2024 ICCA Southwest Quarterfinal @ Belton High School

DEAR FRIENDS,

Welcome to Varsity Vocals’ 28th 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 650 groups and over 10,000 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 28 years ago and we can’t wait to see how our 2024 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

ICCA SOUTHWEST QUARTERFINAL

Belton High School
Saturday, February 17th, 2024

WE'RE SOCIAL

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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 27th.

The high school tournament is now in its 19th 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 26th.

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

Founded in 2016, RISE A Cappella is the premier a cappella group at The University of Texas at Arlington. RISE has a short but successful competitive history so far, traveling to the 2018 ICCA Finals, advancing to the 2020 Southwest Semifinals, and placing 3rd at the 2023 Southwest Semifinals. RISE is a completely student-run organization and credits its success to its dedicated members and leaders!

Beauties and the Beat, the premier all-treble a cappella group of the University of Texas at Austin, is proud to have been singing (and having a great time doing it) since its founding in 2013. Since then, they have grown drastically, performing often on the UT campus, in the Austin area, and in competitions around the country, such as ICCA, Sing!, and VoiceJam. Beauties and the Beat strives to support women’s and LGBTQIA+ empowerment at UT and in the a cappella community through their music and performances. Beauties prides itself on having self-choreographed and mostly self-arranged competition sets, with nearly all of their repertoire arranged by group members. While they primarily sing contemporary pop, they're growing into other genres like R&B and folk music. As students first, Beauties and the Beat builds its musical cohesiveness through a tight-knit group that values mental health and self-care. Beauties see their music as an important form of expression and creativity and they value the emotional connection that a cappella brings to performers and audiences alike.

Noteworthy A Cappella is a co-ed a cappella group at The University of Texas at Austin, founded in 2014. Over the years, Noteworthy has contributed to campus life and the Austin community through performances for charity and campus-affiliated events, such as the Taiwanese Student Night, Austin's Trail of Lights, Voices Against Violence, and the UT a cappella showcase, Acapalooza. A competitive group, Noteworthy most recently competed in the 2023 ICCA Semifinals and the SingStrong NYC A Cappella Competition, where they won Audience Choice and Best Soloist. Before that, the group won accolades such as 3rd place in the 2022 Chicago Harmony Sweepstakes competition and Outstanding Soloist at their 2022 ICCA Quarterfinal. The group loves performing for the community and at campus-affiliated events, presenting an eclectic sound and bridging genres with their original arrangements. Members range from those with over 15 years of musical experience to those who have never read sheet music. In this diverse group, every voice is heard and each member is valued for what they bring to the table.

HardChord DynaMix is Texas A&M's co-ed contemporary a cappella group! They do gigs and performances on campus and throughout the community, and compete in the ICCA each year. Their recent ICCA credits include advancing to Semifinals multiple times, including for the last two consecutive seasons, and all the way to Finals in 2019.

The SMU Belle Tones is the premier all-female a cappella group at SMU. The Belles come from a variety of majors, including political science, chemistry, finance, vocal performance, and computer science, but are tied together by friendship and their love for music. The Belles have captured many hearts throughout their decade of existence and recently released their newest album!

License to Trill is TCU's premier gender-inclusive a cappella group, founded in 2015. Their mission is to share a cappella music with the TCU Campus and Fort Worth area while building community through their shared love of music. Last year, their vocal percussionist, Aiden Cottrell, won an ICCA award for Outstanding Vocal Percussion. They are also 2017 SING! Texas Champions and 2017 ICCA Southwest Semifinalists. License to Trill released their first single, "Ride or Die," in 2017, as well as their performance of "Dust to Dust" from the 2018 National A Cappella Convention (NACC). Follow them on social media for more L2T content and highlights!

Final Measure from the University of Houston is an all-gender a cappella group that has been running for only three years. They are the first-ever a cappella group in UH that is fully student-led. In their first ICCA run, they won an award for Outstanding Vocal Percussion. Final Measure’s goal is to not only improve but share their art with the music community!

Empire A Cappella is an all-inclusive, mixed pop a cappella ensemble based out of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Founded in the fall of 2019 by Charlie Correa and Brittney Stainbrook, they have been incredibly active in the competitive a cappella scene. They competed in ICCA in their inaugural year, earning the Runner-Up spot at the 2020 ICCA Southwest Quarterfinals, qualifying for Semifinals in Phoenix. Empire A Cappella was also awarded Outstanding Arrangement for their entire set at the 2022 Southwest ICCA Quarterfinals. Empire A Cappella also stays active in the recording scene, with one EP released in spring 2021 and another one on the way. Empire performs live around Lubbock as well, including community events, holiday events, and they even got the chance to open for the world-famous rock group, Foreigner, in August 2021. This diverse group of musicians is dedicated to creating a clean, full sound and building a close-knit family that provides support in all aspects of student life.

OneSound is the premier a cappella group at Collin College and a class taught to both music and non-music majors. The group specializes in pop music but loves the oldies. Students meet three hours a week and work on crafting arrangements, performing solos with and without a group, and mastering all the ins and outs of singing a cappella. OneSound has participated in ICCA for eight years and as the only Texas two-year school, they have held their own alongside the four-year schools with two 3rd place finishes and an appearance at Semifinals.

