AKA A CAPPELLA VII: Singapore’s longest running premier a cappella festival

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Featuring three internationally renowned a cappella groups: Taiwanese aboriginal vocal group O-Kai, award-winning Korean professional a cappella group MayTree and AKA’s first ever guest group from outside of Asia, Melbourne’s comedic a cappella group Suade, AKA VII is poised to be bigger and better.

Riding the wave of successful a cappella themed television shows like Glee and The Sing-Off, AKA A CAPPELLA, Singapore’s longest running a cappella festival is now in its seventh edition. Being held at the National University of Singapore (NUS) University Cultural Centre (UCC) on 22, 23 and 30 September, and supported by the National Arts Council (NAC), AKA A CAPPELLA VII, or AKA VII for short, will present a line-up of local and foreign groups in this a cappella extravaganza.

Helming the festival as the main event organizer, local singer-songwriter and arranger Peter Huang, 29, is very much involved with the local a cappella scene. He is the founder and vocal percussionist of MICappella, a local a cappella group who was recently crowned first runners-up in The Sing-Off China. This will be the second edition of the AKA series that Huang is organizing.

“AKA A CAPPELLA started in 1996 and it is my honour to have organised AKA VI in 2010. A cappella as an art form overseas has gained momentum and acceptance in the mainstream and I hope that my passion can influence others in Singapore,” said Huang. “My goal is to unite a cappella lovers so that we can grow and develop as a community, that’s why a few friends and I have set up the A Cappella Resource Community (Singapore), which will be introduced during AKA VII.”

Lush pop-jazz group “Vocaluptuous”, jazz virtuosos “Key Elements” and energetic vocal band “MICappella” and popular vocal group “Juz-B” will also be performing that on the Opening Gala Concert.

The Opening Gala Concert, happening on 22 September, will feature overseas groups together with home-bred professional a cappella groups.

In addition to their opening night performances, Suade, O-Kai and MayTree will have their own standalone showcases. Collegiate a cappella groups NUS Resonance and SMU Voix, as well as young adult group After 6, will be performing opening numbers for these showcases, allowing these budding artistes to be exposed to the a cappella professionals in the region. This year, AKA VII will include an additional element where workshops and talks will be held on 23 September, in conjunction with the event to promote a more educational and interactive festival.

AKA A CAPPELLA VII also marks the introduction of A Cappella Resource Community (Singapore), abbreviated ARCS. ARCS aims to set up a support system for local a cappella singers and provide networking opportunities within the a cappella communities locally and abroad. Jason Ong leads its committee and he is assisted by Vaughan Tan both from Key Elements, Simone Khoo from Vocaluptuous, and Peter Huang from MICappella.

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