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Columbia Artists Presents

A CAPPELLA LIVE!Featuring

Committed, The Filharmonic, Blake Lewis & Women of the WorldDeke Sharon, Creative Director

A CAPPELLA LIVE!Monday, February 3, 2020; 7:30 pmTuesday, February 4, 2020; 7:30 pm

DEKE SHARON, Creative DirectorProducer of "The Sing-Off" and Arranger and Musical Director for the "Pitch Perfect" Trilogy

BLAKE LEWIS

COMMITTED THE FILHARMONICTHE FILHARMONIC

WOMEN OF THE WORLDWOMEN OF THE WORLD

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A Cappella Live!2020 USA Tour Program

Act1

[See Insert]

One 15-minute Intermission.

Act 2

[See Insert]

A CAPPELLA LIVE!

Artistic Director & Vocal ArrangementsDeke Sharon

Tour Booked and Produced by Columbia Artists

Company Manager Paul Silveira

Production ManagerMike Kasprzyk

Audio EngineerCharlie Friday

ChoreographerKristin Denehy

COMMITTEDRandell HallBrent HoyteGeston PierreMaurice StapleTheron “Therry” Thomas II

THE FILHARMONICJoe Caigoy, vocalistJules Cruz, vocal bassTrace Gaynor, vocalistNiko Del Rey, beat boxerVj Rosales, vocalist

BEAT BOXER BLAKE LEWIS

WOMEN OF THE WORLDAyumi Ueda Annette Philip Débo Ray Giorgia Renosto

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ABOUT A CAPPELLA LIVE!

The past few years have been a Renaissance for a cappella — with a perfect storm of movies, television, YouTube, and radio — breathing new life and excitement into the world’s first musical form.

And as great as it is to see and hear a cappella performances on screens large and small, the best way to experience vocal harmony is in person. And so A Cappella Live was born.

Built on the classic Motown review tour model, A Cappella Live is bringing four of the nation’s greatest a cappella acts to performing arts centers around America:

The charming boyband sound and moves of The FilharmonicThe rich harmonies of Gospel/R&B legends CommittedChart-topping lead vocals and live-looping beatbox by Blake LewisInternationally-inspired songstresses Women of the World

Never before have four acts of this caliber been brought together on the same stage on the same night. Audiences will have an opportunity to hear each group perform their greatest and best-known hits as well as large-scale production numbers featuring all four groups, plus some additional special surprises.

A Cappella Live is a show that is guaranteed to appeal to all ages, spanning a wide range of music with something new happening at every turn.

COMMITTED is an a cappella group composed of six male vocalists from Huntsville, Alabama. All are graduates of Oakwood University. The group won the second season of the musical competition The "Sing-Off" on NBC, performing a jaw-dropping arrangement of “We Are the Champions” from Queen. In 2011, Committed released their self-titled album, Committed, on Epic Records. Their 2015 Christmas album, Home for Christmas, earned the group a Grammy nomination for the rendition of “Do You Hear What I Hear.” Committed are Randell Hall, Brent Hoyte, Theron “Therry” Thomas, Maurice Staple, and Geston Pierre.

THE FILHARMONIC, a Los Angeles-based a cappella group of Filipino-American youngsters has much to sing about. After being featured in NBC’S hit musical competition "The Sing-Off," the 5-piece vocal group made the semi-finals and joined The Sing-Off National Tour. They were featured in the Universal Pictures hit movie, Pitch Perfect 2, and became a viral sensation after their "Late Late Show" appearances. In 2016, The Filharmonic brought their unique blend of hip hop, pop, and ’90s nostalgia to more than 150 stages nationwide and were named the #1 college booked entertainment group of the year. Most recently they have

opened for acts such as Fifth Harmony, Pentatonix, Future and Filipino super sensation Gary V. They consist of vocalists Vj Rosales, Joe Caigoy, Trace Gaynor, Vocal Bass Jules Cruz, and Beat Boxer Niko Del Rey.

BLAKE LEWIS first came to national attention as one of the most unique contestants ever to compete on American Idol, and long before that, as a teenager, he was well-known as “Bshorty” in Seattle’s a cappella, hip-hop, and rave scenes. But with the release of his ambitious and completely independent third album, Portrait of a Chameleon, Blake is taking things to a whole new level.

