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The Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Festival, the premier American showcase for vocal harmony music, celebrates its 16th year in 2000. The annual national competition draws from hundreds of vocal groups from around the country with regional competitions in eight cities. The winning group from each festival is flown to perform in front of celebrity judges and a sold out house of enthusiastic a cappella fans at the National Finals.
 
         2004 Results | 
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          3rd 
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          Duende 
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          Audience Favorite 
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          Sons Of Pitches  
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          Best Arrangement 
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           "Star And 
Stripes" - Israel
          
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CrossRoads, the a cappella sensation from Hershey Park in Hershey, PA has been wowing crowds for the past 3 years. This young energetic group performs songs from artists like the Beach Boys and the Beatles to Huey Lewis and the Dave Matthews Band as well as other contemporary artists. Every CrossRoads show is surrounded with a mix of crowd interaction, infectious energy, humor, and of course 4 strong voices the make wonderful music with every chord.
Members: Brandon Brooks, Brian Schreiner, Jeremiah 
Brooks, and
     Chad Tully.
     
     Duwende (Doo-WEN-day) is six
     voices with nothing between them and the audience but a bank of 
monitors and
     some wireless microphones. They wail, they scream, they sweat. They dispose
     of the fluff, stripping rock music down to its most essential elements and
     building it back up again, using nothing but lung power and soul. 
The result
     is thrilling, booty-shaking, refreshingly honest funk/pop unlike anything
     that's been seen or heard in quite some time. Since 1998 Duwende has been
     playing clubs, colleges and events up and down the East Coast, building a
     loyal following along the way. Their music has received critical acclaim in
     print publications and
     online, including The Boston Globe, garageband.com, and Billboard Magazine.
   
Members: Jason Baluyut, Geoff Barnes, Edward Chung, Abbey
     Janes, Morgan Phillips, and Ari Picker.
     
     High Five
     is an award winning, mixed voice, 5-part, a cappella jazz quintet from the
     Baltimore-Washington area creating music and fun wherever music lovers can
     be found. With more than a century of combined musical 
experience, the full-chord
     sound definitely shows off their 'Barbershop' style background. 
This, combined
     with an undisputable jazz influence & champion arranger, 
makes an ensemble
     that is unmistakably, High Five! 
     
     Members: Janet Montrie, Christy Brannock, Lori Dreyer, Joe Mannherz, and
     Mike Kelly.
     
     Israel is an acappella ensemble taken
     from the larger Mass Choir of the Church of God & Saints of 
Christ. Influenced
     by the likes of recording artists such as Take 6, Israel promises to refine
     a cappella music. 
     
     Members: Rev. Jesse Hendricks, Erikka Hendricks, April Grant, 
Crystal Grant,
     James Grant, Delilah Marshall, and Robert Grant.
     
     Seul (pronounce "Soul") is a
     vocal group of five women with the love of a cappella jazz, pop and R&B
     music. Based in New York City and heavily influenced by Jazz and Christian
     music, they are sure to give a wide range of vocals with 
beautiful textures.
     
     
     Members: Ronnie Rochester, Keesha Gumbs, Kimberly Robinson, Beverly Anne
     Burton, and Tamika Gumbs.
     
     The Sirens
     are an all-female a cappella sextet based in NYC. Six fabulous, 
talented women,
     they have been singing together since the Fall of 2000 and have 
built a diverse
     and fun repertoire based on music they enjoy and their audience 
loves. Their
     musical style is broad and ranges from classics like "Moon River" to modern
     hits by Lenny Kravitz, Sarah McLachlan, Radiohead, and Lauryn Hill. 
Members: Marnie Black, Joanna Lovell, Yeraz 
Markarian, Tari
     Suprapto, Rachel Wallins, and Wendy White.
     
     Sons of Pitches is new to
     the professional music world although they span four years as 
college favorites.
     Their spectacular harmonies coupled with striking arrangements 
and originals
     have earned them dozens of sold out shows in theatres across 
upstate NY including
     Ithaca's 1650 seat State Theatre. They have shared the bill with The Four
     Tops and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame artists, The Temptations. Their third
     CD earned them accolades for their versatility and style matched with sales
     totaling 20,000 to date. These five talented guys are also master showmen
     whose music, charisma and humor leave audiences hungering for more. This is
     the first competition for Sons of Pitches and they are excited to perform
     in Harmony Sweepstakes. 
     
     Members: Ryan James Ainsworth, Ross Mizrahi, Thomas Morris, Eric Toyama,
     and James Wheal.
     
     Vox Bop is a mixed a 
cappella quartet
     that performs a wide variety of musical styles, from the lyrical beauty of
     the Renaissance to the lush harmonies of the Jazz Era to eclectic 
arrangements
     of pop classics. Vox Bop won the best award for Best Original Song at the
     2001 National Harmony Sweepstakes after winning many awards at the New York
     City Regionals in 2001. The group was interviewed and featured in 
a 12-minute
     piece on National Public Radio's "All Things 
Considered" in December
     1999. They also appeared as the house band on a Christmas taping 
of NBC-TV's
     "The Ainsley Harriott Show" and in a national television ad for
     Amazon.com. During the summer of 2000, Vox Bop was a featured performer at
     the Alandia Jazz Festival in Finland. 
Member: David Deschamps, Peter Fisher, Maura 
May, and Melissa
     Munn.
     
     Six women, culturally and musically dynamic, create a unique convergence of
     voices and creative expression that is Voxy.
     Since its beginnings in 1999, Voxy a cappella has aspired to 
bring a new perspective
     and approach to contemporary melodies, performing in different 
languages (as
     almost all of the ladies are bi-lingual) and applying creative 
musical styles
     to popular songs. Described as having a lush and global flavor, 
Voxy reaches
     its audience through culture, sound, and visual expression. 
Members: Aley Kent, Alie Shaper, Angel 
D'Antonio, Indu Raghuraman,
     Margaret, Laszczak, Margaret McKegney, and Maria-Stella 
Fountoulakis.
   
Yasna Voices (yasna means
     "clear" in Bulgarian) is Brooklyn's only Bulgarian women's choir,
     founded in late 2002. This all-female vocal group, led by singer 
and musician
     Vlada Tomova, specializes in Bulgarian Folk music and other international
     vocal traditions and techniques. Yasna's mission is to introduce audiences
     to this rich vocal tradition. Yasna Voices has recently been 
awarded a Community
     grant from the Brooklyn Arts Council to present a program of "women's
     work woven through song". 
     
     Members: Vlada Tomova,Kristin Epseland, Corinna Snyder, Rachel Freeman,
     Sarah Small, Erin Stratford, and Sue Dennis.
      
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