While a cappella music is nothing new, its popularity has recently reached new heights. On Jan. 30, UCLA will host the Los Angeles A Cappella Festival, the largest a cappella festival on the West Coast.
Hosted by Bruin Harmony, one of UCLA’s many a cappella groups, this event is for those interested in performing a cappella, as well as for those who simply like listening to it.
“Last year, LA-AF was just for people in a cappella,” said Dane Nightingale, Bruin Harmony’s co-director. “This year we’ll have food vendors, information booths and daylong performances. Any UCLA student that walks by can hear a group, and if they like what they hear, they can easily go over to one of the information booths and get information on that group.”
For a cappella performers, the festival is completely different. Attendees pay a small fee to attend multiple workshops as well as master classes led by experts in the field of a cappella.
“The classes were my favorite part of the festival last year. They aren’t focused solely on the performer’s voice. There are classes about how to own your solo, how to put together a group or about proper microphone technique. It’s really everything a novice a cappella group could want,” said Stephen Fuller, Bruin Harmony’s co-director.
In the evening, a cappella performers and listeners alike will shift from Wilson Plaza to Ackerman Grand Ballroom to watch Bruin Harmony perform alongside two professional a cappella groups, m-pact and Sonos.
“Professional groups are on a whole other level. As college students, there’s only so much we can put into our groups, since our first priority is school. Professional groups are able to invest all their time and energy into a cappella. It’s what they do, so their performances are really refined,” said Lauren Schlueter, member of another on-campus a cappella group, the ScatterTones.
The professional groups are what many of the student groups aspire to be, especially in an industry that most are unaware of.
“The a cappella market is definitely expanding. You can see it in the mainstream media, with shows like “˜Glee’ and “˜The Sing-Off,'” Nightingale said.
With the a cappella industry growing so rapidly, Schlueter is taking full advantage of LA-AF.
“This event is perfect since it’s hosted on campus. Although this is the first time I will have gone, I’m really excited because I don’t think there are that many opportunities like this for people to see professional groups and go to classes,” Schlueter said.
Organizers of the festival said they believe this festival will also give a cappella groups a great place to network.
“There will be anywhere from 25 to 30 different groups at the festival. There really isn’t anything like this on the West Coast yet,” Nightingale said. “We modeled the festival after SoJam, an a cappella festival on the East Coast.”
Unlike the much more well-known International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, a cappella festivals are about attendees coming together as a single community to learn, grow and experience each other’s talent in a noncompetitive setting.
“For the groups attending, this festival isn’t just about being entertained. It’s more about having them each take away something that they consider valuable,” Fuller said.
Fuller said he believes what started as an experiment last year has blossomed into a truly promising music festival. Groups from New York and Maryland, as well as other parts of the East Coast and Midwest, are traveling across the nation to attend. “A cappella may be much more popular on the East Coast, but I can’t wait for the groups to get here and experience L.A.’s beautiful, sunny winter,” Fuller said.
For Bruin Harmony, however, it isn’t the size or popularity of the festival that matters.
“(We want) to make a cappella accessible,” Nightingale said.