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UT will play host to a variety of a cappella events in January.

Former Pentatonix member and three-time Grammy Award winner Avi Kaplan returns to campus for the fourth annual VOLcappella celebration, which includes a high school a cappella group competition, workshops for area students, and concerts on January 12 and 13.

Avi Kaplan
Avi Kaplan, from the Grammy award-winning musical group Pentatonix, working with students at UT in 2016. He was here for the first annual Contemporary A Cappella Clinic.

Kaplan’s participation last year and again this year was coordinated by Assistant Professor Jaclyn Johnson, the School of Music’s associate director of choral activities. Johnson and Kaplan got to know each other when they were both students at Mt. San Antonio College in California.

VOLcappella begins at 8 p.m. Friday, January 12, with a high school a cappella group competition to be judged by Kaplan. Winning groups will have on-stage clinics with Kaplan during Saturday’s workshops and perform in the Saturday night concert, which begins at 8 p.m., with UT’s a cappella groups—the UT Singers, VOLume, and reVOLution.

The Friday competition and Saturday concert, both to be held in the James R. Cox Auditorium of UT’s Alumni Memorial Building, are open to the public. Tickets are $5 for the competition and $10 for the concert and can be purchased online or at the door.

On January 26–27, UT School of Music will host high school and collegiate a cappella competitions.

On Friday, January 26, the 2018 International Championship of High School A Cappella Quarterfinals ensemble concert will be held at 7 p.m. in the Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall of UT’s Natalie L. Haslam Music Center. The concert is open to the public. Tickets are $20 for the public and $15 for students with IDs and can be purchased online.

Participating groups will come from Alpharetta High School in Alpharetta, Georgia; Myers Park High School in Charlotte, North Carolina; Seymour High School in Seymour, Tennessee; and Providence High School in Charlotte, North Carolina.

On Saturday, January 27, the 2018 International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella Quarterfinals ensemble concert will be held at 7 p.m. in Cox Auditorium of UT’s Alumni Memorial Building. Tickets are $20 for the public and $15 for students with IDs and can be purchased online.

Participating groups include ensembles from Belmont University, East Tennessee State University, Emory University, Murray State University, Vanderbilt University, and three groups from UT, including the UT Singers, recognized by the Tennessee State Legislature as Tennessee’s musical ambassadors.

CONTACT:

Landin Lynd (865-974-8935, llynd@utk.edu)

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)