2023 ICHSA Mid-Atlantic Semifinal @ Neptune 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 SEMIFINAL

Neptune High School
Saturday, March 25th, 2023

WE'RE SOCIAL

We're talking about this event, and all of our events around the world!

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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

The Ram Jams hail from Ramsey High School where they represent one of the two extracurricular competitive a cappella groups in the RHS Choral program. Although they were only formed in 2016, the group has enjoyed a lot of success over the past few years and can often be found performing at a variety of events in the North Jersey area. Most recent accomplishments include the release of their first EP at the end of 2022! The Ram Jams have been ICHSA National Finalists and Mid-Atlantic Champions in 2021 and 2022.

The Nocktaves is a mixed-gender, contemporary a cappella group from Pequannock Township High School, in northern New Jersey. They have been Mid-Atlantic Semifinalists for the past two years and are excited to compete again this year! Most recently, they had the privilege of singing the national anthem at a Yankees game.

Since their inception in 2012, Stay Tuned from Cherry Hill East High School, created and directed by Heather Lockart, has experienced widespread success. They were selected to be featured on an eight-week Lifetime docuseries, “Pitch Slapped,” which aired during the winter of 2016. During this time, they were coached by music director and arranger of the “Pitch Perfect” movies, Deke Sharon. Since then, Stay Tuned has performed at the Kimmel Center, Lincoln Financial Field, The Town Hall, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall alongside the cast of the "Pitch Perfect" movies. Most recently, Stay Tuned has competed in two ICHSA Finals competitions amongst the top groups from across the nation in New York. While the group has enjoyed such great national success, serving their community by sharing their love and passion for music with local friends and supporters has always been their number one priority. The members of Stay Tuned are thankful for every performance opportunity they are given and are always striving to inspire and bring joy to their audiences.

Scarlet Sound is Neptune High School's premier vocal ensemble. Scarlet Sound has been accepted as a competitor in the ICHSA for six years in a row and earned a spot in Semifinals for three years in a row. Additionally, the group has been nominated to the NJ State Teen Arts Festival four times, each time garnering a "Distinguished" rating. Scarlet Sound has been a featured performer at the NATO Parade of Nations and was chosen to perform in Disney World twice. The Scarlet Sound's mission is to challenge the young students of NHS to achieve the highest level of musicianship that they can and make a few amazing memories along the way.

Hailing from Chesapeake High School in Pasadena, Md., Evolve was founded in 2017 by former CHS Director Michael Brisentine and quickly burst into the a cappella scene, placing 4th at ICHSA Finals in 2019 with an award for Outstanding Choreography. In 2021 and 2022, with current director Robby Napoli, they advanced to Mid-Atlantic Semifinals and won special awards for Outstanding Soloist and Outstanding Vocal Percussion. In 2020, Evolve was featured on BOHSA, singing “Just Like Me” by Betty Who. You can find Evolve's EPs on your favorite streaming services worldwide!

Sol is a group from Severna Park, Md. and was formed in the fall of 2021. Sol, by definition, means sun and a pitch on the solfege scale, but means so much more to this group. For them, Sol means joy, pride, acceptance, family, and a bright passion for music. They believe that their group’s close-knit relationship and soulful connection is the key to creating amazing music. They hope that their musical selections convey that something as small as a bunch of choir kids can make a true family.

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.

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.

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!

The Foxy Jukebox hails from Moorestown Friends School in Moorestown, N.J. This group is composed of athletes, artists, actors, and student entrepreneurs who share a passion for singing! Over the last five years, The Foxy Jukebox has been honored to perform at several ICHSA Quarterfinal and Semifinal rounds since their inception in late 2018. They have also been featured on Philadelphia radio, as well as charity events for the Samaritan Hospice in southern New Jersey. The students would like to thank all of their family and friends for their support and encouragement!

GUEST PERFORMER

The Trentones is The College of New Jersey’s premier competitive a cappella group. They compete annually in the ICCA and five group members (Griffin, Nate, Ella, Perry, and Rit) are excited to perform some chill covers and host a little VP battle between all of your amazing vocal percussionists during deliberations tonight. If you want to hear some of these songs with the full group and proper arrangements, The Trentones are hosting a free invitational April 15th (featuring some of the premier a cappella groups of the Mid-Atlantic region) and a concert May 7th, both at The College of New Jersey. You can follow them on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook @thetrentones.

