LATEST NEWS!


  • Interview with True Colors with Kelly and CBC Matt Rainnie
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  •  Date Posted: Mon, 2 Sep 2024
    Interview with True Colors with Kelly and CBC Matt Rainnie
    YouTube Video URL:
  • What Is HarmonySite? (Island A Cappella)
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  •  Date Posted: Fri, 26 Jul 2024
    HarmonySite
    Please spread the word to share the HarmonySite to any group that would benefit from having a website that is user friendly.
    It could be any of the following:
    • Choirs – community, church, chamber, childrens, etc
    • Barbershop choruses – Mens and Womens
    • Clubs – Rotary, Lions, Toastmasters, etc
    • Orchestras
    • Marching bands
    • Art societies
    • Chambers of Commerce
    • Industry associations
    • ANY group that has members and events!
    HarmonySite is
     A centralized group management tool
    A website to promote your group/choir/chorus
    A communications hub for the members

    Check out the link https://www.harmonysite.com to find out about pricing and their referral program.
  • Island A Cappella at Canada Day in Souris!
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  •  Date Posted: Sun, 30 Jun 2024
    Island A Cappella at Canada Day in Souris!
    Join us at the CN Park on Pond Street in beautiful Souris, PE this Canada Day for a full-length 90-minute performance including our very own Harmonix quartet!  Ceremonies start at 12:30 pm. 

    This is a rain or shine event so if it's really pouring, you'll find us in the Eastern Kings Sportsplex.

    See you there!
  • Winner of IAC Mother's Day Moolah 50/50 Cash Raffle
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  •  Date Posted: Sun, 14 May 2023
    Winner of IAC Mother's Day Moolah 50/50 Cash Raffle
  • Mother's Day Moolah 50/50 Cash Raffle!
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  •  Date Posted: Tue, 18 Apr 2023
    Mother's Day Moolah 50/50 Cash Raffle!
    Island A Cappella Chorus is excited to announce the
    launch of our Mother's Day Moolah 50/50 Cash Lottery.

    Purchase your tickets now - deadline is May 13, 2023 at 12:01pm.

    https://rafflebox.ca/raffle/islandacappella/-2
    • Funds raised will help support Island A Cappella to travel and compete in International Contests. We are an award winning chorus specializing in four part harmony in the barbershop style.
    • Our chorus of approximately 40 members is directed by Jamie Feinberg.
    • Performing and competing locally for over 40 years, we continue to entertain a growing community of listeners with a broad repertoire including broadway melodies, inspirational music, seasonal favorites, and timeless classics to present day hits.
    • We are a chapter of Harmony Inc., an international non-profit organization whose purpose is to “ empower all women through education, friendship, and singing “.
    The winner will be contacted to claim their prize. Thank you for your support!
  • Upcoming show: Thank You For the Music!
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  •  Date Posted: Sat, 29 Oct 2022
    Upcoming show: Thank You For the Music!
    Join us at the Park Royal Church on Sunday, November 27th  for an afternoon of song in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Island A Cappella women's barbershop chorus!

    2022 marks a very special year for PEI’s Island A Cappella, celebrating 40 years entertaining audiences with its unique blend of four-part a cappella music in the barbershop style. To mark the occasion, it will host Thank You for the Music , a special anniversary show on Sunday, November 27th at 1:30 pm at the Park Royal Church in Charlottetown.

    The show will also include performances by quartets Harmonix and TAMbre as well as special guests P EI singing/songwriting duo Ava & Lily.

    Tickets are just $20 each (plus service charge) available through Eventbrite. All proceeds will help offset travel expenses associated with chorus members attending Harmony, Inc’s International Convention and Contest in Louisville, Kentucky in November 2024.

    Thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you then!
     
  • Free “Find Your Voice” Singing Lessons with Island A Cappella This Fall!
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  •  Date Posted: Sun, 21 Aug 2022
    Free “Find Your Voice” Singing Lessons with Island A Cappella This Fall!
    As part of its 40th anniversary celebrations, the Island A Cappella chorus is offering a six-week series of free singing lessons to members of the public, starting Wednesday, September 14th.
    .
    “We’ve been sharing the one-of-a-kind sound of four-part a cappella singing in the barbershop style with Island audiences since 1982; originally as the Abegweit Chimes, then under the banner of Island A Cappella, beginning in 2014,” says chorus president Gillian Nichol. “It’s such a joyous and fun hobby we decided to offer these free lessons as a way for more singers to give it a no-strings-attached try in a safe and fun setting.”

    No prior choral or a cappella singing experience is necessary to participate in the six-week series which will take place Wednesdays at 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm from September 14th to October 19th.
    .

    “I’ve loved my journey so far as the new chorus director, which began in January of this year,” adds Jamie Feinberg. “The music we perform spans the decades, so our repertoire ranges from barbershop standards to songs from musical theatre and rock and roll. We’re looking forward to welcoming women’s voices regardless of age or prior experience, who simply love to sing. Our members represent a range of backgrounds, and we have a variety of learning tools for folks to use including sheet music and pre-recorded learning tracks to sing along with. And there’s always plenty of laughter involved too!”

    Anyone interested in attending the lessons is asked to email info@islandacapella.ca or call 902-213-4921.


