The Voice Festival UK (VF-UK) is a UK arts education charity dedicated to contemporary a cappella, unaccompanied singing.
The Voice Festival's central purpose is to increase the awareness and popularity of the a cappella art form in the UK, and to support the development of the existing UK a cappella scene, by recruiting and encouraging new participants, developing new audiences, supporting and educating existing participants and building UK a cappella communities.
History Founded in 2008, the Voice Festival UK was conceived by two a cappella singers from the University of Oxford, who wanted to help support and develop the growing a cappella scene in the UK. In its infancy, the Voice Festival offered a competition for university a cappella groups alongside workshops, and had around eight participating groups.
Still run by a growing team of volunteers, the organisation has increased its offering year on year, and now offers a series of workshops, masterclasses, concerts, competitions and networking events for singers of all ages across three separate programmes: youth, university and community. Events takes place throughout the year, with highlights being the annual Festival Weekend in Spring, and a showcase at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August.
From 2009 to 2010, there were three regional rounds of the Festival, held in Oxford, Cambridge and St Andrews. In 2011, two new regional rounds were added in London and Birmingham. In 2012, the Cambridge round was scrapped due to lack of participants, but was replaced by a round in Bristol. This year also saw youth and community categories added to the competition. In 2014, regional rounds were replaced by a single video round.
On three occasions, the winners of the annual university competition have been invited to perform at the ICCA final in New York. In 2009, Out of the Blue came second in the finals. The 2010 winners, The Oxford Gargoyles, were unable to compete in the final in New York due to the University of Oxford's exam timetable. Cadenza competed in the ICCA finals in New York in 2011 but did not place.
Discography The Voice Festival UK has released two compilation albums, showcasing cover songs arranged and performed by both professional and amateur a cappella artists from across the UK. The Voice Collection 2013 was released at the London A Cappella Festival. The Voice Collection II arrived three years later, released at the 2016 Festival Weekend.
The Voice Collection 2013 No.Song titleArtist1.FreeThe Boxettes2.Summer SensesFuchsia3. Rumour Has It / MercyIn The Pink4.Hide and SeekAll The King's Men5.Til There Was YouFinesse6.Jailhouse RockVoces87.RoxanneThe Oxford Belles8.Addicted to LoveThe Refrains9.Smile PleaseJack Telfer St. Claire10.Ex FactorIn The Smoke11. It Was Almost Like A SongHavoc12.ImprovisationShlomo vs. Ruby Wood 13.You've Got The LoveApollo514.High (Forever You And Me)Vive15.EarthquakeThe Techtonics
The Voice Collection II No.Song titleArtist1.BurnAfterParty2.Sam Smith MedleyThe Rolling Tones3.BlindsidedThe Accidentals4. Holding Out For A HeroThe Scopes5.Rich ManSemi-Toned6.I Feel Like A WomanOxford Gargoyles7.GalvanizeThe Songsmiths8.Bad RomanceRestless Symphony9.Accidentally In LoveKiller Quines10.Just Be The Bristol Suspensions11.Last NightThe Beatroots12.Use SomebodyThe Wellingtones13.Michael Jackson MedleyThe Cosmopolitones14.She Will Be LovedChoir of Dave15.Happy2014 Festival Weekend Participants
Results of the University Competition 2009–2013 Year Cambridge Regional Oxford Regional St Andrews Regional Birmingham Regional London Regional Bristol Regional Wildcard Overall winner 2009 CadenzaThe Oxford Alternotives Out of the BlueThe Oxford Belles The Other GuysThe Alleycats Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not awarded Out of the BlueVoice Festival UK Past Results Retrieved 12 July 2011 2010 CadenzaThe Fitz Sirens Out of the BlueThe Oxford Gargoyles The AlleycatsThe Accidentals Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Fitz Barbershop The Oxford Gargoyles 2011 Cadenza Out of the Blue The Accidentals Augmented Seven All The King's Men Not applicable Not awarded Cadenza 2012 Not applicable Out of the Blue The Other Guys Sons of Pitches All The King's Men HotTUBBS Not awarded All The King's Men 2013 Not applicable The Oxford Alternotives Choral Stimulation Sons of Pitches All the King's MenVive Semi-Toned Not awarded Vive
2014–present The 2014 competition saw a change in format, in which the regional rounds were scrapped, and competitors applied for the competition via video entry, from which 12 groups were taken through to a 'semi-final', and then five groups went through to the final. This allowed more groups to apply, and ensured that all groups were judged fairly and equally by one set of judges.
Year Semi-Finalists Finalists Overall winner 2014 The Accidentals, The Alleycats, All the King’s Men, Choral Stimulation, The King's Chicks, Out of the Blue, The Scopes, Semi-Toned, The Songsmiths, The Sons of Pitches, The Techtonics, The Uptone Girls All the King’s Men, Out of the Blue, Semi-Toned, The Songsmiths, The Techtonics Out of the Blue 2015 Aberpella, The Accidentals, The Alleycats, All the King's Men, Aquapella, The Bristol Suspensions, Choral Stimulation, The Rolling Tones, The Scopes, Semi-Toned, The Songsmiths, Sweet Nothings Semi-Toned, The Alleycats, The Songsmiths, Choral Stimulation, The Rolling Tones Semi-Toned Ward Swingle Award for Originality: Choral Stimulation2016Sweet Nothings, Northern Lights, Pitch Fight, Aquapella, The Bluebelles, The Alleycats, Killer Quines, RadioOctave, The Songsmiths, Bristol Suspensions, Cadenza, The Rolling TonesThe Bristol Suspensions, The Songsmiths, Cadenza, Aquapella, The Rolling TonesThe Bristol Suspensions2017Aberpella, Aca-pocalypse, The Bluebelles, In The Pink, RadioOctave, The Rolling Tones, The Songsmiths, Sweet Nothings, Tone Up, Vocal Focus, VoxIn The Pink, The Rolling Tones, The Songsmiths, Sweet Nothings, Tone UpThe Rolling Tones2018Aca-pocalypse, Academy, Aquapella, Decibelles, Alvarium (formerly known as Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them), Killer Quines, Licence to Trill, Pitch Fight, RadioOctave, Tone Up, Cosmopolitones, The Oxford CommasLicence to Trill, Pitch Fight, Aquapella, Tone Up, Alvarium (formerly known as Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them)Aquapella
Results of the Youth Competition Year Overall winner2012Acabelles2013The Wellingtones2014The Tiffinians2015The Dreamettes2016The Tiffinians2018The King's Barbers
Results of the Community Competition YearOverall winner2012In The Smoke2013Original Sing2015In The Smoke2016In The Smoke
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