Voctave is an 11-member a cappella group based in Central Florida, United States. The group often performs intricate arrangements of music from Broadway, Disney, jazz standards, and Christmas music. Among the unique characteristics which set the group apart from other a cappella groups is an extremely wide vocal range of 5 full octaves. [1]
The group's arranger is Jamey Ray, who also teaches at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. [2] His arrangements blend classical group choral techniques with pop. [3] Tony De Rosa served as musical director for the group from its inception until he left the group in early 2020, along with J. C. Fullerton. De Rosa was replaced as musical director by Bradley Roberts, one of the vocal captains in the "Voices of Liberty" at Walt Disney World's EPCOT. [4]
Drew Ochoa and Aaron Stratton joined the group shortly after the departure of De Rosa and Fullerton and recorded several YouTube videos with the group during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020. They are also included on the group's latest album, The Corner of Broadway and Main Street, Volume 2, which peaked at #6 on the iTunes sales chart in its first week of sales. [5]
The group was informally created when Jamey Ray was recording an album of arrangements with a 12-member chorus. He recorded the group singing a collection of Disney music and posted it to YouTube. [6] Based on the response and viewership, he organized a group of 11 singers to sing together at events independent of the Disney theme parks, at which nearly all of the members performed on a regular basis. In early 2016, the group released their Disney Love Medley featuring Kirstin Maldonado of Pentatonix and Jeremy Michael Lewis, her then-boyfriend. [7] This video featured three songs about love (I See the Light from Tangled , You'll Be in My Heart from Tarzan , and Go the Distance from Hercules) and accumulated more than 30 million views as of December 2021 [update] .
Over the course of the next four years, Voctave released a self-titled album, numerous Christmas albums featuring both secular and religious music, two albums of the group performing with a symphony orchestra, and two spanning Broadway standards and Disney-themed arrangements.lbmel;'mbpotrbm
The Manhattan Transfer was an American vocal group founded in 1969 in New York City, performing music genres like A cappella, Brazilian jazz, swing, vocalese, rhythm and blues, pop, and standards. They have won eleven Grammy Awards.
The Swingles are an a cappella vocal group. The Swingle Singers were originally formed in 1962 in Paris under the leadership of Ward Swingle. In 1973, Swingle disbanded the French group, and formed an English group known initially as Swingle II and later as the New Swingle Singers, before settling on the Swingles name.
Chanticleer is a full-time male classical vocal ensemble based in San Francisco, California, founded in 1978. It is known for its interpretations of Renaissance music, for which they were founded, but also a wide repertoire of jazz, gospel and contemporary classical music. Its name is derived from the "clear singing rooster" in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. The ensemble has made award-winning recordings.
The Persuasions were an American a cappella group that formed in Brooklyn, New York in 1962, singing under corner streetlights and in subway corridors. Their style combined gospel, soul, early rock, and jazz into melodic five-part harmonies. Since being discovered by Frank Zappa, the Persuasions have released 23 studio albums to date.
The Idea of North are an Australian a cappella vocal ensemble founded in Canberra in 1993, by Nick Begbie (tenor), Meg Corson (alto), Trish Delaney-Brown (soprano) and Andrew Piper (bass). Still active in 2023, but touring less frequently since the Covid-19 pandemic, The Idea of North has had a number of personnel changes since their formation, with Nick Begbie the only remaining original member.
Agnus Dei(Lamb of God) is a choral composition in one movement by Samuel Barber, his own arrangement of his Adagio for Strings (1936). In 1967, he set the Latin words of the liturgical Agnus Dei, a part of the Mass, for mixed chorus with optional organ or piano accompaniment. The music, in B-flat minor, has a duration of about eight minutes.
Voces8, styled VOCES8, is an a cappella octet from England. They have appeared internationally and made recordings of classical music, jazz, pop, and their own arrangements. Recent recordings are for Decca Classics and under their own label, Voces8 Records. Educational efforts are run by the Voces8 Foundation.