TONIGHT'S JUDGES

Alex Green is a recording engineer, producer, and arranger from New York City. He is a graduate of Tufts University with a dual degree in music and archeology. There, he was a member of The Tufts Amalgamates, with whom he sang, directed, and recorded 2011′s Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award (CARA)-winning Hands Off The Mannequin. He is a co-owner and producer at Plaid Productions, a full-service a cappella production company with dual home bases in Brooklyn, N.Y. and Somerville, Mass. Alex shares two RIAA-certified Platinum and Billboard-charting albums with Ed Boyer and Ben Bram for his work with Pentatonix, while other clients of Plaid Productions have had songs featured on SING, BOCA, and Voices Only, garnering over 100 CARA nominations. Since graduating in 2010, he has regularly served as a masterclass leader and instructor at a cappella festivals nationwide, sung with Overboard (Boston), and written for the Recorded A Cappella Review Board (RARB).

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 also a newlywed, snagging Bryant Vance, bass man extreme, who sings for Rockapella!

Evan Linsey is a producer and engineer based in New York. He co-hosted the “Head/Voice” podcast, interviewing over 150 vocal musicians from around the world. His work with neo-vocal pop band Birdland Avenue (@birdlandavenue) helped the group to four Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (CARAs) and an Independent Music Award for Best Debut Album for Come Around. He’s currently songwriting and producing for upcoming artists, editing podcasts for Whetstone Radio Collective, and telling everybody to watch “How To with John Wilson.” Learn more and get in touch at www.linsey.me

Sean Patrick Riley has worked for the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America (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 is a nurse practitioner for the Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Health Babs Siperstein PROUD Center.

Dr. Marc Silverberg is the Director of Vocal Music at Five Towns College. He is currently the director of the Five Towns Chamber Singers and the contemporary a cappella ensemble. Marc has established himself as one of the leading voices in a cappella education today. He has served on the executive board of the CASA as Director of Education and presented workshops on vocal improvisation at several A Cappella Education Association (AEA)-sponsored festivals, SUNY Purchase, The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, The New York State School Music Association, the Nassau County PEAK Festival, the National A Cappella Convention (NACC), and the American Choral Directors Association’s (ACDA) 2013 National Convention. In spring of 2018, Marc became the first guest conductor for the Suffolk County Music Educator Association’s all-county contemporary a cappella group. His professional performing group, Satellite Lane, recently took 2nd place at the 2018 Varsity Vocals Open Semifinals and he won the prestigious Outstanding Arrangement award for that competition. Under his pseudonym, “Docacappella,” he has released several humorous a cappella parodies, which have been nominated for three CARAs.

SPECIAL THANKS

Varsity Vocals would like to recognize and thank the Neptune Township Board of Education (President Chanta L. Jackson, Vice President Donna Puryear, Members Dorothea L. Fernandez, Dianna A. Harris, Kym Hoffman, Jerome M. Hubbard, Sheila B. Jones, April Morgan, Jessie Thompson, Drisana Lashley, Neptune City Rep.); Neptune School District Administration (Superintendent of Schools Tami R. Crader, Ed.D., Assistant Superintendent of Schools Matthew Gristina, Ed.D., Business Administrator/Board Secretary Peter J. Leonard, Assistant Business Administrator/Assistant Board Secretary Rosemary Della Sala, Director for Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment Sally A. Millaway, Ed.D.); Neptune High School Administration (Principal Arlene Rogo, Ed.D., Vice Principal Titania M. Hawkins, Ed.D., Vice Principal Mahon Ryan-Hannaway, Vice Principal Patrizia Weber, Administrator for Athletic & Co-Curricular Activities Richard Arnao, Department Chairperson of Visual and Performing Arts Karen J. Watt); Choral Director Maddie Meier; Teachers Catherine Crelin, Alexander DiGiovanni, Antonio Morra, and Kara Scarmazza; our Student and Parent Volunteers (with a special acknowledgement to Martine and Fabian Howe); MLT PAC Manager and Technicians; Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., Iota Chi Sigma Chapter; 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 placing group at this event will advance to the 2023 ICHSA Final.

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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