2023 ICHSA Mid-Atlantic Quarterfinal @ Bayonne High School

DEAR FRIENDS,

Welcome to Varsity Vocals’ 27th 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 610 groups and over 9,100 singers at 85 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 cinematic 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.

We have seen a cappella make great strides from where it began on our stage 27 years ago, and we can’t wait to see how our 2023 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 MID-ATLANTIC QUARTERFINAL

Bayonne High School
Saturday, February 25th, 2023

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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 high school tournament is now in its 18th 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 28th.

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 29th.

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

GLissando is a brand-new a cappella group from Governor Livingston High School in Berkeley Heights, N.J. GLissando was formed at the beginning of the 2022 school year and they’re excited to perform at their first-ever ICHSA! GLissando is made up of students from all grades with various interests who come together to create a positive and special music-making experience. In the future, GLissando plans on incorporating more community outreach within Berkeley Heights and collaborating with other great a cappella groups from around the state. They hope you enjoy their set!

Highlands Voices is from Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale, N.J. The Voices is a two-time ICHSA Champion and has made ICHSA Finals as Mid-Atlantic Champions for seven out of the past 10 years. You can see them performing in the movie “Marry Me” starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson and on the Lifetime TV show “Pitch Slapped.” They have performed workshops for NAfME, NJMEA, AEA, ACDA, Bergen Teen Arts, and host the annual Highlands A Cappella Festival which attracts some of the biggest a cappella coaches in the world as instructors. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube @highlandsvoices.

LumeNAtion is from Newark Academy in Livingston, N.J. This is the group’s 10th year in the ICHSA and they are incredibly excited to perform for you! They've advanced to the Mid-Atlantic Semifinals three times and would be honored for the opportunity to do so again this year! The group takes pride in showcasing powerhouse soloists and does not disappoint in this year’s set. LumeNAtion hopes you enjoy their set tonight! Let’s hear it for Newark Academy’s LumeNAtion!

Remix is the a cappella group at Montclair Kimberley Academy. They love singing together and performing at every chance they get, whether at a cafe in town, a concert hall, or school events. They accomplished many musical goals this year, but also have goals of friendship, community, and finding balance in all they do. They have lots of fun together in their a cappella family on and off the stage! They’re so glad to perform for live audiences once again!

Soulfege A Cappella is Millburn High School’s student-led a cappella group. They perform throughout Millburn Township, hold fundraisers and events, and have competed in ICHSA for eight years. In 2018, Soulfege placed 3rd in their ICHSA Mid-Atlantic Quarterfinal and won Outstanding Arrangement and Choreography, plus Outstanding Vocal Percussion at Semifinals. That same year, they placed 1st in A Cappella For Autism, which raises funds for Autism New Jersey, and won awards for Outstanding Vocal Percussion and Choreography. In 2019, Soulfege placed 1st in their ICHSA Mid-Atlantic Quarterfinal, 2nd at Semifinals, 1st in A Cappella for Autism, and 1st at SingStrong NY, where they also took Best Soloist, Vocal Percussion, and Arrangement. Across their 2020 season, Soulfege won awards for Outstanding Choreography, Arrangement, Audio-Mixing, Videography, and Soloist, as well as Most Creative Video. Activists as well as musicians, Soulfege has raised over $4,000 for Tunes to Teens and Music Unites, two charities that donate music supplies to underprivileged schools. Amidst the pandemic, they organized their first-ever virtual competition and raised nearly $3,000 in just one night for autism awareness. Soulfege's first EP, blue, is available on all platforms and they’re eager to see what the future holds!

Cresskill High School’s SoundXplosion, from Cresskill, N.J., is the school’s 13-member mixed a cappella group. SoundXplosion made the transition to contemporary a cappella in 2014 and has participated in the ICHSA in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2018. The members cannot think of a better way to spend their days than kicking back and making the world a better place while sharing the gift of music with everyone!

The Bee's Knees from Bayonne High School was founded in 2018 under the direction of Samantha Herskowitz. The group is composed of current Bayonne High School students in grades 9-12, many of whom are involved in multiple music programs at the school, including the award-winning Bayonne High School Marching Band. This past year, The Bee’s Knees competed in their first ICHSA season, placing 2nd at Quarterfinals and 4th at Semifinals, also winning Outstanding Choreography. The Bee's Knees perform at community events, clinics, a cappella invitationals, and concerts.

Treble Makers is an audition-only treble-range student group at Mendham High School. The group performs a wide variety of music, but mostly jazz and pop standards. The Treble Makers perform in many different venues, including parades, community activities, parties, basketball games, festivals, concerts, and dinner dances. They are excited to be a part of the ICHSA and love learning from the other competing groups!

GUEST PERFORMER

Casual Harmony is an a cappella entertainment group, with voices ranging from bass to countertenor, for performance, competition, and music education. They aim to provide music to the Rutgers University community, as well as the local, national, and international scenes and to provide musical enrichment to the organization's members. Follow them @casualharmonyru.

