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

ICHSA NORTHEAST QUARTERFINAL

Danvers High School
Sunday, March 1st, 2026

WE'RE SOCIAL

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

varsityvocals

@varsityvocals

Follow us @varsityvocals on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, and join the conversation using #ICHSA.

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 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.

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.

 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

Accent A Cappella is a mixed vocal group at Lincoln Sudbury. This will be their 15th year competing at the ICHSA. Although they made their ICHSA debut in 2010, Accent originates all the way back to 2004, when the group was co-founded by Lily Karian. Heartbreakingly, in December of 2006 Lily died by suicide as a freshman at Tufts University. Accent titled their EP Wave in Lily’s honor, because swimming was one of her favorite activities. Wave is available to stream on Apple Music, Spotify, and iTunes. Accent also enjoys singing the national anthem at school events and performing Christmas tunes at Faneuil Hall every December. They also host Acapalooza every spring, in which they invite groups from around the state to perform alongside them just for fun! Accent is honored to be back for the 2026 ICHSA! 

Currently in its second year, Greater Lowell Technical High School’s first-ever a cappella group, Dissonant Escape, represents a new chapter for the arts in a technical setting. The group was founded by a math teacher who competed with UMass Lowell’s Vocality and was inspired to create opportunities for vocal performance at GLTHS. As a gender-inclusive ensemble, the a cappella club celebrates every voice and every story. Their repertoire knows no limits, spanning genres from R&B to pop rock. Each Dissonant Escape song is chosen by the group and for the group, with a goal to to connect people across backgrounds and experiences. More than just an extracurricular activity, this group offers a creative home in a school without a formal music program. Dissonant Escape members find connection through song, teamwork, and shared purpose, determined to prove that art can thrive in a technical school. Through music, Dissonant Escape celebrates individuality, collaboration, and the joy of creating together, one note at a time. 

Falconize is one of three contemporary vocal ensembles from Danvers High School in Danvers, Mass. They have placed and received awards at numerous ICHSA Quarterfinals and Semifinals over the years. Falconize's recordings have been featured on many BOHSA compilations and nominated for Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (CARAs). When they aren’t competing, Falconize enjoys singing for school and community events.   

Mixed Nuts is Lexington High School's oldest mixed-voice a cappella group, established in 1996. They have performed at various venues and high schools in Massachusetts. Their repertoire includes a variety of musical genres, with songs like “Feeling Good,” originally performed by Micheal Bublé, “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac, and “Attention,” originally performed by Charlie Puth. This is Mixed Nuts’ first ICHSA and they are so grateful for this opportunity! 

Founded in 2009, NOTEorious is North Reading High School’s all-voice student-run a cappella group. They love to perform locally and throughout the U.S. Last year, NOTEorious performed in Memphis, placed in the top 3 at N.E. Voices, and won 1st place in ICHSA Northeast Semifinals, sending them to Finals in New York City, where they were honored to win Outstanding Arrangement. They challenge themselves to arrange their own music each year and recently visited a recording studio for the first time. They work hard, play hard, and flashmob everywhere they go. 

The Photosymphonizers is AMSA's long-running student-centered a cappella group, under the guidance of Persephone Commito. This will be their 10th year participating in ICHSA and they are excited to give it their all! 

Tonal Chaos is Saugus Middle High School’s first and only a cappella group! They have been participating in ICHSA for many years and are excited to be back. Within the past five years, Tonal Chaos has made it to ICHSA Northeast Semifinals and group members have earned Outstanding Soloist awards for their renditions of “Bruises” by Lewis Capaldi and “In the Stars” by Benson Boone. As a middle high school, Tonal Chaos was able to welcome eighth grade members this year for the first time in group history! They also began meeting as a class during the school day this year, allowing them more time to rehearse and grow closer as a group. As an honors level course, Tonal Chaos members push themselves to improve their musicianship everyday. They are grateful for every opportunity to sing and are always looking for more gigs! Give them a follow on Instagram @shstonalchaos. TC FOR LIFE! 

Since 2008, Marlborough High School’s Voices ReChoired has been sharing their love for music and storytelling through performance. Whether at ICHSA or at home in Marlborough, they love performing in their own unique style for audiences of all ages. They want to thank all of their groups for sharing the stage with them today and hope you enjoy their set! 

