THE INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP OF HIGH SCHOOL
A CAPPELLA
DEAR FRIENDS,
Welcome to Varsity Vocals’ 26th season! Our enthusiasm for the art of a cappella is greater than ever after more than a quarter century of presenting the best student groups on stage and in the studio.
Our tournaments have grown from a handful of events to the massive showcase they are today, this year featuring more than 578 groups and 8,772 singers at 77 events across North America and the United Kingdom.
Our original tournament inspired the hit movie "Pitch Perfect," based on the nonfiction book documenting the true story of rival groups competing against each other in our very own ICCA. The "Pitch Perfect" franchise remains the highest-grossing musical series of all time.
Despite the incredible growth and mainstream popularity we’ve enjoyed, our focus remains sharply on the promotion and development of the talent that crosses our stage. We believe competition fosters growth, as groups work together toward a specific goal and cultivate lifelong skills and relationships.
We provide insightful feedback from our highly qualified judges – but more importantly, our singers get to connect with a larger audience from across the country, learning from their peers and finding inspiration in other groups.
Two years ago, our 2020 tournament was sidelined mid-season by the pandemic, and we were unable to crown champions for the first time. In 2021, as a cappella groups were unable to gather to rehearse or perform, we adapted our program by challenging groups to create 4-minute music videos, recorded and edited remotely. The astonishing artistry and skill in these videos is a testament to the adaptability, ingenuity, and determination of our competitors, and we couldn’t be prouder.
This season, we are again challenged by the pandemic, as we attempt to present live events across thousands of miles in an ever-changing COVID landscape. Although some of our events have been postponed or converted to virtual, we are determined to see the season through. Many groups haven’t been able to compete live since 2019 – some students for their entire high school or college career. We are humbled more than ever by the importance of our role in setting the stage for the creation of so much magic.
We have seen a cappella make great strides from where it began on our stage 26 years ago, and we can’t wait to see how our 2022 competitors push the envelope. Committed to promoting our singers and energized by the incredible music they create, we look forward to another memorable season. Thank you for joining us!
Sincerely,
Amanda Newman
Executive Director
ICHSA GREAT LAKES QUARTERFINAL
Oak Creek Performing Arts Center
Saturday, February 26, 2022
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ABOUT VARSITY VOCALS
Since 1996, we have encouraged students worldwide to sing a cappella throughout their lives. Our programs include the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA), the International Championship of High School A Cappella (ICHSA), and the International Championship of A Cappella Open (The Open). We also annually produce The Best of College A Cappella (BOCA) and The Best of High School A Cappella (BOHSA) compilation albums.
Our a cappella competitions give top-notch a cappella groups the opportunity to showcase their talents for an international audience and to take home valuable feedback from our qualified judges. This year, competing groups will appear in venues all around the world, offering their energetic musical performances for your enjoyment.
The college tournament takes place from January through April in nine regions across the country and around the world. Each region holds anywhere from four to five Quarterfinals, and the top groups from each Quarterfinal advance to the Semifinal. The winning group at each Semifinal is named Regional Champion and advances to the ICCA Finals at The Town Hall in New York City on Saturday, April 23rd.
The high school tournament is now in its 17th year. The winners of each of seven Semifinal rounds will advance to the ICHSA Finals at The Town Hall in New York City on Saturday, April 22nd.
The Open Tournament celebrated its third year in summer 2019 and featured six Semifinals that lead to the Open Finals featuring those six Regional Champions, two Wild Card Champions, and our 2019 ICHSA and ICCA Champions. Those 10 groups competed in October 2019 at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
For a full tournament schedule, visit us at www.varsityvocals.com/events
ABOUT TONIGHT'S SHOW
The performance order was determined by random draw this afternoon and will be announced from stage.
Tonight’s performers will be evaluated on elements of their vocal and visual performance, which carry numerical weight. The highest and lowest score from the individual judges will be dropped for each group. Our judges may recognize exceptional performances with special awards as they see fit.
There will be a 15-minute intermission. After the final group has performed, a guest performer will entertain you while the scores are tabulated.
Because each group only has ten minutes to perform, we ask you to keep your applause to an enthusiastic minimum between songs. Please feel welcome to applaud as much as you want after each group has finished its set.
Videotaping and non-flash photography for personal use is permitted during the concert, so long as you do not disrupt our performers or other patrons. Due to licensing regulations, we do not provide a video or audio recording of this performance.
TONIGHT'S COMPETITORS
Vocal Point is an extracurricular contemporary a cappella ensemble, open to freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors! This audition-based group is an advanced treble ensemble (plus a vocal percussionist) from Lockport Township High School. They perform music from pop, rock, and contemporary genres and sing using modern popular techniques.
