A Cappella Live

SAT, MARCH 7, 2020 AT 8PM

Featuring a cappella acts Committed, The Filharmonic, Blake Lewis, and Women of the World

A CAPPELLA LIVE! Artistic Director & Vocal Arrangements Deke Sharon Tour Booked and Produced by Columbia Artists Company Manager Paul Silveira Audio Engineer Charlie Friday Production Manager Mike Kasprzyk Choreographer Kristin Denehy COMMITTED Randell Hall, Brent Hoyte, Geston Pierre, Maurice Staple, Theron “Therry” Thomas II THE FILHARMONIC Joe Caigoy, vocal bass Jules Cruz, Trace Gaynor, beat boxer Niko Del Rey, VJ Rosales WOMEN OF THE WORLD Annette Philip, Débo Ray, Giorgia Renosto, Ayumi Ueda BEAT BOXER Blake Lewis

24 ABOUT A CAPPELLA LIVE!

The past few years have been a Renaissance for a cappella–with a perfect storm of movies, television, YouTube, and radio–breathing new life and excitement into the world’s first musical form.

And as great as it is to see and hear a cappella performances on screens large and small, the best way to experience vocal harmony is in person. And so A Cappella Live was born. Built on the classic Motown review tour model, A Cappella Live is bringing four of the nation’s greatest a cappella acts to performing arts centers around America: The charming boyband sound and moves of The Filharmonic The rich harmonies of Gospel/R&B legends Committed Chart-topping lead vocals and live-looping beatbox by Blake Lewis Internationally-inspired songstresses Women of the World COMMITTED is an a cappella group composed of six male vocalists from Huntsville, AL. All are graduates of Oakwood University. The group won the second season of the musical competition The Sing-Off on NBC, performing a jaw-dropping arrangement of “We Are the Champions” from Queen. In 2011, Committed released their self-titled album, Committed, on Epic Records. Their 2015 Christmas album, Home for Christmas, earned the group a Grammy® nomination for the rendition of “Do You Hear What I Hear.” Committed are Randell Hall, Brent Hoyte, Theron “Therry” Thomas II, Maurice Staple, and Geston Pierre.

THE FILHARMONIC, a Los Angeles-based a cappella group of Filipino-American youngsters has much to sing about. After being featured in NBC’S hit musical competition The Sing-Off, the five piece vocal group made the semi-finals and joined The Sing-Off national tour. They were featured in the Universal Pictures hit movie, Pitch Perfect 2, and became a viral sensation after their Late Late Show appearances. In 2016, The Filharmonic brought their unique blend of hip hop, pop, and 90s nostalgia to more than 150 stages nationwide and were named the #1 college booked entertainment group of the year. Most recently they have opened for acts such as Fifth Harmony, Pentatonix, Future, and Filipino super sensation Gary V. They consist of vocalists VJ Rosales, Joe Caigoy, Trace Gaynor, vocal bass Jules Cruz, and beat-boxer Niko Del Rey. BLAKE LEWIS first came to national attention as one of the most unique contestants ever to compete on American Idol, and long before that, as a teenager, he was well-known as “Bshorty” in Seattle’s a cappella, hip-hop, and rave scenes. But with the release of his ambitious and completely independent third album, Portrait of a Chameleon, Lewis is taking things to a whole new level.

WOMEN OF THE WORLD is an award-winning international a cappella quartet that performs original and traditional folk music in 32 languages with a contemporary twist. The four singers represent Japan, Italy, India, and the U.S. (by way of Haiti). Despite differences in upbringing, language, religion, ethnicity, food, and music, they are bound by one unique desire: to explore sounds, rhythms, and musical vocabulary from all over the world. Since 2008, Women of the World has journeyed through the music of Africa, South America, Asia, and Europe, presenting audiences an exhilarating experience through chants, storytelling, dance, percussion, and improvisation. Mentored by Grammy® Award-winning maestro Bobby McFerrin, Women of the World have also collaborated with powerhouse American songstress Nona Hendryx, African vocal icon Angelique Kidjo, Greek classical artist Mario Frangoulis, and the Boston Pops Orchestra led by maestro conductor Keith Lockhart. Women of the World is Ayumi Ueda, Annette Philip, Débo Ray, and Giorgia Renosto.

