We are honored to host VCN!
In July of 2012, the six members of KeyStone A Cappella traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in their first CASA festival. VoCAL Nation turned out to be an experience that was far beyond our expectations, to say the least. During that weekend, CASA’s Director of Programs Amanda Cornaglia approached Tom about KeyStone potentially hosting VCN in Philadelphia for the summer of 2013.
After an exhaustive 10 week search for a venue, 6 months of conference calls, 10,000 or so emails, and unexpected challenges all along the way, this year’s VoCALnation is only a week away! We quite literally can’t wait for everyone to get here!
Here are some of the amazing activities in store for KeyStone at VCN:
1. Friday afternoon meet-and-greet with all our friends who are members of CASA’s Contemporary A Cappella League
2. A Friday night CAL Showcase concert featuring six of the most accomplished post-collegiate a cappella groups in the country, hosted by KeyStone! You should come see it! Details and tickets here.
3. A Friday after-party at McGillen’s Ale House in Center City. We will have all the shenanigans!
4. Saturday workshops from a fantastic list of instructors, including a workshop on vocal jazz by our headliners, Groove for Thought.
5. Exclusive limited enrollment sessions with industry experts Tom Anderson, Charlie Friday, Danny Ozment, Amy Engelhardt, and a limited session on starting up a post-collegiate group of your own with some of our most successful CAL directors and managers.
6. Saturday aca-bombs (impromptu, informal performances throughout the day) featuring our fellow Philly CAL group Broad Street Beat, New York’s Empire A Cappella, Princeton’s Stay Tuned, and others.
7. A Saturday night concert featuring two fantastic CAL groups and our headliners, Groove for Thought, who will be performing with a vocal percussionist selected during a live audition earlier in the day! This event is also open to the public! Details here.
8. A Saturday after-party at MicGillen’s. We will have all the shenanigans again!
9. A Sunday CAL Brunch that will give us a chance to socialize some more. ‘Cause CASA festivals are about awesome people just as much as the incredible music.
10. Sunday masterclasses for all the participating CAL groups, and then some.
11. Groove for Thought, Fermata Town, and other ticket holders laying down tracks for the official VCN Collaborative Recording.
12. Yet another after-party at McGillin’s. (Just kidding. This after-party will likely involve sleep.)
If this sounds like an amazing weekend to you, it’s not too late to get tickets! Join KeyStone at VoCALnation by purchasing an all-access pass here. If you would just like to attend one of the evening concerts, you can get information about them here (Friday) or here (Saturday).
KeyStone A Cappella is super-pumped about hosting all of these amazing musicians, educators, and producers. We hope you will join us.