The Hinsdale South High School Noteworthy Hornets are excited to be making their debut appearance on the ICHSA Stage! Hailing from Darien, Ill., The Noteworthy Hornets are under the direction of Chris Gumban, Sean Lohmeyer, and Collin Page.
Beloit Turner Overdrive is in its fifth year of existence as a student-run organization. They meet during the school day when they can, as well as before and after school hours. They sing out in the community and perform at many holiday functions as a caroling group throughout December. After a year and a half off, they are excited to be singing together again. They would like to thank their friends and families for all their support and hope you enjoy their performance!
During the COVID-19 pandemic, artists everywhere struggled to continue their work while confined to their homes. However, Colla Voce carried on, learning and sharing music online, which allowed them to come back better than ever this school year. It has meant the world to Colla Voce to be able to make music in person again after a year of virtual life. Colla Voce performs a variety of music, from pop to classical to EDM to jazz. Colla Voce loves arranging different types of pieces in order to broaden their musical horizons and to continue learning as a group.
Created eight years ago, CYC Out represents the best of Clinton High School. This high-energy a cappella group puts their own spin on any arrangement that they try. With their arranger Kendra Barkas, this group sings top current hits, as well as any era or genre that speaks to them. They want everyone to know that they are here to compete and help take a cappella to the next level.
Genesis was founded in January 2019 to highlight the female voice and create a strong bond between girls who love to sing. Their colors are millennium pink and white, worn with pride every chance they get. More than just a singing group of friends, this all-girl group considers themselves sisters. This year, they started a tradition where each new member is a “Lil Sis” that is paired with a current member as their “Big Sis.” This, as well as their frequent dinner outings after practice (basically at every restaurant in Brookfield), has strengthened them as a family. They love every chance they can get to arrange, prepare, perform, and bond together! Genesis is ecstatic to rejoin the competition stage after the pandemic. During that break, they started their Singing Valentines fundraiser, which they have kept as an annual practice. They also record videos for their TikTok account (@genesisacappella) to keep up with performing and get their name out in the open. However, their favorite memories are from competing together and they cannot wait for you to see their set!
Knight Club is an 18-member gender-inclusive a cappella group from Oak Creek High School. Knight Club advanced to Finals in 2019 and competed in last year’s virtual Finals. After recording music and making videos last year, Knight Club is very excited to be back and competing on their home stage. If you want to know more about what Knight Club is up to, check them out on Instagram @ochsknightclub.
Noteworthy originated as the Memorial Madrigals, a group of high school choir singers from Eau Claire Memorial High School that has been spreading holiday cheer throughout the Chippewa Valley for over 50 years. While the Memorial Madrigals are still in high demand to carol during the holiday season, they now sing as Noteworthy for the rest of the year, focusing on the art of performing vocal a cappella music. The group is composed of 11 members who are accepted into the group after a rigorous audition process and this is their fourth year under the direction of Aurora Krajnikconde. If you would like Noteworthy to perform at your event, please contact their director, Aurora Krajnikconde.
Unaccompanied Minors A Cappella is a co-ed, student-led group at Brookfield East High School. Though they specialize in performing pop songs, Unaccompanied Minors dabbles in other genres, such as rock and indie. Established five years ago by students Emma Jester and Macy Gardner, they have since grown and become popular within the Brookfield and Elm Grove communities. They recently opened in concert for country singer Adam Doleac in September and are proud of their 1st place win in their 2020 ICHSA Quarterfinal! The signature colors of Unaccompanied Minors, baby blue and black, symbolize the fierce bond between all of the members. Derrik Bold, a bass, helped establish a close-knit bond with freshmen and seniors alike through “Flannel Fridays” and delicious homemade pizzas. However, Derrick is just one of the 18 amazing individuals that compose Unaccompanied Minors. Though the group enjoyed a successful virtual season of performance opportunities and recruiting new, talented members, all of them agree that it wasn’t the same without an in-person ICHSA. Unaccompanied Minors thanks all of their supporters as they continue pursuing the title of ICHSA Finals Champions. Unaccompanied Minors is back and ready to present a performance like no other!
TONIGHT'S JUDGES
Felicia Francois fell in love with a cappella when she became a member of The UNCG Sapphires. After serving as director of that group, she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with bachelor’s degrees in vocal performance and choral music education. She worked as a chorus teacher and private voice teacher in Greensboro for four years and then went on to receive a master's degree in speech-language pathology from Boston University. Felicia is now working as a speech-language pathologist with a specialty in voice. She is thrilled to be an ICCA judge once again and wishes the best to all those competing!
