A Cappella Workshop
We just wrapped a one-day barbershop a cappella event in Austin with Queen of Harmony Caroline Durrett – award winning lead singer of 2023 Sweet Adelines International Champion Quartet: The Ladies! This chorus spent the day together learning and singing For Good (Wicked) and Something To Talk About (Bonnie Raitt) in exciting 4-part barbershop a cappella harmony. Our a cappella workshops are open to girls ages 25 and under, at any experience level. This year we had participants ranging in age from 10 to 16 in our Harmony: For Good Chorus.
JOIN US NEXT YEAR!
Event Date: Saturday, January 16, 2027
Holiday Inn Austin – Town Lake
20 N Interstate Hwy 35, Austin, TX 78701
DETAILS COMING SOON!
Questions? Contact youth@region10sai.org!
Visit our Facebook Page to see photos and clips from our events! Past workshops have taken place in Austin, Houston, San Antonio, and New Orleans — we carefully consider venues and locations each year. If you would like to be added to a notification list for our future events, please contact our Regional Youth Coordinator.
Youth Quartet Contest
Quartet Competitions are a great way to challenge young singers to hone their individual vocal skills while navigating complex a cappella harmonies in this exhilarating team sport. Each member is solely responsible for their voice part, which results in higher development of personal accountability within the group. Four voices come together to create a dynamic and unified sound.
Great Gulf Coast Region 10 has hosted Young Women in Harmony quartet competitions dating back to 2001. These contests are open to young singers up to the age of 25, but there is no minimum age requirement. Our next regional Rising Star quartet competition will be held on January 16, 2027 in Austin Texas, so find your four and prepare to enter and win cash prizes, bragging rights, and a cappella glory!
Competition History
Interstellar
R10 Youth Champion Quartet – 2024
Elizabeth Castillo (Bari), Steely Bastian (Bass), Anabel Bordelon (Lead), Mia Benavides (Tenor)
Interstellar represented Region 10 at the 2023 and 2024 International Sweet Adelines Rising Star Contests! In 2023, three of the four members competed at Rising Star under their former quartet name Supernova, earning the Stars to Watch award for their high scores and young age average! These talented young singers were first introduced to barbershop by their Cedar Creek High School choir director, Madison Shortes (of Cosmic Quartet).
Cosmic
International Rising Star Champions – 2023
Catrina Tulowiecki (Bari), Madison Padgett (Bass), Holli Houtz (Lead), Cheyenne Gonzalez (Tenor)
Cosmic is comprised of music teachers with a passion for vocal youth education. In addition to their choral directing experience, this is a long distance quartet with over a decade of collective years in competitive quartets and memberships in 5 different barbershop chapters, including A Cappella Unlimited, Metro Nashville, Motor City Blend, Sound by Southwest, and MI-X!
Fermata Nowhere
R10 Youth Champion Quartet – 2019
Reya Mosby (Tenor), Bella Ontiveroz (Bass), Savannah DeCrow (Lead), Blythe McGinnis (Bari)
Fermata Nowhere began as a group of friends who reunited with their middle school choir director to pursue a newfound passion for barbershop! Having been introduced to barbershop a few years earlier by The Ladies’ baritone Kim Newcomb, (the assistant choir director for their middle school from 2014-2016), these girls quickly fell in love with singing tags and ringing chords. Since winning the Youth Champion Quartet title, the quartet has taken a step back from barbershop to focus on collegiate endeavors.
Saving Grace
R10 Youth Champion Quartet – 2012, 2013, 2018
Kieley Morales (Bari), Marisa Garza (Bass), Andrea Walker (Lead), Elise Zufall (Tenor)
Saving Grace began as a barbershop experiment in 2011 as “Grace Notes” with four girls who grew up in the Texas Children’s Choir. They’ve come a long way since then! Champions of the Region 10 Youth Quartet contest in 2012, 2013, and 2018, these fine young ladies competed at the Sweet Adelines International Rising Star contests in 2012 (Denver CO) where they received the “Stars to Watch” award, again in 2013 (Lowell MA) placing 3rd, and in 2018 (Tulsa OK) where they placed 2nd! Since they graduated from the Youth Division, there have been some personnel changes, but we’ve kept the final youth formation here for historical memory.
