2025 ICHSA Great Lakes Quarterfinal @ Oak Creek High School

DEAR FRIENDS,

Welcome to Varsity Vocals’ 29th 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 700 groups and over 11,000 singers at over 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 29 years ago and we can’t wait to see how our 2025 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 High School
Saturday, February 15th, 2025

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 both the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA), and the International Championship of High School A Cappella (ICHSA). 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 20th year. The winners of each of seven Semifinal rounds will advance to the ICHSA Finals at The Town Hall in New York City on Friday, April 25th.

The college tournament takes place from January through April in nine regions across the country and around the world. Each region holds four or 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 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

FOCUS is the extracurricular a cappella group at Port Washington High School. Founded in the 2015-16 school year under the name Armonia, this group began as a way to offer more a cappella opportunities to students and help them develop their talents. Since then, the group has evolved into one that competes, performs outside of school, and even records and releases music, even with a group primarily composed of underclassmen. Now in its 10th year of existence, FOCUS remains dedicated to creating a musical foundation for its members to learn and grow.

G-Harmony is a dynamic pop a cappella group from Greendale High School, consisting of students from grades nine through 12. With music backgrounds spanning choirs, bands, and orchestras, the members of G-Harmony strive to entertain others in their music program and act as a flagship ensemble, performing throughout the greater community. In just their second year of competition, they have greatly enjoyed watching, meeting, and learning from other groups, as well as the Varsity Vocals judges and directors. They hope you enjoy their performance!

Named after their signature song, Good Old A Cappella is excited for their fifth ICHSA Quarterfinal and their third with all student arrangements. The group members are active in many other school activities, including varsity football, varsity and JV tennis, track, powerlifting, trap shooting, mock trial, National Honor Society, Key Club, competitive solo and team dance, band, and orchestra.

IMPACT is proud to be back again on the ICHSA stage to share their love for everything a cappella. Hailing from the north burbs of Chicago and representing the Youth Choral Theater of Chicago, IMPACT is a group of singers who love all music, from pop to musical theatre.

Mayville High School's Incognito is celebrating its 10th official year performing. Their name comes from their origin story, in which the group’s first iteration formed and practiced in secret, eventually performing as a surprise at one of their school’s last concerts of the year. Most Incognito group members are also part of the school’s competitive show choir.

Ladies Knight is Oak Creek High School's elite all-treble voice a cappella group. They have been active in the a cappella scene since 2014. In addition to competing in ICHSA, they attend and host a cappella conferences (such as OCAP http://www.singocap.org/) and collaborative performances, record music, and participate in community outreach. Ladies Knight has qualified for ICHSA Semifinals on two occasions and was featured on three BOHSA compilation albums. Their second album, Resolute, recently dropped on all streaming platforms. Ladies Knight loves entertaining audiences with a mix of heartfelt ballads and jaw-dropping jams. You can follow Ladies Knight on Instagram @ladiesknightoc.

Noteworthy originated as the Memorial Madrigals, a group of high school choir singers from Eau Claire Memorial High School, and has been spreading holiday cheer throughout the Chippewa Valley for 60 years. While Memorial Madrigals are still in high demand to carol during the holiday season, they now perform as Noteworthy for the rest of the year, focusing on contemporary a cappella music. This is the group’s seventh year under the direction of Aurora Krajnikconde. Noteworthy is composed of 14 members who earn their place in the group from a rigorous audition process. For the past two years, Noteworthy advanced to ICHSA Great Lakes Semifinals and was honored to compete with amazing high school a cappella groups in their region. In addition to ICHSA, Noteworthy performs every year at A Cappella Extravaganza at UW-Eau Claire and at AcaFest at GET High School.

SolTown A Cappella hails from Germantown, Wis. From the fifth dimension, consumed by Dante's wrath, in the swirl of Jupiter's orbit, comes SolTown A Cappella! This dominant crew bound by the interval of perfection is here to tickle your senses and bring you on a vast vocal voyage down route five to Aca-Glory!!!