TONIGHT'S JUDGES

Warren Bloom has been a regular ICCA and ICHSA judge since 2002 (including both 2006 Finals). He’s been musical director, bass, and/or vocal percussionist for numerous vocal groups, including professional summer group, The Hyannis Sound, New York rock/R&B septet, Invisible Men (numerous New York City and Boston Harmony Sweepstakes awards), New York pop/jazz quintet, Doo*Wa*Zoo (1998 MAC and 2000 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award (CARA) nominees), University of Miami’s Jazz Vocal 2 (1997 DownBeat Award winner), and Brandeis University’s Spur of the Moment. Warren was music director, co-arranger, and sound tech for Minimum Wage's "Blue Code Ringo" at the New York Fringe Festival (Best Musical Comedy Act, 2002 Time Out New York awards) and subsequent off-Broadway productions. He has also run live sound for numerous vocal groups including Naturally 7, Ball in the House, Six13, and Unsung Heroes. He was a composer/lyricist in the BMI Musical Theater Workshop, before getting his music education degree from Hunter College and spending three years as band and orchestra director at Talent Unlimited High School in Manhattan. He has been teaching general music and band at P.S. 8 (Brooklyn) since 2011, and has been a musical director in the theatre department at the Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts since 1998. Warren was one of the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America's (CASA) official bloggers for NBC’s "The Sing-Off.” http://www.5thjudge.com/

Will Farnham is a musician, arranger, and educator based out of New York City. Will is an NYU graduate from the jazz studies program where he studied with Jazz legends such as Alan Broadbent, Lauren Kinhan from New York Voices, and Janis Siegel from Manhattan Transfer. After leading The NYU Vocaholics to a 1st place finish at the 2020 ICCA Northeast Quarterfinals and winning Outstanding Arrangement, he went on to become a founder of FLEX PITCH, a virtual a cappella group of singers from all over the country. The group has covered songs from a wide variety of artists such as Doja Cat, Jacob Collier, Michael Jackson, and John Mayer. Shortly after the creation of the group, FLEX PITCH won 1st place at the 2021 Open Northeast Semifinals. That same year, Will won the award for Outstanding Arrangement at both the Semifinals and the Finals. Outside of arranging and singing a cappella, Will is a jazz violinist and has performed at numerous jazz clubs and venues in New York and Tokyo. He is also a Loopstation artist and finished as a Runner-Up in the 2022 Japan Loopstation Championships. Will is currently the high school instrumental music director at Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School in Queens, N.Y.

Originally from Southern California, Hannah Juliano attended Berklee College of Music and led its co-ed group, Pitch Slapped, to ICCA Finals two years in a row. The group was crowned ICCA champion its second year and went on to win the SoJam competition in 2011 and then appeared on season 2 of NBC’s “The Sing-Off.” After college, Hannah became a member of Musae, a professional all-female frontier blazer, and Delilah, the all-female powerhouse group from season 3 of “The Sing-Off.” She has since performed all around the world, taught workshops and masterclasses, and arranged for groups and individuals around the country. Her clients include Leslie Odom Jr., Eden Espinosa, Joshua Henry, Karen Olivo, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Ledisi, Josh Groban, Ingrid Michaelson, The Beverly Belles, and VoicePlay, among others. She toured for two years with Deke Sharon’s a cappella show, Vocalosity, as a performer and music director, was a soloist at Carnegie Hall for the Total Vocal show, and is a performer in the Christmas Spectacular featuring the Radio City Rockettes. She is a commercial session vocalist working in New York City, singing on ads for Pepsi, Adidas, Mazda, Samsung, and others, as well as performing and producing in multiple bands for weddings and events. She is married to Bryant Vance, bass man extreme, who sings for Rockapella!

Lora Riehl served as the vocal percussionist for Northeastern University's treble a cappella group Pitch, Please! for five years, and acting music director for four. She has performed in a cappella groups since high school where she first began learning vocal percussion and went on to win awards for solos and vocal percussion, including Outstanding Vocal Percussion at the 2019 ICCA Finals. Lora is honored to be here as a judge and is excited to see the talent displayed tonight.

Sean Patrick Riley has worked for CASA on the social media and talent teams for ACappellaFest, SoJam, LAAF, and BOSS, and has served in CASA's ambassador program for the past seven years. He holds a bachelor's degree in both music and communication, as well as a master’s degree in nursing from Saint Louis University. At SLU, Sean served as music director and business manager of recent ICCA Finalists, The Bare Naked Statues, and was featured on the Voices Only and BOCA compilations. Sean coaches a cappella groups across the country, and is the camp nurse and counselor for the L.A.-based summer camp, A Cappella Academy. He currently lives in New York and works in the surgical ICU at NYU Langone Medical Center.

SPECIAL THANKS

Varsity Vocals would like to recognize and thank Superintendent of Schools John Niesz, Bayonne High School Principal Richard Baccarella, Director of Fine and Performing Arts Tim Craig, Serge Puchinsky, Pattie Squitieri, Peter Hastings, Lauren Alexander, Gary Shur, Lydia Megale, Brian Thomas, Basil Blasa, Gabriella Megale, the Band Student Volunteers, and The Bee's Knees Parent Volunteers; 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
PA/MA Program Coordinator

Lucy Jacobs
The Open Director
ICCA West Producer

Emily Flanders
Director of Adjudication
ICCA Great Lakes Producer

Andrew Poole
Director of Digital Media

Erica Tackett
Director of Marketing & Social Strategy

Emily Sucher
Director of Publications

Sara Yood
Senior Producer

Holli Kitching
ICCA Mid-Atlantic Producer

Lindsay Howerton-Hastings
ICCA South Producer

Arvin Zabalerio
ICCA Central 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

Jillian Kimberlin
ICHSA Mid-Atlantic Producer

Danielle Sutherland
ICHSA Midwest Producer

Jake McVey
ICHSA Northeast Producer

Cameron Clemens
ICHSA West Producer

Ben Garza
ICHSA Southwest Producer

Luke Thomas
ICHSA South Producer

Adam McNeil
ICHSA Great Lakes Producer

Nicole Kholweiss
ICCA Central Day-Of Producer

Courtney Jenson
Associate Producer
Emcee Extraordinaire

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 placing groups at this event will advance to the 2023 ICHSA Mid-Atlantic 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!

VIEW ALBUMS

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