FIRST impression of Key Elements' late nite FIRSTS concert on 29 May 2009
Upon stepping in the Esplanade Recital studio, it was pretty much a full house last night, a concert attended by friends and fans alike. I came as a supporter of local a cappella with my friend in delightful expectation of what repertoire jazz-infused a cappella group Key Elements [KE] could come up with. As expected , KE opened with their signature jazz-tinged arranged of I'm Beginning To See The Light. However, the audience truly warmed up to KE when they mentioned their stint and the song which they could not reach pass the 1st stanza at the Hokkien Huay Kuan with a cutesy choreography. In fact, I was rather impressed with the simplistic jazz take of a familiar Hokkien classic ???? Jit Lang Jit Pua as sang by Jason Ong, the songwriter-arranger of the group. Yes, that song had the audience hooting in laughter. Not only that, the audience were amusingly prompted by the KE "girls" [ Susanna and Hui Lian] to be screaming fans when the "boys" of KE [ Vaughn, Kim Beng, Jason and Benedict] sang a classic but simple barbershop arrangement of Come Go with Me and the guys proved to be able to sound effortlessly, harmonically tight in this piece. Benedict [KE's baritone] even attempted a familiar Korean ballad I Believe from the Korean movie "My Sassy Girl", after which Jason jokingly said a greeting in Korean. The audience even had the chance to "support" KE by waving their handphone lights along with the disco ball light with the feeling of a travel back in time. Despite the members having bouts of flu as KE mentioned during the concert, KE did their utmost best.Especially so for tenor lead Kim Beng who gave quite an impressionable lead on a pop song [ title unknown?] where he had to challenge the mezzo-soprano register of Susanna [ KE's mezzo-soprano]. I admit it was a brave feat for KE to attempt pop-rock genre and even imitating the string ensemble as they seem more comfortable and at ease singing the jazz genre. After all, they are more jazz- influenced. Ching Mei

QS WorldARTS Tour 2010
The A Cappella Society is proud to be a partner of QS WorldARTS Tour 2010 in Singapore. In response to demand for a specialised marketing and student recruitment facility for local and worldwide creative and performing arts institutions, QS WorldARTS Tour will be a unique series of dedicated international promotional events in key Asian cities. QS WorldARTS Tour events will be staged in an environment uniquely prepared to support the special cultures of the creative and performing arts and the special people that teach and practise them. For more infos and all the details visit the website

Free CDs to Choral Students
Tunes To Teens is turning up the volume this fall, making its CD donation program available to high school and junior high school choruses free of charge. Since 2003, more than 3,000 students have received a cappella CDs donated by singers, educators and fans of unaccompanied vocal music. Usually, chorus directors must contribute $1 per CD to help cover the expenses of the nonprofit program. But this fall, those fees will be waived for school choruses that are new to the program, in an effort to reach more singers in more regions. That means more access to contemporary a cappella, the addictive trend of translating rock, jazz and world music into a captivating all-vocal style.
Full Press Release - Program Details

Vokal Total
Germany's biggest A Cappella Festival, 17 Oct-13 Dec 2008, 25 concerts featuring 31 groups from Europe and America. 17.10. Die Echten 18.10. cash-n-go 19.10. Pikkardijska Terzija 24.10. Principianti Die A-Cappella-Mix-Night mit: aMuSing, StimmBand und Voicenet 25.10. Terzinfarkt 26.10. Ganz Schön Feist 30.10. Vocal Sampling 31.10. in-Voice 07.11. Cadence 08.11. Martin O. 09.11. Principianti Die A-Cappella-Mix-Night mit: Die Quartbreakers, High Five und Bliss 14.11. Klangbezirk Special Guest: Don Camillo Chor 15.11. Flowalicious 16.11. Rock4 21.11. Voice Male 22.11. Harmony Central 23.11. Viva Voce ? A-Cappella-Boyband 28.11. 4she Special Guest: Herrenbesuch 29.11. maybebop 05.12. Camerata 06.12. Füenf 07.12. VoicesInTime 10.12. Wise Guys 12.12. vocaldente 13.12. U-Bahn Kontrollöre in tiefgefrorenen Frauenkleidern

Imagine Cup Photography Category
We are happy, exited and proud to share that TAS' resident Technical Director, Chan Xiang Ju, who has been tirelessly taking video footage and photographs of most if not all of TAS' activities from the society's inception, has qualified for the finals of Imagine Cup in France and has been awarded an expense paid trip to France for the finals this June. Our well wishes will be with him all the way to France! Xiang ju's blog site http://www.sgsnap.com/?p=39

24th Harmony Sweepstakes
The Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Festival is the premier American showcase for vocal harmony music. 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. 2008 National Champions: Vocaldente. With a rich and varied repertoire covering more than 80 years, they entertain and delight their audience with songs and pieces from the Comedian Harmonists to rock 'n' roll and ABBA, from the big 80s hits to the latest pop, always presented in the gloriously elaborate sound of five professionally educated voices.