Los Angeles A Cappella Festival 2023

640 Main Street,El Segundo CA 90245

17 February, 2023

Description

The Los Angeles A Cappella Festival is a weekend-long vocal festival held in beautiful Los Angeles, California each year with the aim to bring the best a cappella performers, educators and enthusiasts together in an academic forum to celebrate, appreciate, and advance vocal music as an art form. A weekend full of insightful lectures, workshops and masterclasses—covering topics such as arranging, recording, vocal percussion and more—closes with an evening concert featuring the year’s festival headliners, which have included influential a cappella powerhouses such as The House Jacks, m-pact, SONOS, Mosaic, Duwende, Pentatonix ,and Hookslide. For both the budding scholastic singer and seasoned a cappella veteran, LAAF provides unique opportunities for instruction, networking and exposure through showcases of talent and expertise by clinicians and performers by way of the classroom and stage. For more event details, visit: https://casa.org/laaf/ Pro Show HeadlinerssäjeThe GRAMMY® nominated vocal supergroup, säje (rhymes with “beige”), is the brainchild of vocalist/composers Sara Gazarek, Amanda Taylor, Johnaye Kendrick, and Erin Bentlage. Born out of close friendship and incredibly deep admiration, these world-renowned artists, composers, and arrangers have come together to explore, create, and celebrate the music that moves them. As individuals, each artist has crafted their own notable solo career, and now are delighted to bring their collective voices to this union, traversing a vast array of compelling original material, beloved jazz standards, and contemporary re-imaginings (The Bad Plus, YEBBA, Björk, etc). After debuting an inspiring and energized set at the 2020 Jazz Education Network Conference in New Orleans, säje went on to tour multiple jazz festivals and clubs from January to March. During quarantine, säje received their first GRAMMY® nomination, for their composition “Desert Song” in the Best Arrangement Instruments and Vocals category. They were awarded the John Lennon Songwriting Contest Grand Prize Award for their second composition “Wisteria”, as well as their first Jazz Journalists Association Award Nomination for “Best Vocal Jazz Group”. The collective also recently received gracious support for their continued work through the Chamber Music of America New Jazz Works grant, the Super Patron Grant, the Jazz Road Creative Residencies grant, and the USC Visions + Voices grant. Their highly anticipated debut album is expected to be released in Spring/Summer 2023, and will feature new original work and compelling covers, highlighting collaborations with artists Jacob Collier, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ambrose Akinmusire, Gerald Clayton, Regina Carter, and more. The union of säje is rooted in the tradition of joy, curiosity, lush harmony, heart-felt expression, and profound sisterhood. Pipeline Vocal ProjectPipeline Vocal Project is an a cappella trio from Alaska that puts a twist on well-known favorites from all eras, whether it’s crossing decades or genres. Bringing together their diverse cultural background, Pipeline sings in various languages and styles, including but not limited to the four languages they speak within the group. With their unique makeup and artistic vocal arrangements PVP hopes to bring light to a new era for female a cappella. Their debut album Bronze recently won a CARA for Best Semi-Professional Album/EP, and their work has been recognized by the Alaska State Legislature, Anchorage Press, and the U.S. Department of State, to name a few. PVP shares their passion to perform and educate by traveling farther and farther away from their home of Anchorage, Alaska. In 2022, they performed in Dubai, Lithuania, the Bahamas, Canada, and more, while continuing to grow their social media following by posting a new song every Tuesday. Scholastic CompetitorsBucket List - University of WaterlooNor'easters - Northeastern UniversityRandom Voices - UCLAResonance - UCLAUnstrumental - Calabasas High SchoolUpper Structure - Berklee College of MusicCompetition Deliberation GroupThe SoCal VoCals - USCFounded in 1996, The SoCal VoCals are USC's premiere A Capella group. Post VoCals, alumni have gone on to create highly successful musical groups such as Pentatonix, Citizen Queen, and Sheer Element! The VoCals are competing in the International Championship of Collegiate A Capella for the first time since 2018, and are hoping to bring home a 6th ICCA trophy back to USC. To learn more about The SoCal VoCals, feel free to follow them on Instagram @thesocalvocals ! Fight on!