The annual VoiceJam A Cappella Festival on April 12-13 brings the best a cappella groups from across the country to compete at Walton Arts Center. We asked each of the eight groups who are competing a few questions to learn more about them! Learn more about PFC, Voices, Volt and Trillium below. Missed the first installment of this blog? Check it out here!
Tickets to the Take 6 concert and the VoiceJam Competition are on sale now. Want to see both shows? Then purchase a combo ticket for just $29. Tickets are available online at waltonartscenter.org, by visiting the Walton Arts Center Box Office weekdays 10 am–2 pm or by calling the box office at 479.443.5600 weekdays 10 am-5 pm.
PFC – MacArthur High School, San Antonio
What is in your repertoire?
“Through Me” by Hozier, “Here” by Alessia Cara and “Dog Days Are Over” by Florence & The Machine.
How did you come up with the name for your group? What is the story behind it?
PFC (Premiere & Final Cut) were originally two separate groups. One of the groups, Final Cut, was a barbershop group and Premiere was an all-treble group. They merged in the early 2000s, and over time the group has evolved into the PFC we have today!
Do you have any pre-show rituals or warm-ups? If so, what are they?
One of our pre-show rituals is the “Hokey Pokey” which has been a tradition since before any of us knew what PFC was. Another ritual we have is that all our members wear a gold glitter stripe on the left side of their face. This has been a tradition ever since 2020, PFC wore it at the International Competition of High School A Cappella and performed a set that meant a lot to us all.
What songs, artists or genres of music are you currently listening to on your personal playlists – give us your top 5?
Some of our favorite artists at the moment are Noah Kahan, Fleetwood Mac, Taylor Swift, Infinity Song and Sammy Rae & The Friends.
What does your group like to do in their free time?
As a high school group, a lot of us are the busiest we have ever been, but that doesn’t stop us from making time to hang out as a group! Half of our high school career has been spent goofing off in the back of the choir room with each other. Outside of school, PFC loves to watch movies, eat (A LOT), thrift and cry together. (In fact, we have had the nickname “people frequently crying” in recent years!)
What’s one thing you want people to know about your group?
The special thing about PFC is that our priority is our audience and what message we are sending them. We embody intense emotions and stories through song, healing ourselves along the way, and knowing that someone in the audience needed to hear our message too. We hope our audience leaves our performance knowing that there is hope and feeling empowered. The art we create together is so sacred to us, and on top of that, WE SOUND GREAT!
Voices – University of Arkansas
What is your repertoire?
This semester we are working on many things: a Duke Ellington medley, “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart,” a couple of Jacob Collier pieces, Eric Whitacre’s “Lux Aurumque,” Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies,” “Smile,” Santana’s “Yaleo” and Take 6’s “So Much 2 Say”. We’re also keeping a couple of pieces from Fall 2023 such as Highline’s “How High the Moon” and “The Nearness of You” by Norah Jones.
Does your group work with precisely notated music, or do you improvise?
We do both! Most of the music is learned with notated scores, however we mix in improvision within many of those scores and usually open our programs with an improvisational piece.
How did you come up with the name for your group? What is the story behind it?
We took inspiration from the famed New York Voices
What songs, artists or genres of music are you currently listening to on your personal playlists – give us your top 5?
Our top five artists are Stevie Wonder, Donnie Hathaway, Daniel Caesar, Samara Joy, and Whitney Houston.
What does your group like to do in their free time?
We like to fish!
What’s one thing you want people to know about your group?
We are a versatile group of singers. Some of us sing opera, some sing jazz, pop, theatre, folk and many other styles. Some double as instrumentalists. Some of us are music majors, some of us are not. Some of us are graduate students, some of us are undergraduates. What brings us together is our love for singing, harmony, rhythm and the chance to perform with such a small, but powerful group of voices.
Volt – University of Tennessee, Knoxville
What is your repertoire?
Our repertoire contains a wide selection of genres from alternative to pop to choral pieces.
Does your group work with precisely notated music, or do you improvise?
For the most part our songs are performed as written in the music, but our soloists are encouraged to personalize their part.
How did you come up with the name for your group? What is the story behind it?
Volt was chosen as the name for our group to represent our school by incorporating “Vol” for the Volunteers. The word “volt” was chosen because it displays the idea of constant energy being produced, which was an objective for the group when it originated.
Do you have any pre-show rituals or warm-ups? If so, what are they?
On the day of a show, we always meet up, order food and get ready together. We find it’s a good way to relax and hang out after weeks of intense rehearsals.
What songs, artists or genres of music are you currently listening to on your personal playlists – give us your top 5?
Right now, our group members are currently listening to music by Taylor Swift, Lizzie McAlpine, Denzel Curry, SZA and Olivia Rodrigo.
What’s one thing you want people to know about your group?
Our group was created so that non-music majors at the University of Tennessee could participate in collegiate a cappella. With that being said, our group is made up of students with all different majors.
Trillium – Dallas/Fort Worth
What is your repertoire?
We will be singing “DID U RLY?” by Sayak Das, a Hozier mashup called “First Light/Who We Are” and “Tears” by RAYE.
Does your group work with precisely notated music, or do you improvise?
We mostly work with notated music but we have in the past done self-arrangements as well as improvised harmonies.
How did you come up with the name for your group? What is the story behind it?
Our group name is Trillium, it is a beautiful flower with many colors. We really liked the flower and thought it would be a cool name for our group, plus it’s something we haven’t seen in the a cappella sphere.
Do you have any pre-show rituals or warm-ups? If so, what are they?
We do box breathing as a group to calm any nerves, as well as some pep talks and occasional dance breaks.
What songs, artists or genres of music are you currently listening to on your personal playlists – give us your top 5?
We love R&B and pop, as well as some alternative, “Don’t Lose Sight” by Lawrence, “Something New” by Kristen Cruz, “Flintstones” by Jacob Collier, “Late Again” by Peter Manos and “Change by Djo.
What’s one thing you want people to know about your group?
We love having fun and getting to know all the other groups at competitions, our goal as a group has always been to spread positivity within the a cappella community. We also just recently came out with a music video, “bet u wanna” on all streaming platforms and YouTube.
VoiceJam Festival Schedule
VoiceJam Kickoff Concert – Take 6
Friday, April 12 | 8 pm
All tickets are $10
VoiceJam Workshops
Saturday, April 13 | 9 am – 5 pm
VoiceJam Competition
Saturday, April 13 | 7:30 pm
Tickets are $27