2009 National Finals Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Festival

25th Annual

The Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Festival is the premier American showcase for vocal harmony music. 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.

2009 National Finals Champions

MAXX Factor

MAXX Factor was formed in 2004. This current foursome has been singing together since August 2007. Lead Leslie Wodday became a Queen of Harmony in 2000 with Signature Sound Quartet. She joined MAXX in August of 2007. Founder Valerie Hadfield-Rasnake is a barbershop brat. She sang with Region 19 medalist Quartets Ritz Carleton and Vanity Fair. Co-founder Baritone Kim Hudson, also a barbershop brat, has sung with Region 19 medalist quartet Vanity Fair. Prior to joining MAXX in 2005, Tenor Molly Plummer sang with Region 19 multi-medalist quartet RhythmWorks. Molly and Valerie are members of the International medalist chorus Pride of Baltimore. Kim and Leslie, currently Chapter-at-Large, have competed internationally with the Pride of Baltimore chorus.

2009 Results
1st	MAXX Factor
2nd	Love Notes Quartet
3rd	Rezonate
Audience Favorite	Love Notes Quartet
Best Original Arrangement	"Book of Love" - Jason Caffarella, Rezonate
Best Original Song	"The Future Part 2" - Richard Steighner, Mouth Beats

2009 Participating Groups

TBA

2009 Judges

Craig Knudsen

In 1999, Craig Knudsen founded the talent agency, Knudsen Productions and it quickly became one of the most highly regarded US agencies representing vocal ensembles (both national and international). His agency’s current roster features two recent Harmony Sweeps National Champions: Six Appeal (2012) – Grand Prize Winners of the 2018 A Cappella Moscow International Championship, and Women of the World (2014). Additional past and current representation includes the multi Grammy Award winning British a cappella legends, the Swingle Singers; the multi Grammy nominated British early music vocal ensemble, Stile Antico; the SF Bay Area’s beloved women’s vocal ensemble, KITKA; the legendary BOBS! (also Grammy nominated); The Choir of Clare College Cambridge; The Marian Consort; and ModernMedieval. For 11 years Craig also served as the music director of the Kaiser Permanente Educational Theatre Project. In 2014, Craig was the recipient of the Arts Northwest “Coyote Award”, an award recognizing his “outstanding service to Arts Northwest and the western performing arts field”.

Claytoven Richardson

Claytoven has worked on hundreds of projects throughout his 30-year career. Constantly in demand as one of the top session vocalists, his voice can be found on albums featuring GRAMMY winning artists such as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Kenny G, Mariah Carey, as well as, on popular video games like Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore (Versions 1 & 2). His work on the number 1 song for Celine Dion, "My Heart Will Go On" (also the title track for the Titanic soundtrack) won him Grammy recognition in 1999. As a songwriter, Claytoven has also written for and produced artists such as Patti Austin, Young Jeezy, Al Jarreau, Lisa Fischer, Charlie Wilson, and many others.

But as busy as he is, Claytoven always makes time for educating others. “I feel it is my responsibility to pass on my knowledge to young musicians just as it was passed on to me.” And with that as his mission, Claytoven has stepped into the role of author by taking his years of experience and sharing them in a book entitled, “The Professional Studio Vocalist”. Currently, Claytoven also teaches this subject and other professional music courses at San Francisco State University, in their Music Recording Industry Department. He also teaches and is the Program Director for an incredible new facility-program, The Digital Arts and Culinary Academy (DACA) in Oakland, California.

Michelle Weir

Michelle Weir is one of the leading figures in vocal jazz today. She has earned international recognition through a diverse set of talents as arranger, teacher, singer and pianist.

Michele's vocal arrangements are performed by The Manhattan Transfer, New York Voices, M-Pact, Beachfront Property, Chanticleer, Voice Trek and her orchestral works played by the Boston Pops, the Buffalo, Cincinnati and Pacific Symphonies, and others. Michele's educational arrangements are distributed by various publishers, including her own online publishing company, MichMusic. She was Vocal Producer for the Manhattan Transfer.

Currently serving on the faculty of University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Michele taught previously at USC, CSU Long Beach, and the Phil Mattson School. Highly respected as a teacher and clinician, her work has taken her to more than 22 countries around the globe.

In her role as Music Supervisor for the DreamWorks film, Prince of Egypt, she journeyed through Europe and Asia overseeing music production for the film's foreign language dubs. Her solo CD with jazz guitarist Bruce Forman is titled, "The Sound of Music." Michele is a member of S.A.G., A.F.T.R.A., A.S.C.A.P. and N.A.R.A.S.

Robin Cohn

President of City Hall Records. City Hall began in Robin's San Francisco garage in 1973, expanding steadily to become the leading national independent wholesale distributor of hundreds of specialty labels, both domestic and international. From blues, jazz, urban, nostalgia, world, and yes, a cappella - including artists such as the Swingle Singers, the Bobs and SoVoSo - City Hall has built its success and reputation through supporting independent music.

Complete list of 2009 participants

National Finals Recordings

Interested in Performing?

We are always seeking groups who would like to participate in our events.

Groups of any style are welcome, but you must have between 3 and 12 members. We have a rule book which explains many of the details of the event, which you can see by clicking here. All groups must audition in order to compete. Generally this is done by sending a current tape and photo, although live auditions are sometimes arranged. The purpose of the audition is to make sure the group is appropriate for the Festival and to help the Director determine the performance order. If a group has competed previously, the audition process may be waived.

How to enter

Please send music and photos to the regional director :

Our Hall of Fame - The Harmony Sweepstakes National Champions