1998 New York Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Festival

14th 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.

1998 New York Champions

City Lights

City Lights offers a musical experience to remember. Their wide-ranging repertoire includes sons from traditional barbershop harmony, jazz, Broadway show tunes as well as popular classics.

In 1992 City Lights captured the title of Sweet Adeline International Quartet Champions in Baltimore, MD. Since that time they have traveled to Vezprem, Hungry where they were invited to teach and perform at the Hungarian Choral Festival. They recently toured the United Kingdom from Aberdeen, Scotland to Portsmouth, England teaching the barbershop craft as well as coaching and performing. The group has performed throughout the USA and Canada and have numerous TV and Radio credits. In 1998 City Lights won the Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Regional Championship in NYC and competed in the 14th Annual National Finals in San Francisco, CA where they placed third.

1998 Results
1st	City Lights
2nd	Conn Artists
Audience Favorite	Exboyfriends
Best Original Arrangement	"Spiderman" Steve Friedman, Stay Tuned.

1998 Participating Groups

City Lights
City Lights offers a musical experience to remember. Their wide-ranging repertoire includes sons from traditional barbershop harmony, jazz, Broadway show tunes as well as popular classics.

In 1992 City Lights captured the title of Sweet Adeline International Quartet Champions in Baltimore, MD. Since that time they have traveled to Vezprem, Hungry where they were invited to teach and perform at the Hungarian Choral Festival. They recently toured the United Kingdom from Aberdeen, Scotland to Portsmouth, England teaching the barbershop craft as well as coaching and performing. The group has performed throughout the USA and Canada and have numerous TV and Radio credits. In 1998 City Lights won the Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Regional Championship in NYC and competed in the 14th Annual National Finals in San Francisco, CA where they placed third.
Listen to: Coronet Man | Listen to: That’s How You Jazz (Medley)

Members: Jo Lund, Sharon Vitkovsky, Jeannie Froelich, Nancy Cloeter

Conn Artists

The Conn Artists is a 7-man a cappella ensemble that performs throughout Connecticut. Available for hire for all occasions, including musical performances, their musical repertoire ranges from Doo-Wop standards to complex vocal jazz to rock classics to sacred songs. The ensemble specializes in the "classic blend", execution of the musical phrase and crafting wicked original arrangements.

Deadline Poet
Members: Amy Malkoff

Exboyfriends
Formed in 1993, the seven-member vocal band started their humble journey in small NYC music clubs and worked their way up to win the Audience Favorite Award at the 2000 Harmony Sweepstakes national finals in San Francisco. Along the way, they appeared on VH1, Nickelodeon, TNN, NBC's Today Show as well as several appearances on The Howard Stern Show. They performed regularly at NYC rock club Mercury Lounge and their classic rock roots even earned them opening act slots with the likes of The Marshall Tucker Band and The Edgar Winter Group.

Their debut CD, A Cappella's Dead (1999) was called the "classic rock album a cappella has been waiting for" (Recorded A Cappella Review Board). The album features inventive covers of Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Yes, and Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight". Their follow-up CD Karaoke Bar Brawl (2002) gained even more praise. Produced by Rockapella vocal percussionist Jeff Thacher, the album was nominated for two Contemporary A Cappella Recording Association (CARA) awards: Best Album and Best Cover Song ("25 or 6 to 4") and was one of RARB's "Picks of 2003" for favorite albums of the year. Karaoke Bar Brawl (named after a true event involving several band members) features loud & raw covers of The Who, Alice In Chains, Queen as well as two original songs.

Stay Tuned
Members: Steve Friedman

1998 Judges TBA

Complete list of 1998 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 :

Colette Thompson (New York) Colette Thompson has directed or performed in over eleven vocal ensembles, with her group, Stay Tuned, placing 3rd in the 1998 New York Regional of the Harmony Sweepstakes; Colette has performed/recorded with Lukas Foss, Leonard Bernstein, Jesse Norman, Peter, Paul & Mary, and James Levine A billboard-ranked singer/songwriter, she has also managed several events, including, Christmas at NYU, Complex at the Duplex, and An Evening with The Real Group at NYC's Symphony Space. With performances televised via major news programs including Good Morning America, The Today Show, CNN, and NY1, she is a promoter, producer, adjudicator and an ambassador of vocal music worldwide.

128 Fort Greene Place, Suite 1B, Brooklyn, NY 11217
917-442-2011
colette.thompson (at) mac.com

Our Hall of Fame - The Harmony Sweepstakes National Champions