The Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Festival, the premier American showcase for vocal harmony music, celebrates its 16th year in 2000. The annual national competition draws from hundreds of vocal groups from around the country with regional competitions in eight cities. The winning group from each festival is flown to perform in front of celebrity judges and a sold out house of enthusiastic a cappella fans at the National Finals.
2004 Results |
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3rd
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Duende
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Audience Favorite
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Sons Of Pitches
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Best Arrangement
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"Star And
Stripes" - Israel
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CrossRoads, the a cappella sensation from Hershey Park in Hershey, PA has been wowing crowds for the past 3 years. This young energetic group performs songs from artists like the Beach Boys and the Beatles to Huey Lewis and the Dave Matthews Band as well as other contemporary artists. Every CrossRoads show is surrounded with a mix of crowd interaction, infectious energy, humor, and of course 4 strong voices the make wonderful music with every chord.
Members: Brandon Brooks, Brian Schreiner, Jeremiah
Brooks, and
Chad Tully.
Duwende (Doo-WEN-day) is six
voices with nothing between them and the audience but a bank of
monitors and
some wireless microphones. They wail, they scream, they sweat. They dispose
of the fluff, stripping rock music down to its most essential elements and
building it back up again, using nothing but lung power and soul.
The result
is thrilling, booty-shaking, refreshingly honest funk/pop unlike anything
that's been seen or heard in quite some time. Since 1998 Duwende has been
playing clubs, colleges and events up and down the East Coast, building a
loyal following along the way. Their music has received critical acclaim in
print publications and
online, including The Boston Globe, garageband.com, and Billboard Magazine.
Members: Jason Baluyut, Geoff Barnes, Edward Chung, Abbey
Janes, Morgan Phillips, and Ari Picker.
High Five
is an award winning, mixed voice, 5-part, a cappella jazz quintet from the
Baltimore-Washington area creating music and fun wherever music lovers can
be found. With more than a century of combined musical
experience, the full-chord
sound definitely shows off their 'Barbershop' style background.
This, combined
with an undisputable jazz influence & champion arranger,
makes an ensemble
that is unmistakably, High Five!
Members: Janet Montrie, Christy Brannock, Lori Dreyer, Joe Mannherz, and
Mike Kelly.
Israel is an acappella ensemble taken
from the larger Mass Choir of the Church of God & Saints of
Christ. Influenced
by the likes of recording artists such as Take 6, Israel promises to refine
a cappella music.
Members: Rev. Jesse Hendricks, Erikka Hendricks, April Grant,
Crystal Grant,
James Grant, Delilah Marshall, and Robert Grant.
Seul (pronounce "Soul") is a
vocal group of five women with the love of a cappella jazz, pop and R&B
music. Based in New York City and heavily influenced by Jazz and Christian
music, they are sure to give a wide range of vocals with
beautiful textures.
Members: Ronnie Rochester, Keesha Gumbs, Kimberly Robinson, Beverly Anne
Burton, and Tamika Gumbs.
The Sirens
are an all-female a cappella sextet based in NYC. Six fabulous,
talented women,
they have been singing together since the Fall of 2000 and have
built a diverse
and fun repertoire based on music they enjoy and their audience
loves. Their
musical style is broad and ranges from classics like "Moon River" to modern
hits by Lenny Kravitz, Sarah McLachlan, Radiohead, and Lauryn Hill.
Members: Marnie Black, Joanna Lovell, Yeraz
Markarian, Tari
Suprapto, Rachel Wallins, and Wendy White.
Sons of Pitches is new to
the professional music world although they span four years as
college favorites.
Their spectacular harmonies coupled with striking arrangements
and originals
have earned them dozens of sold out shows in theatres across
upstate NY including
Ithaca's 1650 seat State Theatre. They have shared the bill with The Four
Tops and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame artists, The Temptations. Their third
CD earned them accolades for their versatility and style matched with sales
totaling 20,000 to date. These five talented guys are also master showmen
whose music, charisma and humor leave audiences hungering for more. This is
the first competition for Sons of Pitches and they are excited to perform
in Harmony Sweepstakes.
Members: Ryan James Ainsworth, Ross Mizrahi, Thomas Morris, Eric Toyama,
and James Wheal.
Vox Bop is a mixed a
cappella quartet
that performs a wide variety of musical styles, from the lyrical beauty of
the Renaissance to the lush harmonies of the Jazz Era to eclectic
arrangements
of pop classics. Vox Bop won the best award for Best Original Song at the
2001 National Harmony Sweepstakes after winning many awards at the New York
City Regionals in 2001. The group was interviewed and featured in
a 12-minute
piece on National Public Radio's "All Things
Considered" in December
1999. They also appeared as the house band on a Christmas taping
of NBC-TV's
"The Ainsley Harriott Show" and in a national television ad for
Amazon.com. During the summer of 2000, Vox Bop was a featured performer at
the Alandia Jazz Festival in Finland.
Member: David Deschamps, Peter Fisher, Maura
May, and Melissa
Munn.
Six women, culturally and musically dynamic, create a unique convergence of
voices and creative expression that is Voxy.
Since its beginnings in 1999, Voxy a cappella has aspired to
bring a new perspective
and approach to contemporary melodies, performing in different
languages (as
almost all of the ladies are bi-lingual) and applying creative
musical styles
to popular songs. Described as having a lush and global flavor,
Voxy reaches
its audience through culture, sound, and visual expression.
Members: Aley Kent, Alie Shaper, Angel
D'Antonio, Indu Raghuraman,
Margaret, Laszczak, Margaret McKegney, and Maria-Stella
Fountoulakis.
Yasna Voices (yasna means
"clear" in Bulgarian) is Brooklyn's only Bulgarian women's choir,
founded in late 2002. This all-female vocal group, led by singer
and musician
Vlada Tomova, specializes in Bulgarian Folk music and other international
vocal traditions and techniques. Yasna's mission is to introduce audiences
to this rich vocal tradition. Yasna Voices has recently been
awarded a Community
grant from the Brooklyn Arts Council to present a program of "women's
work woven through song".
Members: Vlada Tomova,Kristin Epseland, Corinna Snyder, Rachel Freeman,
Sarah Small, Erin Stratford, and Sue Dennis.
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