The A Cappella Championships 09 were held on 31 July at The Arts House Chamber and 1 & 2 August at Esplanade Recital Studio. Due to the large number of registrations, in total 32 groups signed up, the competition was held over 2 rounds for the first time. The first day at The Arts House saw the competition within the categories of High School, College and Open Ensembles. As the event proceeded into the evening hours, we recorded a full house which saw fine performances throughout from all the groups. The prevalent opinion from the international judges and audience members was that the standard of A Cappella groups in Singapore has increased drastically and is very high as witnessed in the competition.
On 1 August was the Choir Final at Esplanade Recital Studio. We again saw a wide range in the age of participating choirs and still a rather low number of participants as most choirs are reluctant to include contemporary music in their repertoire. However, there is a growing interest and response and we'll continue to reach out to the choirs and hope to get more choirs to take part and fill the various categories for a more contested competition over the next years.
On 2 August was the Ensemble Final at Esplanade Recital Studio, where the best 9 groups from the 1st round competed for the overall A Cappella Champion. The evening was again a sold out success with great performances by all groups and an enthusiastic audience cheering for all participants led by the 09 Champions, SHaca.
The A Cappella Championships 09, a SHINE Festival event supported by the National Youth Council and the National Arts Council, was a great success. There was a surge in the number of participants and also an increase in the audience figure which attests to the healthy state of A Cappella in Singapore. Furthermore, the quality of singing was hailed as very high in general which strengthens our hope that the past work is bearing fruit and can be sustained in the future.
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