Daryl Lynn Coley was an American Christian singer. At 14, Coley was a member of the ensemble "Helen Stephens and the Voices of Christ". He began performing with Edwin Hawkins in the Edwin Hawkins Singers and then worked with James Cleveland, Tramaine Hawkins, Sylvester, Pete Escovedo and others. Albums of his include Just Daryl, He's Right On Time: Live From Los Angeles, When The Music Stops and others.
m-pact is an American pop-jazz vocal group based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in June 1995, the band is known for their award-winning vocal arrangements, recordings, and music videos. The name "m-pact" is meant to signify an agreement between the band members to always remain true to the musical and artistic vision of the group. This "music-pact" began as 5-man ensemble in Seattle, Washington. The founders of m-pact sought to create a group which would combine the harmonic structure and arranging style of vocal jazz ensembles like Take 6 and the New York Voices with a powerful beatbox-driven vocal rhythm section found in groups like Rockapella and The House Jacks. The membership has changed over the years, and the sound of the group has fluctuated to reflect the unique voices of each iteration of the band while still attempting to stay true to the original pact.
Straight No Chaser (SNC) is a professional American a cappella group that originated in 1996 at Indiana University. Originally a student group at Indiana University, they recorded a video in 1998 of a comical version of "The 12 Days of Christmas". The founding members all graduated, to be replaced by other students, in 1999. In 2007, the 1998 video went viral on YouTube, and subsequently led to a reunion of the founding members and a five-album record deal with Atlantic Records in 2008. The YouTube video has been viewed over 24 million times.
Street Corner Symphony is an a cappella group from Nashville, Tennessee and a contestant on the second season of NBC's reality show The Sing-Off. During The Sing-Off's season finale, Street Corner Symphony claimed the second place title, losing the championship to Huntsville, Alabama group Committed. It was formed in 2010 for the sole purpose of entering The Sing-Off. The members are from several of the Southeastern United States, including Tennessee, Alabama and Florida; the group is based out of Nashville.
Pentatonix are an American a cappella group from Arlington, Texas, consisting of vocalists Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kirstin Maldonado, Matt Sallee, and Kevin Olusola. Characterized by their pop-style arrangements with vocal harmonies, scat singing, riffing, vocal percussion, and beatboxing, they produce cover versions of modern pop works or Christmas songs, sometimes in the form of medleys, along with original material. Pentatonix was formed in 2011 and subsequently won the third season of NBC's The Sing-Off, receiving $200,000 and a recording contract with Sony Music. When Sony's Epic Records dropped the group after The Sing-Off, the group formed its YouTube channel, distributing its music through Madison Gate Records, a label owned by Sony Pictures.
Kirstin Taylor Maldonado is an American singer-songwriter. She is known for being a vocalist in the a cappella group Pentatonix. With the group, she has released seven studio albums, won three Grammy Awards, and sold over six million albums.
Maytree (메이트리) is a South Korean five-member a cappella group. Members are Sang-in(S.I.) Jang, Soo-kyung(Soo) Kang, Young-hoon(Hoony) Kwon, Won-jong Kim, and Su-yeon(Er!ka) Lim. The group's members compose and arrange most of their songs. From 2021, they released numerous sound effect a cappella videos such as Squid Game medley on YouTube and TikTok, which have made them popular.
DCappella was an a cappella group formed via a national search and run by Disney Music Group featuring Disney songs. The group originally consisted of Antonio Fernandez, Joe Santoni, Morgan Keene, Orlando Dixon, RJ Woessner, Shelley Regner, and Sojourner Brown: Kalen Kelly and Kelly Denice Taylor joined the group after Regner and Brown left. Deke Sharon was DCappella’s co-creator, music director, arranger and producer.
Citizen Queen is an American girl group formed in 2018 under the auspices of RCA Records, with mentorship from Pentatonix member Scott Hoying. Originally a five-member group, Citizen Queen consists of vocalists Kaedi Dalley, Cora Isabel, and Nina Ann Nelson.
The Best of Pentatonix Christmas is the first compilation album by American a cappella group Pentatonix. It contains Christmas songs, originally recorded for and included on their holiday albums PTXmas, That's Christmas to Me, A Pentatonix Christmas and Christmas Is Here!, as well as four new songs: "Do You Hear What I Hear?", "God Only Knows", "Joyful, Joyful", and "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch". It was released via RCA Records on October 25, 2019. In December 2019, the group toured the United States in support of the album.
We Need a Little Christmas is the fourth Christmas album, and eighth album overall, by the American a cappella group Pentatonix. It was released on November 13, 2020, by RCA Records.