Laura Kruschke has been involved in a cappella since her college days at UW-Madison, where she sang with Tangled Up in Blue and earned her degree in music education. In 2007, she participated in launching the Contemporary A Cappella League (CAL) and founded greenTONE A Cappella in fall 2007. gT is 10 members strong today and sings for a variety of local events, including weddings, holiday parties, fundraisers, and flash mobs. In addition to gT, Laura continues to offer her expertise to local high school choirs through workshops and group coaching. In addition to Laura’s aca-involvement, she arranges music for local high school show choir and a cappella groups, sings and plays saxophone in a local band, teaches yoga, and wears many other hats as a mom to three busy school-aged kids.
Heather Newkirk is a proud alumna of Syracuse University's Main Squeeze, for whom she sang, arranged, choreographed, and did vocal percussion. Since graduating, Heather has remained active in the a cappella world as social media coordinator for BOSS, Program Manager of Social Media for the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America (CASA), associate producer of Voices Only, and an instructor for workshops and masterclasses at a cappella festivals nationwide. She has won ICCA awards for Outstanding Arrangement and Outstanding Vocal Percussion as a college student, and Varsity Vocals has held a special place in her heart ever since.
Kimberly Raschka Sailor is the current Editor-in-Chief of the Recorded A Cappella Review Board (RARB), and she has written more than 300 reviews of high school, collegiate, and professional groups since 2005. A former ICCA Finalist, Kimberly is the co-founder and past president of the University of Southern California's Reverse Osmosis. Kimberly has also served as a Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award (CARA) nominator and judge. In addition to volunteering in the a cappella community, Kimberly is an author and elected school board member for the Mount Horeb Area School District in Wisconsin, where she also sings with the Mount Horeb Chorale. This is Kimberly's 15th year adjudicating for Varsity Vocals.
SPECIAL THANKS
Varsity Vocals would like to recognize and thank the Oak Creek staff, especially Lexi Cuda, Sam Wulterkens, and Gillian Pacetti; our student hosts for your time and energy, as well as our wonderful deliberation performers; our incredible sound engineers at Audio Max, our event staff Jordan Smart, Michael Severino, and Mercurius Armanious, and Rob Hackl-Blumstein; our judges, hosts, competitors, volunteers, partners, and producers; and you, the audience for supporting Varsity Vocals programming.
Amanda Newman
Executive Director
Dave Rabizadeh
ICCA Director
Elise Hackl-Blumstein
ICHSA Director
ICHSA Great Lakes Producer
PA/MA Program Coordinator
Andrea Poole
ICHSA Co-Director
Lucy Jacobs
The Open Director
ICCA West Producer
Andrew Poole
Director of Digital Media
Erica Tackett
Director of Marketing & Social Strategy
Emily Flanders
Director of Adjudication
ICCA Great Lakes Producer
Emily Sucher
Director of Publications
Patty Floyd
Accountant
Virginia DeMoss
Album Production Coordinator
Sara Yood
Senior Producer
Holli Kitching
ICCA Mid-Atlantic Producer
Lindsay Howerton-Hastings
ICCA South Producer
Leah Alrutz
ICCA Midwest Producer
Bronwyn Jensen
ICCA Southwest Producer
Gemma Davies
ICCA United Kingdom Producer
Christopher Witham
ICCA United Kingdom Producer
Emily Benjamin
ICCA Northeast Producer
Arvin Zabalerio
ICCA Central Producer
Jillian Kimberlin
ICHSA Mid-Atlantic Producer
Danielle Sutherland
ICHSA Midwest Producer
Jake McVey
ICHSA Northeast Producer
Donald Paradis
ICHSA South Producer
Cameron Clemens
ICHSA West Producer
Courtney Jenson
Associate Producer
Emcee
Ben Garza
ICHSA Southwest Producer
Katherine Mosher
ICHSA South Day-Of Producer
Bri Decerio
ICHSA West Day-Of Producer
Jake Yoakum
ICHSA West Day-Of Producer
OUR TEAM
We have an amazing team of people who work tirelessly to make our programs so valuable for our singers and audiences alike — and they all do it while holding down full-time day jobs, too!
The top two finishing groups will advance to the 2022 Great Lakes Semifinal.
BRING THE HARMONY HOME
Find your favorite groups on The Best of College A Cappella (BOCA) and The Best of High School A Cappella (BOHSA), available for purchase on Apple Music and Amazon Music!
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