The SoCal VoCals are the first of nine

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

groups from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. Founded in 1996, the group's signature achievement is being the only a cappella group to win five titles in ICCA, which it accomplished in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015, and 2018. In 2020, The A Cappella Archive ranked The SoCal VoCals at #1 out of all ICCA-competing groups. The group comprises between 13 and 19 male and female students who arrange and sing songs from multiple genres, including pop, rock, and jazz. The group has released seven albums and has performed in venues including the

Staples Center Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999; it was ...

Walt Disney Concert Hall The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was opened on October 24, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Ave ...

, the Rose Bowl, the Los Angeles

House of Blues House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers''. The first location opened at ...

, the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

and the

Getty Center The Getty Center, in Los Angeles, California, is a campus of the Getty Museum and other programs of the Getty Trust. The $1.3 billion center opened to the public on December 16, 1997 and is well known for its architecture, gardens, and views over ...

. The SoCal VoCals are known for their energetic performance style and school spirit: they are the only USC a cappella group to perform a rendition of the University's Alma Mater.Deelstra, Jacqueline. "USC's A Cappella Explosion." Daily Trojan. 4 Nov. 2002: A7-8.

History

In April, 2008, the SoCal VoCals took first place in the ICCAs at New York City's Lincoln Center, winning the title "Grand Champions." The next morning, they were featured on ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...

''. In April, 2010, the SoCal VoCals returned to Lincoln Center and reclaimed the ICCA title, making them one of only two groups to win that title more than once. On April 29, 2012, the SoCal VoCals performed in competition at Town Hall in New York City. They won their third ICCA title, and became the first to have won the title by winning the Wildcard round. On April 18, 2015, the SoCal VoCals competed at the Beacon Theatre to win for the fourth time, claiming the newly minted trophy and adding to their already-unchallenged record of victories.. On April 21, 2018, the SoCal Vocals returned to The Beacon Theatre to win ICCA for the fifth time. The SoCal VoCals are the first group to ever win ICCA five times. In September, 2018, The SoCal VoCals took home second place at the A Cappella Open at

in New York City.

Notable Spinoffs

In November, 2009, one current members of the USC SoCal VoCals joined with seven VoCal alumni to compete as "The SoCals" on NBC's first a cappella competition, ''

The Sing-Off ''The Sing-Off'' was an American television singing competition featuring a cappella groups. It debuted on NBC on December 14, 2009, and was produced by Sony Pictures Television and Outlaw Productions, with Mark Burnett's One Three Media (for a ...

''. In 2010, five current and former members of the VoCals competed in Season 2 of "The Sing-Off" as members of "The Backbeats." In 2011

Scott Hoying Scott Richard Hoying (born September 17, 1991)Nguyen, Mindy (December 19, 2016A Pentatonix Christmas (Music Review)The Lion's Roar is an American singer, musician and songwriter who came to international attention as the baritone of the a cappell ...

, a member of the SoCal VoCals, led a team of five people to win NBC's third season of "The Sing-Off" as

Pentatonix Pentatonix (abbreviated PTX) is an American a cappella group from Arlington, Texas, currently consisting of vocalists Mitch Grassi, Scott Hoying, Kirstin Maldonado, Kevin Olusola, and Matt Sallee. Characterized by their pop-style arrangements ...

. In 2013, VoCal alumni Emily Goglia competed on The Sing-Off as one of two leaders for the group Element. In 2013, SoCal VoCals Kenton Chen, Rachel Saltzman, Ben Bram, and Allie Feder joined with other Sing-Off alumni to form an a cappella group called Level. They have since performed on The Late Late Show with James Corden. Another SoCal VoCal alum, Gabriel Leung, has joined them on occasion. In 2014, SoCal VoCal alumni Ben Bram co-founded A Cappella Academy along with fellow Sing-Off arranger Rob Dietz, and former Pentatonix bass vocalist,

Avi Kaplan Avriel Benjamin Kaplan (born April 17, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his basso profondo range and for his tenure as the vocal bass of the a cappella group Pentatonix from 2011 to 2017. As a part of the group, he relea ...

. The camp has produced many of the nation's top a cappella singers. In 2018, SoCal VoCal then-current member Elizabeth Gaba placed in the top 24 for American Idol. In 2018, SoCal VoCal members Kaylah Baker and Nina Nelson left The SoCal VoCals to be a part of the all-female a cappella group,

Citizen Queen Citizen Queen is an American girl group consisting of vocalists Kaedi Dalley, Cora Isabel, Nina Nelson, and Kaylah Sharve’. The group was formed in 2018 under the auspices of RCA Records, with mentorship from Pentatonix member Scott Hoying. ...

. In 2019, tenor Jej Vinson reached the top 16 on NBC's ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'' and his blind audition of "Passionfruit" has amassed almost 10 million views on YouTube as of March 2020.

Notable alumni

Ross Golan Ross Golan (born April 8, 1980) is a multi-award-winning, multi-platinum selling, American songwriter, record producer and playwright. Life and career Early career Golan graduated from Deerfield High School (Illinois) of Deerfield, Illinois in ...

Ben Bram
* Nina Ann Nelson, member of

* Kaylah Sharve, member of

Audra Levi Audra Levi Priluck (born Audra Levi; 1974) (also known as Audra Lee) is an American actress, singer, producer and writer. Early ages Audra Levi was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Levi's musical path began when her grandmother Estelle Karp taught ...

aka Audra Lee * James Snyder * Rachel Bearer, member of

ARORA Arora is a community of Punjab, comprising both Hindus and Sikhs. The name is derived from their native place Aror. Historically, the Arora section of the Khatri community had been principally found in West Punjab, in the districts to the sou ...

Kelley Jakle Kelley Jakle is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She played the role of Jessica Smith in the Pitch Perfect (film series), ''Pitch Perfect'' series (2012–2017) and appeared on the The Sing-Off (season 1), first and The Sing-Off (seaso ...

Juliette Goglia Juliette Rose Goglia (born September 22, 1995) is an American actress, singer and musician. She is best known for portraying Sierra in the Disney Channel series ''That's So Raven'', Hannah West in the CBS series ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation' ...

Catherine Ricafort Catherine Ricafort is an American actress, singer, software engineer, and entrepreneur. Ricafort has appeared in several Broadway productions, including Allegiance, the 2013 production of Cinderella, Mamma Mia!, Disaster! and Honeymoon in Vegas ...

Discography

''Albums''

* ''This Ain't No Choir, Babe'' (1997) * ''This 2 Shall Rock'' (1999) * ''V3: Previously Unreleased'' (2001) * ''The SoCal VoCals'' (2004) * ''Get In. ROCK. Get Out.'' (2006) * ''Unanimous'' (2009) * ''Permit to Harmonize'' (2013) * ''VoCabulary'' (2016)

''Extended Plays''

* ''2010 ICCA Set EP'' * ''V'' (2018 ICCA Set EP)

References

External links

* {{authority control American vocal groups Collegiate a cappella groups Student activities at the University of Southern California Musical groups established in 1995