WitchPitch? is Salem High School's premier a cappella group. They love singing in Salem and all around the Northeast. WitchPitch? is a three-time ICHSA Finalist and  seven-time ICHSA Semifinalist, WitchPitch? was also featured on BOHSA 2013 and released their third album, forever, last June. They recently performed at the inauguration party for current Massachusetts governor Maura Healey. They are thrilled to show you what they've been working on at ICHSA this year!

GUEST PERFORMER

Skywave is a treble-voiced a cappella ensemble from Danvers High School in Danvers, Mass. The group most recently competed at the 2025 ICHSA Northeast Quarterfinals and previously reached the 2021 ICHSA Virtual Semifinals. Skywave’s recordings have been featured on BOHSA compilations and nominated for CARAs. When they aren't competing, they enjoy singing at school and community events, especially with their friends from their school's other a cappella group, Falconize. 

TONIGHT'S JUDGES

Emily “Em” Benjamin has been singing a cappella for nearly 15 years! Her collegiate years performing with University of Chicago’s Voices in Your Head saw many of the group's accomplishments, including two 2nd place finishes in the ICCA, the release of their award-winning album, Lights, and performing for President and First Lady Obama at the White House. Since college, Em has been active in the a cappella community as a singer, volunteer, music-director and producer. She served as music director for post-scholastic and grad school a cappella groups and recently made her musical theatre directorial debut with “Beauty and the Beast Jr.” at the Majestic Theatre in Manchester, N.H. She also worked as ICCA producer for the Northeast Region for four years. When not surrounded by music, Em works in clinical research and spends her free time exploring beautiful New Hampshire, where she lives with her fiancé, and their beagle, Flapjack.

Juniper Duncan is a Boston-based choral composer, conductor, vocalist and producer. Her choral writing highlights a unique compositional language, combining elements of art song, a cappella, vocal jazz, and other contemporary vocal genres. A largely self-taught composer and text writer, her choral writing and poetry have earned recognition from the Yale Glee Club, Southern Utah University, the American Prize, and the Festival of New American Music. Her works have been described as “deeply literary in its formation while also being thoroughly modern” (Yale Glee Club), “moody and evocative” (FeNAM), and “intriguingly poetic… truly something special” (Wellspring Ensemble). She has written for and performed with a wide range of ensembles, working primarily in the a cappella and classical choral worlds. As an undergraduate at Case Western Reserve University, she arranged for and sang with Dhamakapella, a South Asian fusion a cappella group, with whom she won numerous Outstanding Arrangement awards on both the ICCA and ASA South Asian fusion a cappella circuits and was featured twice as a performer on BOCA. Outside of music, she is currently an Information Literacy Consultant and graduate student at Simmons University studying library and information science. After graduation, she plans to continue her studies in vocal music composition as a graduate student at the Longy School of Music at Bard College, where she has also been named an Equity Scholar.

Amy Malkoff is one of the producers of the Haunted Harmonies festival in Salem, Mass. She has served as the marketing director for the A Cappella Education Association, the media director of the Women's A Cappella Association (WACA), and on the board and as web content director for the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America (CASA). In addition to being a longtime ICHSA/ICCA judge, Amy is a certified judge for other vocal events, workshop teacher, master clinician, writer, designer, social media manager (www.amymalkoff.com), singer/songwriter, and studio musician. She currently works with professional a cappella group Ball In The House, as well as other artists. Since its inception, Amy ran and managed the New Hampshire-based performance venue Club Sandwich (Sandwich, N.H.), where celebrity John Davidson performs on weekends, along with a lineup of prominent artists. She was a founding member of the groups All About Buford and Deadline Poet, and has appeared onstage and in the studio with acts like Wayne Brady, Jonathan Brooke, The Persuasions, Ellis Paul, Vance Gilbert, GrooveLily, Patty Griffin, and Dar Williams. She has a degree in music from Kenyon College, with music studies at Youngstown State University and master’s-level coursework at the New England Conservatory of Music. Amy's music has appeared on the Rounder Records and Hear Music/Starbucks labels. Follow @amalkoff on all platforms.

SPECIAL THANKS

Varsity Vocals would like to recognize and thank Alex Grover; Danvers High School Music Teachers and Custodial Staff; the Tri-M Music Honor Society; Skywave and Vocal Alliance; and our sound engineer, Caleb Whelden of Clarus Productions; 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 finishing groups at this event will advance to the 2026 ICHSA Northeast 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!

#ICHSA