The carnival is over ... and it was big!
What’s a cappella? If you're unfamiliar with the term, you had the opportunity to get familiar with the actual experience in Spring 2008 … the uplifting effect of the unadorned, unaccompanied human voice singing in delicious harmony. Think Manhattan Transfer. Think Take 6. There's nothing quite like it.
Presented by The Cleftomaniacs, the Festival brought together an exciting array of a cappella talent in The Sound Lounge at the Seymour Theatre Centre in Chippendale. There were six shows to choose from, featuring many award-winning performers in an atmospheric, cabaret-style venue. From choirs to quartets, the music ranged from high energy gospel, contemporary and retro pop, blues, jazz, world, folk, classical, barbershop … and everything in between. If you'd seen The Battle of the Choirs on the box, you would have had an idea of what to expect, although the Festival line-up offered a much broader range of musical styles and extravagant "choralography" was verboten!
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The Festival was a sell-out success! The Festival team has now caught its collective breath after some fairly intense months of planning and organisation. We'd love to receive feedback on your Festival experience, whether as an audience member or performer.
The Cleffies received unambiguously positive feedback from singers and audiences and general appreciation for mounting this event. The atmosphere was highly charged and the mood was very friendly, warm and intimate. The overriding vibe was one of enthusiasm and support.
From the outset, it was our hope and intention that this year’s festival would provide a blueprint and an inspiration for other choirs, groups or individuals to take up the challenge and, in the spirit of community music making, put together subsequent festivals. We think that a community such as ours can continue to provide performance opportunities like this if the work is shared. The Cleffies have shown that it is possible, with assistance and support from the wider a cappella community, to mount a small, successful festival which has provided an opportunity for 24 groups to present their work. We look forward to someone taking up the challenge!
The Cleftomaniacs would like to invite individuals and groups to contact us with any expressions of interest in this idea. We've now accumulated some considerable resources and we can make available some financial assistance for people who might like to put on another a cappella festival.
Festival Venue
The Sound Lounge is an intimate live music venue, with tables and chairs set in cabaret mode. Light meals and refreshments were available from the Sound Lounge bar, or there was the option of a delicious a pre-show meal from 6pm at the Gourmet BBQ in the Seymour Centre courtyard.
We told you tickets were limited!
The intimate size of The Sound Lounge meant that tickets for each show were very limited, so it was no lame marketing ploy when we suggested people book asap - most shows sold out very early! Tickets were available from The Seymour Theatre Centre Box Office. Check out the Festival Programme for the lineup of 2008 performers.
Performer Registration
If you’d like to register your interest in performing at the next Sydney A Cappella Festival, use the online performer registration form to tell us who you are and what you do. We certainly hope the festival will continue into 2009 and beyond.