The Belle Tones
R10 Youth Champion Quartet – 2017
Chloe Storm (Bari), Abigail Storm (Bass), Emma Morelli (Lead), Alyssa Morrow (Tenor)
The Belle Tones discovered Sweet Adelines on Youtube through videos of GQ (International Rising Star Champions). Their 8th grade choir teacher prepared them with a GQ Medley for the 2016 Capital City Show Choir Competition in Austin, Texas and their video went viral with the GQ fanbase on social media. Since then, they’ve taken 1st Place in the Region 10 Youth Quartet Contest in 2016, 7th in Region 10’s Regional Quartet Competition in 2017, 6th in the same competition in 2018, and 6th in the 2018 International Rising Star Quartet Competition in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where they won the “Stars to Watch” award.
The Ladies
2016 Region 10 Youth Champion, 2016 International Rising Star Champion,
2018 Region 10 Quartet Champion, 2023 International Quartet Champion
Kimberly Newcomb (Bari), Caroline Durrett (Lead), Ashley Rohovit (Bass), Quincie Snook (Tenor)
The Ladies won the Region 10 Youth Quartet Contest on January 16, 2016 in their debut performance. They went on to win the International Rising Star Quartet Competition on July 13, 2016 in Auckland, New Zealand! In March 2018, The Ladies became the Great Gulf Coast Region 10 Quartet Champions, setting a record score for their home region, and claimed the International Championship title a few years later. The Ladies continue to entertain audiences around the globe in Sweet Adelines / Barbershop Harmony Society arenas.
A Cappella Workshop Highlights
In June of 2024, a brilliant bunch of young singers joined us for a one-day a cappella workshop in San Antonio with director Madison Shortes and Cosmic – our 2023 International Rising Star Champion Quartet! The girls worked on vocal skills, enjoyed sectionals led by the members of Cosmic, and performed for our barbershop audience at the end of the day.
A talented group of young singers met in Houston at our 2023 “Let’s Sing Again” Summer Meeting for a one day a cappella workshop with Queen Caroline! Youth Coordinator Laura DeGraw and International Queen of Harmony Caroline Hunt planned the Saturday workshop for singers up to age 25. Together with the help of an incredible teaching team (including Katy Dane and Saving Grace Quartet), the youth chorus learned and performed 2 songs for our Summer Regional Meeting! It is never too early (or late) to introduce a new singer to a cappella harmony!
Our LOVE YOUR VOICE workshop was an awesome event at our 2019 Summer Regional weekend with The Ladies! Our Young Women In Harmony Chorus performed under the direction of Caroline Hunt, followed by our Young at Heart Womens’ Chorus (Region 10 Members) under the direction of Kim Newcomb, and finally the combined choruses together. Our youth participants got an opportunity to sing in a chorus of mixed generations, 85 strong! It was awesome. The Ladies spent quality time at Summer Regional with our youth participants, working on vocal skills, confidence, stage presence, and choreography. What a fabulous experience!
We have had some incredible youth workshops in Region 10. The youth program welcomes young singers (under the age of 26) to join in and experience the joy of singing four part barbershop harmony with us! Our youth chorus was invited to participate in the 2017 Midwinter Youth Chorus Festival of the Barbershop Harmony Society, and 20 young girls under the chorus name “Southern Belles” traveled to San Antonio, Texas with Katy Dane (Director) and Laura DeGraw (Youth Coordinator) in January 2017. Their performance earned them a rating of “Excellent” from the Midwinter judging panel, and an experience they will never forget.
In 2016, Region 10 expanded its youth programming at the Dreams Come True fall education event. Because plans were underway to take the youth chorus to the Barbershop Harmony Society’s Midwinter Convention in San Antonio in early 2017, the girls would not be able to participate in the January Winter Workshop that year. To ensure continued opportunities for youth singers, Region 10 hosted a second youth chorus workshop and youth quartet contest in September 2016 — just eight months after the January 2016 youth chorus event. This early fall workshop allowed singers to stay engaged, continue building momentum, and prepare for the upcoming Midwinter experience, marking a significant year of growth for the region’s youth program.
In January 2016, with only two weeks to prepare and five youth quartets registered for the Region 10 Young Women in Harmony quartet contest, a new idea was launched. All participating singers were invited to learn One Song at a Time and perform together as a chorus under the direction of Katy Dane. Once announced, the opportunity drew interest beyond the competing quartets, and additional young singers joined simply to take part. More than 30 young women participated in Region 10’s first-ever youth chorus event. Led by the Region 10 Youth Program Coordinator, this pop-up chorus laid the foundation for the youth chorus workshops that continue to inspire and connect young singers across the region.
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