Last night was a great start to the SingStrong A cappella Festival in Reston, VA! There were rehearsals for the Single Singers, and the first show, the Aca-Idol contest in the evening. The Single Singers was created so that if you do not have a group to sing with during the weekend, you can join others in the same boat. Join them, and you can add your voice to all the others and maybe meet other people to join up for next year. It is a big task to put this all together with a few rehearsals before a performance on Saturday afternoon! So many strong groups competed this year, and the judging by both a cappella-celebrity judges and the crowd was close! In the end, JMU’s Note-oriety took home both the audience favorite and the overall win. Congratulations!
This will be just a quick posting today. I am packing up my gear for a weekend of shooting at SingStrong DC starting this evening. The last I heard, there were still tickets available, so come out if you want to hear some of the best a cappella groups with the proceeds from the event going to the Alzheimer’s Association.
From what I remember from previous years this is a festival geared to real creative musicians. In particular singers that are familiar with the genre. However, other musicians can find how they can fit into group singing. In addition, they have some workshops on the business of music. With this in mind, SingStrong DC is building a community around music.
For fear that I will repeat work I did previously, I am envisioning what to capture this weekend. Although I cannot foresee exactly what the event will look like, I am prepared for something new. I am hoping to try to make some different photos in addition to the other performance photos from the concerts this year. With excited performers, I hope to post updates as soon as I can. Stay tuned to see what happens!
This is a unique music festival held yearly at South Lakes High School in Reston, VA. The focus of the weekend is on a cappella singing – music made without instruments, only with voices. It may sounds restrictive, but much like haiku, the creativity that can come from making entire musical compositions using voices. In some cases you they use percussive mouth drumming, or foot stomping as well. All will amaze the listener! I was in a cappella group in college, and have spent most of my music budget since then on collecting my favorite collegiate, professional, local, national, and international groups.
In 2010, I asked the organizers if they would be in need for a photographer for their event. It has been a privilege to attend, and get some great images of all the performers. There are performances that are open to the public in addition to workshops for singers. Topics range from vocal performance for the studio, on-stage presentation, different styles of a cappella music, to legal considerations of recording and selling music.
Charitable contributions
The best part of the festival is that proceeds from ticket sales and the silent auction go to the Alzheimer’s Association. So you can support a good cause while enjoying this very creative musical form. I encourage you to go to iTunes to sample some of these artists. To get details on this year’s event, you can go to the SingStrong website [ http://dc.singstrong.org/ ] and get information on tickets and groups that are planning to perform.
Having the kind of access that the organizers gave the photographers really helps to make some unique and memorable photographs. I was able to go back stage, get in front during sound checks, and in the balcony to find places that others usually do no go. These are the kinds of photos I want to make, not snapshots that the crowd can get with their camera phones. I need to get these in order to show that investing in good photography is worth the price. If I am only getting shots that everyone can get, it is impossible for my work to stand out, and be recognized. This is a goal that every photographer strives to achieve, and I try to make on every shoot.
