2024 ICHSA West Quarterfinal @ John Burroughs 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

ICHSA WEST QUARTERFINAL

John Burroughs High School
Saturday, February 10th, 2024

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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 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.

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.

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

Downbeat is The Harker School’s Show Choir that performs a cappella and accompanied arrangements of pop, jazz, world music, and musical theatre songs. The group performs for various community events each year, including school galas, concerts, fashion shows, and holiday events throughout the SF Bay Area. In addition to being passionate performers, members of Downbeat take on leadership roles at school and throughout the Silicon Valley community as volunteers, club organizers, stage directors, science researchers, members of Student Council, and as student activists.

In Tone Nation is an after-school a cappella group with students from all grade levels. This is their first year back at the ICHSA in over five years. They are excited to be a part of this experience again.

When students love music and love one another, groups like OC Voices are born. Singing everything from pop to classic rock, this group of singers has represented their school locally and abroad since 2011. OC Voices has competed in the ICHSA for many years and advanced to Semifinals in their debut season. In 2021, OC Voices was featured as one of three Finalists in the Los Angeles A Cappella Festival (LAAF). OC Voices is part of the Oaks Christian School Institute of Arts and Innovation and features many of their vocal performance track students as soloists.

Neo Chromatics is a select group of singers from John Burroughs High School directed by Hannah Abrahim. They rehearse after school once a week and proudly represent their school at many performances throughout Southern California. The choral program at John Burroughs High School, under the direction of Brendan Jennings, is nationally recognized for its excellence in the field of show choir and has won numerous local and national championships. The students of Neo Chromatics are all members of Powerhouse, the school’s top choir. Founded as a vocal jazz ensemble in the 1980s, Neo Chromatics began transitioning to more contemporary a cappella repertoire around the turn of the millennium. With a more than 30-year history as a group, the members of Neo Chromatics are excited to get more involved in the a cappella community. Follow them on Instagram @neochromatics or visit their website for show tickets www.jbhsvma.com

Established in 2015, Pinewood Take Note is a contemporary a cappella group from Pinewood School Upper Campus in sunny Los Altos Hills, Calif., directed by Katie Linza. They love singing all kinds of music, but specialize in jazz-influenced re-imaginings of current pop hits and classic standards. Check out Pinewood Take Note on your favorite music streaming service to hear their latest EP, Every Little Thing.

Squad Harmonix is an all-kids after-school a cappella training program for advanced singers from the Laura Jean Music Academy based in Santa Monica. Squad Harmonix trains every Saturday year-round and the current group has been training for five years to be ICHSA ready. Squad releases albums and music videos as part of their training and has won various national competitions, but this is their first year with Varsity Vocals. They have been dreaming of this moment since the start of Squad Harmonix in 2019 when they could barely sing two-part harmony. They are incredibly excited to participate and hope to make everyone proud.

Titanium is a co-ed contemporary a cappella ensemble from the Grammy-winning choral program at Tesoro High School in Las Flores, Calif. The group is an extracurricular ensemble, composed of 18 students selected from Tesoro’s choral program, and rehearses twice a week outside of the normal school day. Titanium is led by Tesoro alumna Erin Theodorakis and Tesoro choral director Keith Hancock. Erin is the former music director of Chapman University’s a cappella group Soundcheck and led the group to the 2016 ICCA Finals. Mr. Hancock was awarded the Grammy Music Educator of the Year award in 2017 for his work at Tesoro. In the four years since its official founding, Titanium has competed at ICHSA three times, made multiple music videos, released two singles and an EP, and performed at the Grammy museum for director Quentin Tarantino. Last year, Titanium was awarded 4th place at ICHSA Finals. Titanium enjoys pumpkin patches, post-rehearsal boba, and group ice-cream nights.

Wolf PACappella is Pacifica Christian High School's premier all-gender a cappella group! Founded in 2019, Wolf PACappella has created a safe environment for aspiring young singers, songwriters, and arrangers to thrive while developing lifelong friendships, deepening their relationships with God, and, of course, building their love of music. As much as they love to sing, their mission, first and foremost, is to have fun!

TONIGHT'S JUDGES

Taylor DiBernardo is a singer and teacher in Los Angeles. She graduated from UCLA, where she sang with the award-winning a cappella group, The ScatterTones. During this time, she performed at prestigious venues nationwide, including the White House, the Hollywood Bowl, and the ICCA Finals in New York. Since graduating from UCLA, she worked as a counselor at A Cappella Academy and currently teaches high school English in Manhattan Beach, Calif.

LC Powell is best known for their work spanning film, television, and recording over the last two decades. Their work as a producer, music contractor, music casting director, and performer has garnered numerous Grammy and Emmy wins and nominations. They are most recognized for their large catalogue of work on four seasons of “Phineas and Ferb” as a vocal arranger and vocalist. With over 100 television and film credits, LC is a voice director, music producer, music contractor, music arranger, and voice actor with clients including Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon, Riot Games, Dreamworks, Disney, Cartoon Network, and more. Passionate about humanitarianism and education after starting in the industry at age seven, LC serves on the SAG–AFTRA Singers Committee, SAG–AFTRA Young Performers Committee, and the Board of Directors for the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers (ASMAC.org). Learn more at https://LCPowell.me @MxLCPowell

Holding a master’s degree in voice from the California Institute of the Arts, Jim Raycroft has performed all over North America and Europe. He is a 40-year member of the Los Angeles Master Chorale and sang with the Los Angeles Opera for 12 years. He can be heard on movie soundtracks including “Home Alone,” “Hook,” “Jurassic Park,” “A.I.,” “Mars Attacks,” “Waterworld,” “XXX,” “Lady In The Water,” “Godzilla,” “Willow,” and “Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker,” and appeared as a singing pirate in the opening scene of “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.” He has appeared on the Grammys, in numerous TV shows including the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” and has sung for the President of the United States and the late Queen of England. He founded The Singers Elite Vocal Big Band, sang for five years with Disneyland’s barbershop quartet, The Dapper Dans, spent Christmas of 1983 with Disneyland’s Dickens Carolers, recorded with the Roger Wagner Chorale, and participated in a Grammy-winning recording in 2021. He recorded music for Disneyland Paris and is involved with a company called Musicals Lost and Found that records old, forgotten musicals. He appeared in Fatboy Slim’s music video “Rockafeller Skank,” and provides singers for the international wine-tasting club Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin. He founded and sings with the vocal jazz group Pacific Swingline and the barbershop quartet The Nickelodeon. Jim is a published arranger and orchestrator, the choral director for the Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, and has prepared choruses for the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra. His singer referral service, Singers Elite, has provided vocal entertainment to Southern California audiences for over 30 years. In 2002, he founded the annual “Choral Taste of Los Angeles,” a reading session of choral music by L.A. composers. Jim is the Director of Music at First Presbyterian Church of Encino.

Originally from Austin, Texas, Rene Ruiz was a featured performer and show director for the Walt Disney World Co. for over 15 years. He conceived, directed, and performed in “TOXIC AUDIO,” an a cappella concept show that played Off-Broadway and won the 2004 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience. The show has toured internationally, including stops in Japan and Barcelona. He executive produced their album, Chemistry, which won the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award (CARA) for Album of the Year in 2000. He’s also directed a cappella shows for Six Flags New England, Hershey Park, and Kennywood Theme Parks. He can be heard as the bass/beatboxer in the Progressive Insurance a cappella commercials and in recorded park announcements all over Walt Disney World.

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 three placing groups at this event will advance to the 2024 ICHSA West 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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