small World” by the full AIC Chorus.

New Tunesday – November 27, 2018

In addition to all of the great variety of a cappella you can hear ’round the clock here at Acaville Radio, we’re going to bring you some bonus releases each Tuesday to make sure you’re finding all of the latest and greatest this talented community has to offer.

Here are our favorites this week:

FACE

Filmed in Sweden, the video release of the holiday classic, “O Holy Night” from hometown favorites of Boulder, Colorado hit a million views within just 7 hours of posting today.

Main Street featuring Debbie Cleveland

The outgoing BHS quartet champions teamed up with Queen of Harmony and Webcast hostess Debbie Cleveland for a special edition of Wake Up, Jake at the 2018 AIC Show in Orlando.

A Cappella Academy – Ølamundo

Called one of the most profound performances in the history of Academy by founder Ben Bram, this group, comprised of students from some of the many cultures and traditions represented at A Cappella Academy sang “I Saw Light” under the direction of Erin Bentlage.

Muzaria

In honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Muzaria released an a cappella arrangement of the John Williams piece from Schindler’s List.

Shir Soul

In celebration of the fast approaching Hanukkah holiday, Shir Soul of NYC presents a parody of the well-loved song “Africa.”

Smooth Edge 2

The CAL representatives of Fort Wayne, Indiana released a smashing cover of a cappella alumna Sara Bareilles’ “Gravity.”

New Tunesday – November 13, 2018

In addition to all of the great variety of a cappella you can hear ’round the clock here at Acaville Radio, we’re going to bring you some bonus releases each Tuesday to make sure you’re finding all of the latest and greatest this talented community has to offer.

Here are our favorites this week:

AcaLumni Project

What do you get when you pull together a virtual group from all over the world, combine all of the overdone a cappella songs into a Weird Al Yankovich polka, and animate the singers? Well, this masterpiece:

WATCH HERE.

And in case you missed it, ALP founder Shawn Pearce was featured on this week’s #Talkappella. Hear the replay this Saturday at 7 am EST & 7 pm EST!

Highline Vocal Jazz

Speaking of guilty pleasures….this next one is so many wonderful ones all wrapped into one. The iconic theme song from Reading Rainbow with yummy jazz chords? Yes. Please.

FACE

Let’s just continue on with the guilty pleasure trends, shall we? In full 80’s glory, this Boulder-based vocal rock band features bass Forest Kelly on lead for their cover of Blondie’s “Call Me.”

Academy

This one is just….fun. A debut music video from the University of Bristol’s all-male identifying a cappella group who were previously featured on Sky One’s Sing: Ultimate A Cappella, ICCA UK finalists and VF-UK semi-finalists in 2018.

Birdland Avenue

Not a music video, but one of the most anticipated a cappella releases of the year. Here’s the announcement of the album drop of “Come Around” straight from 4 little birdies.

OC Times

A little more goodness from the AIC Show at #BHSOrlando, OC Times celebrates their 10th anniversary of winning gold. How long until we can get “On The Road Again”?

VoicePlay

The smooth sounds of this year’s SoJam headliners on a Frank Ocean tune means your day just got better.

MO5AIC

And in what we’re sure will be the first of many a cappella holiday joys, the Las Vegas based quintet dropped a modern take in 7/8 on Little Drummer Boy, with a beat that only a mouth drummer like Jake Moulton can perform:

Gold for New England Voices In Harmony and Aged To Perfection

In two very hotly contested finals, Harmony, Incorporated now has a new champion chorus and four new Harmony Queens.

On Friday, New England Voices in Harmony of Nashua, New Hampshire topped the field with a 79.7%. The group performed a special Disney themed set in a risky director-less set, but proving that Director Renee Tramack had prepared them well, they sang “That’s How You Know” from Enchanted and “I See the Light” from Tangled in gorgeous jewel-tone gowns.

New England Voices in Harmony - 2018 Gold Medal Chorus
New England Voices in Harmony – 2018 Gold Medal Chorus

The Village Vocal Chords, under the direction of the legendary Jeanne O’Connor, took second place for the second time with a score of 78.9%. Jordan Travis and A Cappella Showcase from Milton, Ontario finished in third with 78.4%. Limestone City Voices and Sounds of the Seacoast round out the medals in fourth and fifth, respectively.

See the full scores for the Chorus Finals.

The contests came to a close on Saturday afternoon with the Quartet Finals that ended with Aged To Perfection winning the crown. This team of two mothers and daughters scored an incredible 80.7%, edging out T4 who finished with an 80.0%.

Aged To Perfection - 2018 Harmony Queens
Aged To Perfection – 2018 Harmony Queens

Alexa Beal, Gaye LaCasce, Kathy Pomer, and Ellie Pomer are now a long distance quartet and all first time queens. Scoring 1441 in the Semi-Final round with a phenomenal rendition of “Blues in the Night” and “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?,” Aged To Perfection raised the bar in the Finals with a total score of 1463 singing a solemn “Cry Me A River” and a lively, and genuinely adorable uptune in “Together, Wherever We Go.”

Rounding out the medals were Area 3’s Lip Service finishing third with 76.0%, Area 2’s Balancing Act in fourth with 75.2%, and Tonic! in fifth with 73.8%. Tonic! was also honored with the Image in Harmony Award and the Accord Award.

See the fulls scores from the Quartet Finals.

The IC&C closed out with a Showcase of Champions to a room full of Harmony Sisters (and a T-Rex), marking the end of Christina Lewellen’s two-year term as International President. The gavel was turned over to Donna McKay, who will push forward with the new initiative, “Harmony. Stronger.”