This year marks St. Croix Sound's third time appearing at ICHSA! They are big fans of silly games, sad songs, and naps. This is one of three a cappella groups at Prescott High School.

Unaccompanied Minors is Brookfield East High School’s co-ed, entirely student-led a cappella group! Formed in 2017, they have grown stronger every year since. Composed of exceptionally talented musicians, this group is passionate about a cappella and music in general. They are proud to arrange their own ICHSA sets and have previously advanced to ICHSA Great Lakes Semifinals. Outside of rehearsal, the group enjoys seasonal activities, karaoke nights, and making memories together. This group has created bonds among its members that will be cherished for the rest of their lives. Many have met their best friends in this group, which reflects in their chemistry while performing. Highlights of their a cappella season include their annual family barbeque show, winter show, local concerts, and ICHSA!

TONIGHT'S JUDGES

Heather David 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.

Lili Fujiu is an a cappella director and arranger currently based out of Waukegan, Ill. Lili was the music director of The Harmelodics, the treble a cappella group at Northern Illinois University, for four years. As a former ICCA competitor, she is one of the most decorated treble arrangers in ICCA history with three Outstanding Arrangement awards. With over 10 years of arranging experience, her catalog contains nearly 100 arrangements, mainly specializing in SSAA. Post-college, she clinics, presents arranging workshops, and continues to arrange for various groups in the Chicagoland area.

Ashley Makeever (she/her) is a singer, pianist, and director for several theatres in the metro Milwaukee area, including Waukesha Civic Theatre, Lake Country Playhouse, Kith & Kin, Bombshell, and Greendale Community Theatre. Coming up next, Ashley will be music-directing “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” at Kith & Kin Theatre Co-op in May 2025. Although she works as a project manager during the day, Ashley has a long musical history including a background in choral music education and performance credits with the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus.

Lynn Sill has over a decade of a cappella experience. In high school, she performed with Vocal Point from Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau High School, advancing all the way to ICHSA Finals twice and finishing as high as 3rd place. In college, she arranged and performed with Under-A-Rest at University of Wisconsin, competing in ICCA while fostering her art as a competitive beatboxer. She continues to hone her craft by training and workshopping with a cappella groups around the country.

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
Senior Producer, ICCA & ICHSA West

Lindsay Howerton-Hastings
Senior Producer, ICCA South

Arvin Zabalerio
Senior Producer, ICCA Central

Gemma Davies
Producer, ICCA United Kingdom

Emily Benjamin
Producer, ICCA Northeast

Adam McNeil
Producer, ICHSA Great Lakes

Valentyna Simon
Producer, ICHSA West

Ben Garza
Producer, ICHSA Southwest

Bryce McCracken
Associate Producer, ICCA Central

Bri Decerio
Associate Producer

Angelina Corbin
Associate Producer
ICCA & ICHSA South

Sara Yood
Senior Producer

Emily Flanders
Director of Adjudication
Senior Producer, ICCA Great Lakes

Andrew Poole
Director of Digital Media

Charlotte Taylor
Marketing & Social Strategy

Holli Kitching
Senior Producer, ICCA Mid-Atlantic

Leah Alrutz
Senior Producer, ICCA Midwest

Alaina Wegner
Producer, ICCA Southwest

Christopher Witham
Producer, ICCA United Kingdom

Jillian Kimberlin
Senior Producer, ICHSA Mid-Atlantic

Christopher Hoffman
Producer, ICHSA Northeast

Jake Yoakum
Producer, ICHSA West

Nicole Palmetto
Associate Producer, ICCA Northeast

Tyandria Jaaber
Associate Producer, ICCA Mid-Atlantic

Rebecca Williamson
Associate Producer, ICCA South

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 2025 ICHSA 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!

VIEW ALBUMS

#ICHSA