2025 ICCA United Kingdom Quarterfinal @ Richmond Theatre

DEAR FRIENDS,

Welcome to Varsity Vocals’ 30th season! After more than a quarter century of presenting the best student groups on the stage and in the studio, our enthusiasm for the art of a cappella is greater than ever.

Our tournaments have grown from a handful of events to the massive showcase they are today, currently featuring more than 730 groups and around 12,000 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 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 from other groups.

We have seen a cappella make great strides from where it began on our stage 30 years ago and can’t wait to see how our 2026 competitors continue to 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 UNITED KINGDOM QUARTERFINAL

Richmond Theatre
Sunday, February 22nd, 2026

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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 college tournament, now in it's 30th year, 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 25th.

The high school tournament is now in its 21st 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 24th.

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 10 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 Echotones, from the University of Nottingham, is a contemporary a cappella group entering their second year in the ICCA. Founded three years ago, The Echotones bring together singers with diverse musical backgrounds to create tight harmonies, inventive arrangements, and engaging performances. As a collaborative ensemble, they collectively decide all of their arranging, choreography, musical direction, and artistic choices. The group adapts songs to suit their own style and energy, reimagining familiar pop, indie, and musical theatre tracks to create performances that feel uniquely their own. After making their ICCA debut last year, The Echotones are returning with new arrangements, refined performances, and a fresh artistic vision. Beyond competitions, they perform for events, community engagements, and special occasions, sharing their passion for contemporary a cappella with audiences across the U.K.

The Eustones is University College London’s contemporary a cappella group, established in 2017! The Eustones made their ICCA debut in the 2025 United Kingdom Quarterfinals, receiving the award for Outstanding Vocal Percussion, and they are thrilled to return for their second competitive season! Named after the tube station near their campus, The Eustones are proud to have built a true family, centred around creativity and powered by a close-knit community of musicians. The group combines the versatile talents of experienced vocalists, songwriters, and musical directors from across the globe! With alumni from internationally-recognised vocal programs at Los Angeles College of Music, A Cappella Academy and the Institute of Contemporary Music, The Eustones are set to continue making waves in Bloomsbury and across the wider a cappella scene! With a sound inspired by pop and R&B music, The Eustones seek to navigate shifting global landscapes and themes, echoed by their signature green and blue colour palette, in their 2026 ICCA set.

The Houghtones (pronounced How-Tones) is The London School of Economics' one and only a cappella group. They are making their ICCA debut this year after a highly successful run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2025! They have carved out a space in the LSE community, creating a home away from home for this diverse and talented group of students. Connected by their shared passion, The Houghtones stand for the arts in an institution where they are often forgotten. This group has transformed remarkably over the years, incorporating choreography and vocal percussion, and they are finally ready for their competitive debut! The Houghtones present a journey of home and belonging, reflecting their personal experiences as international students, and exploring themes of inadequacy, resilience, and found family. Through a range of pop and R&B ballads, combined with soulful jazz, they hope to showcase the unique voices of the group in their set this year.

The Imperielles is Imperial College London’s very own contemporary upper-voice group, founded in 2011! After 10 long years of dormancy, The Elles are finally making an ICCA comeback and are ready to wow the crowds in their iconic royal blue. The group is made up of future doctors, engineers, and scientists (#womeninSTEM) who love to hang out, eat good food and, most of all, sing together!

Kadence is a mixed a cappella group from King's College London and this is their third year competing in the ICCA. Formed in 2020, the group’s social media presence has reached a large audience over the past five years. They are best known for their TikTok and Instagram covers of recently released music, which have received attention from Grammy-winning artists, including Laufey and Pentatonix. Kadence is a particularly close-knit community of musicians who bond over a mutual love for close harmony. They enjoy pushing the range of their sound, contrasting their emotional, intimate ballads with more upbeat, soulful arrangements. Above all, Kadence treasures the open and accepting space they've created within the group and they’re excited to continue establishing themselves in the industry.

Nth Harmonic is Imperial College London’s mixed-voice variety a cappella group. Made up of scientists, medics, and engineers with a wide range of musical backgrounds, they bring their different worlds together to create a sound that’s uniquely theirs. No rehearsal is ever a dull one with Nth! A close-knit bunch, some of them have been singing together for five years. When they’re not in competition mode, you’ll probably find them harmonising in a random stairwell on a Sunday or rehearsing new busking rep to share with unsuspecting strangers in Covent Garden. Working to create a set brings the group members together like nothing else and they look forward to competing every year. Nth Harmonic loves to craft a narrative through their music, and this year is no different. Settle in for the next 10 minutes, because time is about to fly.

RACA is the University of Reading’s only a cappella group. This group was freshly re-formed this year and they have been working hard to create something excellent together. Although they have no previous generations to look back to, their creativity and willingness to experiment makes up for their inexperience. They try out all kinds of musical genres in rehearsals and love to tell a tale with their performances!