WOMEN OF THE WORLD is an award-winning international a cappella quartet that performs original and traditional folk music in 32 languages with a contemporary twist. The four singers represent Japan, Italy, India, and USA (by way of Haiti). Despite differences in upbringing, language, religion, ethnicity, food, and music, they are bound by one unique desire: to explore sounds, rhythms, and musical vocabulary from all over the world. Since 2008, Women of the World has journeyed through the music of Africa, South America, Asia and Europe, presenting audiences an exhilarating experience through chants, storytelling, dance, percussion, and improvisation. Mentored by Grammy award-winning maestro Bobby McFerrin, Women of the World have also collaborated with powerhouse American songstress Nona Hendryx, African vocal icon Angelique Kidjo, Greek classical artist Mario Frangoulis, and the Boston Pops Orchestra led by maestro conductor Keith Lockhart. Women of the World are Ayumi Ueda, Annette Philip, Débo Ray, and Giorgia Renosto.

DEKE SHARON (Vocal Arrangements) is creative artistic director of A Cappella Live! Heralded as “The Father of Contemporary A Cappella,” (Entertainment Weekly), Deke Sharon is responsible for the current sound of modern a cappella, having created the dense vocal-instrumental sound in college, subsequently spreading it around the world. Deke produced NBC’s “The Sing-Off” worldwide (USA, Netherlands, China, South Africa) and served as arranger, on-site music director and vocal producer for Universal's Pitch Perfect 1, 2 & 3 starring Anna Kendrick & Rebel Wilson. Deke founded the Contemporary A Cappella Society while in college, and is responsible for many seminal a cappella programs. He is also contemporary cappella's most prolific arranger, having arranged over 2,000 songs, with a thousand of them in print worldwide with Hal Leonard/Contemporary A Cappella Publishing. He has written 5 books “Acappella Arranging” (2012), “A Cappella”

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(2015) and “The Heart of Vocal Harmony” (2016) “A Cappella Warmups for Pop and Jazz Choir" (2017) and “So You Want To Sing A Cappella” (2017). As the founder, director and arranger for the House Jacks for 24 years, the original “Rock Band Without Instruments,” Deke shared the stage with countless music legends, including Ray Charles, James Brown, Crosby Stills and Nash, Run DMC, The Temptations, LL Cool J and the Four Tops, and performed for luminaries including President Bill Clinton. He has produced dozens of award-winning a cappella albums (including Straight No Chaser, Committed, Nota, Street Corner Symphony, the Tufts Beelzebubs, Pitch Perfect and In Transit), created a cappella groups for Disneyland and Disneyworld, and frequently tours the world teaching students and professional singers. His voice can be heard in commercials and video games, including “Just Dance Kids 2.” He is one of only 20 honorary members of the Barbershop Harmony Society since 1938, as well as an honorary member of BYU Vocal Point, received CASA's lifetime achievement award in 2016 and the Tufts Barnum award for excellence in education in 2017. You can see him on television on Lifetime’s “Pitch Slapped” and BBC One’s: “Pitch Battle.” His latest project is Disney’s "DCappella."

PROGRAM NOTE

The highest praise one can give an instrumentalist is to say that they make their instrument “sing”… which nowadays seems unnecessary as today’s top a cappella groups are singing every instrumental part from the rhythm section (bass & drums) through guitars, trumpets, and even synthesizers. A cappella is the oldest music in the world, and yet with modern techniques it’s also the freshest sound, with today’s groups welcoming a new legion of fans into the incredible world of vocal harmony.

Tonight’s acts are four of the very best in today’s a cappella scene, each representing a different style and sensibility. Each are successful performers on their own, but when presented together in this inaugural year of A Cappella Live, they make a statement about the incredible power and diversity possible within vocal harmony. Tonight you’ll hear rock, pop, jazz, folk, r&b, gospel, techno and so many other styles, yet every sound is human. Diversity is at the center of it all: a diversity of vocal sounds, of styles, of backgrounds and traditions. Yet when it’s all brought together, presented side

to side, it’s an almost overwhelming display of the power of human expression.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy tonight’s show. If you find yourself singing along, don’t be shy. And if you want to sing in a group in your area, or start a group, feel free to reach out to me personally - deke@dekesharon.com. My not-so-subtle motive in presenting an event like this is to get more people singing, and spread more social harmony through vocal harmony. We’d love to have you, and yes: it’s as fun as it looks.

— Deke Sharon