TONIGHT'S JUDGES

Patrick Berry is so excited to be on this side of the Varsity Vocals judging table after performing in and directing groups in these competitions from 2014-2022! Patrick received his bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from the University of New Hampshire, where he directed Alabaster Blue, and his master’s degree in choral conducting from the University of Southern Mississippi where he directed Spirit of Southern and the Southern BelleTones. Patrick formerly taught at New Manchester High School Fine Arts Magnet Program in Douglasville, Ga, where he directed Bella Voce’ and assisted former ICHSA winner, InToneNation. Now living in Austin, Texas, Patrick is a professional choral musician, church musician, and freelance arranger.

Involved in music for the last 19 years, Mary Jardine was initially introduced to a cappella at summer camp and became immediately hooked. She continued singing through high school and college, matriculating to study musical theatre at New York University and graduating with a B.F.A. in drama from Tisch School of The Arts. While there, she was a part of NYU’s N’Harmonics, co-running the group and performing with Broadway Goes A Cappella.. Post-grad, Mary sang with indie rock band NVLT in New York City and continues to perform, write songs, and play guitar and ukulele.

Evan Powers is currently pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of North Texas. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education from the Florida State University. He spent the first four years of his professional teaching career at Fleming Island High School in Orange Park, Fla. where he was named “Teacher of the Year” for the 2012-2013 school year. For the following nine years, he served as the choral director at Avalon Middle School in Orlando, Fla. During his tenure, his advanced treble choir, Avalon Singers, was selected to perform at the 2019 Florida State ACDA Conference, and he was honored as “Teacher of the Year” for the 2020-2021 school year. He is an active adjudicator, presenter, and choral clinician, presenting at conferences and conducting honor choirs across the country. He is also an active choral arranger, arranging pieces for secondary, collegiate, community and church choirs, and a cappella groups across the country and internationally. He is passionate about community service through music, and was the inaugural recipient of the Orange County Public Schools Arts Community Impact Award in 2018 as well as the 2020-2021 Florida Music Education Association Exemplary Model Program Award for the “Songbird” program.

Nick Powers has taught and directed a cappella and choral ensembles for 12 years. Most recently, he was the choral director at Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs, Fla. He is currently the Honor Choir Manager for the NACC. He has directed multiple groups that have placed at ICHSA competitions. His arrangements have been featured on Varsity Vocals’ BOHSA albums. He is an active arranger, adjudicator, and clinician.

Jeff Watson graduated from The University of Southern California Thornton School of Music and Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. At USC, he served as president and three-time ICCA host chair for his a cappella group, Reverse Osmosis. With Reverse Osmosis, Jeff reached the 2011 ICCA Semifinals as a featured soloist, opened for Ben Folds at the Hollywood Palladium, and performed in Alaska, New York, D.C., and all over the West Coast. He recently served as an ICCA and ICHSA judge in the Midwest and Southeast and sang with the Chicago Chamber Choir. Jeff is the Vice President of Communications for the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA Tour) based in Dallas.

SPECIAL THANKS

Varsity Vocals would like to recognize and thank our judges, hosts, competitors, volunteers, partners, and producers; and you, the audience, for supporting Varsity Vocals programming.

Amanda Newman
Executive Director

Elise Hackl-Blumstein
ICHSA Director
PA/MA Program Coordinator

Dave Rabizadeh
ICCA Director

Emily Sucher
Director of Publications

Lucy Jacobs
ICCA West Producer

Lindsay Howerton-Hastings
ICCA South Producer

Arvin Zabalerio
ICCA Central Producer

Gemma Davies
ICCA United Kingdom Producer

Emily Benjamin
ICCA Northeast Producer

Danielle Sutherland
ICHSA Midwest Producer

Adam McNeil
ICHSA Great Lakes Producer

Cameron Clemens
ICHSA West Producer

Jody Hagler
ICHSA Mid-Atlantic Producer

Bryce McCracken
Associate Producer

Bri Decerio
Associate Producer

Courtney Jensen
Associate Producer
Emcee Extraordinaire

Sara Yood
Senior Producer

Emily Flanders
Director of Adjudication
ICCA Great Lakes Producer

Andrew Poole
Director of Digital Media

Charlotte Taylor
Marketing & Social Strategy

Holli Kitching
ICCA Mid-Atlantic Producer

Leah Alrutz
ICCA Midwest Producer

Bronwyn Jensen
ICCA Southwest Producer

Christopher Witham
ICCA United Kingdom Producer

Jillian Kimberlin
Senior Producer

Christopher Hoffman
ICHSA Northeast Producer

Ben Garza
ICHSA Southwest Producer

Luke Thomas
ICHSA South Producer

Alaina Wegner
Associate Producer

Jake Yoakum
Associate Producer

Rebecca Williamson
Associate Producer

Andrea Poole
Consultant
ICHSA Director Emeritus

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 2024 ICCA Southwest 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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