The Rolling Tones is an all-female a cappella group from King’s College London. The group produces captivating and unique arrangements that communicate to the audience. In addition to creating a rich blend and close-knit harmonies, The Tones embrace and utilise each member’s idiosyncratic voice to produce a distinctive sound. After making it to the ICCA United Kingdom Semifinals last year, they hope to go all the way to New York and represent the U.K.!

The Scopes is Imperial College London’s mixed-voice, contemporary a cappella group. They are all about bringing aca-versions of your favourite hit songs, never shying away from 2000s pop bangers. They are thrilled to return to the ICCA stage, ready to bring top-notch harmonies, jaw-dropping choreography, and unmatched good vibes. They maintain a busy performance schedule, with showings at LUKAS, Vocal Jam, and Imperial’s graduation in the iconic Royal Albert Hall, which is always an unforgettable experience. Within Imperial, The Scopes regularly perform at Arts Nights, blasting out favourite tunes in their campus club, Metric, and they finish off the year at the Imperial Summer Ball. If you happen to be strolling around Covent Garden in the wintertime, you might catch The Scopes busking some of their favourite arrangements and maybe a couple Christmas songs. At heart, The Scopes is one massive friend group that loves singing together and hope you enjoy listening as much as they love performing!

TONIGHT'S JUDGES

Bass-baritone Felix Dickenson is a Yorkshire-born singer, conductor, and music director based in London. A versatile musician, Felix performs with LowKey, an award-winning professional a cappella group, and has toured with them across Germany, Italy, and Denmark. He is an in-demand concert soloist and ensemble vocalist, with solo performances including Mozart’s "Requiem," Brahms' "Ein Deutsches Requiem," Handel’s "Alceste," and Horowitz’s "Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo." Also an actor and voice artist, Felix has originated characters in new works of British and American musical theatre, including "The Circle" and "FLITCH!" Offstage, he is an award-winning producer and arranger of both contemporary and classical music, garnering multiple nominations and wins at the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (CARAs).

Originally from Canada, Kevin Fox is known internationally as a performer, choral director, workshop leader, and arranger. He sang with the Grammy-winning group, The Swingles, for 12 years, and records with London Voices on various film soundtracks. Kevin served as artistic director of SING! Toronto andmusical director of Sing: Ultimate A Cappella (Sky One). He has taught at international institutions and festivals, including the Guildhall (London), Europa Cantat (Estonia), and Vocal Asia (Japan) and is an adjudicator with Interkultur. These days, he directs three lovely London-based community choirs, runs improvisation and rhythm workshops, and occasionally writes original choral music. Kevin loves to help singers gain confidence in their own creativity.

Tom Hartley currently sings bass with the five-time Grammy-award winning vocal group The Swingles. Since joining in 2022, he has performed in Europe, North America, and Asia, and has released an EP and a full-length album. When not touring, Tom acts as musical director for London’s ChoirCo and works as a session singer, workshop leader, vocal coach, and voiceover artist.

Erin McCullough is an Irish conductor and music director with a soft spot for big harmonies and even bigger choirs. After a decade in award-winning a cappella, including two appearances at the ICCA Finals with University of Bath’s Aquapella and multiple CARA wins, Erin currently bridges the music and advertising industries, connecting brilliant singers with ambitious brands. Erin is the founder of ChoirCo, a 150-person vocal collective in London dedicated to the joy, chaos, and magic of group singing.

Originally from Chicago, Hannah Rosa Schiller is a writer and musician pursuing a Ph.D. in musicology at Yale University. She received a Bachelor of Music in music theory from Northwestern University in 2018, and is a singer, music director, arranger, and producer. At Northwestern, Hannah music-directed the award-winning Northwestern Undertones. Under her direction, The Undertones released their 2017 album, Spit It Out, and advanced to the ICCA Great Lakes Semifinals. Her arrangement of Adele’s "When We Were Young" was featured on Voices Only 2017. Hannah is also an avid contemporary classical musician. She sang in the Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble (BCE) conducted by Grammy-winning director Donald Nally, and co-founded a professional chamber choir, Stare at the Sun, which aims to commission and perform new work by Chicago-based composers.

SPECIAL THANKS

Varsity Vocals would like to recognize and thank Casey Lim (Production Assistant), Jake Sauchella-Tice (MC), Algorhythm (Guest Act), Tom Fairbairn (Sound Engineer); 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 Witham
Producer, ICCA United Kingdom

Rebecca Williamson
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

Angelina Corbin
Associate Producer
ICCA & ICHSA South

Sara Yood
Senior Producer, ICCA & ICHSA Finals

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

McKinley Thoreson
Associate Producer
ICHSA Great Lakes

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 2026 ICCA United Kingdom 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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