DEKE SHARON (Vocal Arrangements) is creative artistic director of A Cappella Live! Heralded as “The Father of Contemporary A Cappella,” (Entertainment Weekly), Sharon is responsible for the current sound of modern a cappella, having created the

dense vocal-instrumental sound in college, subsequently spreading it around the world. Sharon produced NBC’s The SingOff worldwide (U.S., Netherlands, China, South Africa) and served as arranger, onsite music director, and vocal producer for Universal’s Pitch Perfect 1, 2, and 3 starring Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson. Sharon founded the Contemporary A Cappella Society while in college and is responsible for many seminal a cappella programs. He is also contemporary cappella’s most prolific arranger, having arranged over 2,000 songs, with a thousand of them in print worldwide with Hal Leonard/Contemporary A Cappella Publishing. He has written five books A Cappella Arranging (2012), A Cappella (2015), The Heart of Vocal Harmony (2016), A Cappella Warmups for Pop and Jazz Choir (2017), and So You Want To Sing A Cappella (2017). As the founder, director, and arranger for the House Jacks for 24 years, the original “Rock Band Without Instruments,” Sharon shared the stage with countless music legends, including Ray Charles; James Brown; Crosby, Stills and Nash; Run DMC; The Temptations; LL Cool J; and the Four Tops, and performed for luminaries including President Bill Clinton. He has produced dozens of award-winning a cappella albums (including Straight No Chaser, Committed, Nota, Street Corner Symphony, the Tufts Beelzebubs, Pitch Perfect, and In Transit), created a cappella groups for Disneyland and Disneyworld, and frequently tours the world teaching students and professional singers. His voice can be heard in commercials and video games, including “Just Dance Kids 2.” He is one of only 20 honorary members of the Barbershop Harmony Society since 1938, as well as an honorary member of BYU Vocal Point, received CASA’s lifetime achievement award in 2016, and the Tufts Barnum award for excellence in education in 2017. You can see him on television on Lifetime’s Pitch Slapped and BBC One’s: Pitch Battle. His latest project is Disney’s DCappella. SAT, MARCH 7, 2020 AT 8PM

PROGRAM NOTE

The highest praise one can give an instrumentalist is to say that they make their instrument “sing” …which nowadays seems unnecessary as today’s top a cappella groups are singing every instrumental part from the rhythm section (bass and drums) through guitars, trumpets, and even synthesizers. A cappella is the oldest music in the world, and yet with modern techniques it’s also the freshest sound, with today’s groups welcoming a new legion of fans into the incredible world of vocal harmony. Tonight’s acts are four of the very best in today’s a cappella scene, each representing a different style and sensibility. Each are successful performers on their own, but when presented together in this inaugural year of A Cappella Live, they make a statement about the incredible power and diversity possible within vocal harmony. Tonight, you’ll hear rock, pop, jazz, folk, r&b, gospel, techno, and so many other styles, yet every sound is human. Diversity is at the center of it all: a diversity of vocal sounds, of styles, of backgrounds, and traditions. Yet when it’s all brought together, presented side to side, it’s an almost overwhelming display of the power of human expression. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy tonight’s show. If you find yourself singing along, don’t be shy. And if you want to sing in a group in your area, or start a group, feel free to reach out to me personally (deke@dekesharon.com). My not-so-subtle motive in presenting an event like this is to get more people singing and spread more social harmony through vocal harmony. We’d love to have you, and yes: it’s as fun as it looks. — Deke Sharon

OFFERS SINCERE THANKS TO

FOR ITS GENEROUS SUPPORT AS FAMILY SERIES LEAD SPONSOR