The Voice Festival UK
The Voice Festival UK (VF-UK) is a UK arts education charity dedicated to providing opportunities to get involved with 'a cappella' or unaccompanied singing.
The Festival's central purpose is to increase the awareness and popularity of the a cappella art form in the UK, and to support the development of the existing UK a cappella scene, by recruiting and encouraging new participants, developing new audiences, supporting and educating existing participants and building UK A Cappella Communities.
History
Founded in 2008, the Voice Festival UK comprises a series of workshops, masterclasses, concerts, competitions and networking events open to school and university students, as well as community singers. The programme of events takes place across the year, including an annual Festival in February and March each year.
From 2009 to 2010, there were three regional rounds of the Festival, held in Oxford, Cambridge and St Andrews. In 2011, two new regional rounds were added in London and Birmingham due to the increasing popularity of the event. In 2012, the Cambridge round was scrapped due to lack of participants, but was replaced by a round in Bristol.
On three occasions, the winners of the annual university competition have been invited to perform at the ICCA final in New York. In 2009, Out of the Blue came second in the finals, meaning they were officially the second-best university group in the world.[1] The 2010 winners, The Oxford Gargoyles, were unable to compete in the final in New York due to the University of Oxford's exam timetable.[2] Cadenza competed in the ICCA finals in New York in 2011 but did not place.
Past Results of the University Competition
2009–2013
Year | Cambridge Regional | Oxford Regional | St Andrews Regional | Birmingham Regional | London Regional | Bristol Regional | Wildcard | Overall Winner |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | Cadenza The Oxford Alternotives | Out of the Blue The Oxford Belles | The Other Guys The Alleycats | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not awarded | Out of the Blue[3] |
2010 | Cadenza The Fitz Sirens | Out of the Blue The Oxford Gargoyles | The Alleycats The Accidentals | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Fitz Barbershop | The Oxford Gargoyles |
2011 | Cadenza | Out of the Blue | The Accidentals | Augmented Seven | All The King's Men | Not applicable | Not awarded | Cadenza[4] |
2012 | Not applicable | Out of the Blue | The Other Guys | Sons of Pitches | All The King's Men | HotTUBBS | Not awarded | All The King's Men |
2013 | Not applicable | The Oxford Alternotives | Choral Stimulation | Sons of Pitches | All the King's Men Vive | Semi-Toned | Not awarded | Vive |
2014–present
The 2014 competition saw a change in format, in which the regional rounds were scrapped, and competitors applied for the competition via video entry, from which 12 groups were taken through to a 'semi-final', and then five groups went through to the final.
Year | Semi-Finalists | Finalists | Overall Winner |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | The Accidentals, The Alleycats, All the King’s Men, Choral Stimulation, The King's Chicks, Out of the Blue, The Scopes, Semi-Toned, The Songsmiths, The Sons of Pitches, The Techtonics, The Uptone Girls | All the King’s Men, Out of the Blue, Semi-Toned, The Songsmiths, The Techtonics | Out of the Blue |
2015 | Aberpella, The Accidentals, The Alleycats, All the King's Men, Aquapella, The Bristol Suspensions, Choral Stimulation, The Rolling Tones, The Scopes, Semi-Toned, The Songsmiths, The Sweet Nothings | Pending | Pending |
Past Results of the Youth Competition
Year | Overall Winner |
---|---|
2011 | AcaBelles[5] |
References
- ↑ ICCA Past Results Retrieved 12 July 2011
- ↑ "A history of the Gargoyles". Oxford University. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
- ↑ Voice Festival UK Past Results Retrieved 12 July 2011
- ↑ "Cadenza wins Voice Festival UK 2011 competition". SingACappella.org. 18 March 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
- ↑ https://fr.twitter.com/VoiceFestival/status/178560471006314496
External links
- The Voice Festival Official Website
- The Voice Festival on Facebook
- The Voice Festival on Twitter
- The Voice Festival on YouTube