    Island A Cappella is a member chorus of Harmony, Inc. an international organization of women singers whose purpose is to empower all women through education, friendship and singing.
  • Island A Cappella Announces New Music Director
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  •  Date Posted: Tue, 9 Nov 2021
    Island A Cappella Announces New Music Director


    The Board of Directors and Music Committee of Island A Cappella are delighted to announce that Jamie Feinberg will be joining our chorus as its new Director, in January 2022!

    Jamie (she/her/hers) is a performing artist, educator, virtual assistant, and life coach, with a B.A. in music from Smith College and an M.S. in community economic development from Southern New Hampshire University. She spent the past five years travelling, teaching and performing across the U.S. with her husband, Ross Malcolm Boyd, while simultaneously developing online music education and virtual assistant businesses. After spending the early part of her career as a professional musical director, arts educator, and performer, she started her own theatre company in New Hampshire in 2010, and in 2020 she completed a life coaching program to help sensitive, aspiring adventurers get the confidence & tools to bring their own dreams to life. In August of 2021, she and her husband realized another dream: returning to Charlottetown (after a honeymoon visit in 2014), where her husband is studying music at UPEI. 

    She’s delighted to find that barbershop is a place where all of her directing, conducting, creative, and leadership skills are well-utilized, and she couldn’t be happier to be making new friends on the island and joining the community that is Island A Cappella. 

    A few more facts about Jamie? She loves the outdoors and dancing, will drop almost anything for great (gluten-free) ice cream, and she refuses to believe that there is any need to lead a conventional life – unless you want to!

    Although Jamie's official start date is not until the New Year, she can be contacted now at: director@islandacappella.ca Welcome, Jamie!

  • Celebrating Our Differences - Island A Cappella
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  •  Date Posted: Thu, 28 Oct 2021
     

    “We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.”       
    Maya Angelou

     

    Celebrating our Differences 

    Harmony Incorporated was founded on principles of Equity and Diversity. Over 60 years ago, a decision was made to break from Sweet Adelines to ensure that women of all backgrounds and colours were welcomed. Today, the differences we see in our small province stretch far beyond colour and background. We have different world views, different family structures, different abilities, different ethnicities, different gender and sexual identities, different citizenships, different languages and hosts of others.  

    As we embark on our own Island A Cappella journey of equity and diversity we are open to new and exciting opportunities, as well as some challenges. At the core is that we appreciate and celebrate difference and that we strive to ensure that all people have access to the same opportunities.

    My mother, Betty, was a wise woman. One of her first lessons I recall was that ‘there is beauty in difference’. She explained to my three year-old self that the earth would be very boring if flowers, trees, animals and human beings were all similar. She always sought out difference, with the solid belief that we have something to learn from everyone. 

    Some people struggle with the value of difference, arguing, ‘aren’t we really all the same?’ And we are; we are all part of the human race. Although this view comes with positive intent that we should all be equal; in truth, we are not. Our experiences are different depending on our personal and life situations. 

    When we look at the world through our own eyes, we are limited…limited by the fact that we have a roof over our heads when 23 percent of humanity are without.  Limited by the language we speak when 95% of the world speak languages other than English. Limited by our ability to read when 17% of people cannot read or write. Limited by having a safe homeland when more than 1 billion people are living in some form of exile from their countries. We are also limited by not knowing that the person next to us may be hard of hearing, have learning difficulties, have an invisible disability, or even be traumatized by home abuse. 

    Appreciating our differences helps us understand ourselves as well as others. We can appreciate our own fortunes, however challenging life may be and continue on a journey to enable humanity to be included, to have similar privileges we do and to work towards a good quality of life, however that may look for them. Because the most significant reality we come to realize is that our own limited views have often held others back from full and active roles in society. By learning about and celebrating our diversity we are enriched beyond measure.

    Learning about our differences starts with being curious and being open to learn from others. This comes in many forms…. through personal connections (perhaps new members of your community who are from other countries), through books (like The Illegal by Lawrence Hill), through movies (like Pride produced in 2014), through courses (like Indigenous Canada offered free through Coursera), through reading other’s experiences in news reports, and connecting with resources like Pride PEI or the Immigrant and Refugee Services Association of PEI. At the same time, we must always be respectful of others and their right to privacy, taking responsibility for our own learning. 

    The membership of Island A Cappella boasts a range of experiences with different cultures, creeds, abilities, socio-economic status, age groups, sexual and gender identities.  We can learn so much from each other.  If you have questions, see differences that you don’t understand or may have difficulty accepting, you are not alone!  Our Island A Cappella Diversity Leadership Team may be a place to start.  We would truly appreciate receiving any questions or comments you have, which could prove great foundation for ongoing learning and future discussion.  

    We welcome you to come join us and be part our own collective journey to respect and include all others.

     

    Gillian Nichol (she/her) October 28/21 

  • Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart!
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  •  Date Posted: Wed, 21 Jul 2021
    This Spring Island A Cappella decided to dive into the Virtual Chorus Video production pool.
     
    Thanks to all of the members who participated and MANY, MANY hours of audio and video editing by our amazing Music Committee Chair, Heather Williams, we produced this video of "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" - one of our favourite songs - and we hope you enjoy it too!
     
    Special thanks as well to Sing! The Toronto Vocal Arts Festival for including the video in their live stream broadcast on May 27th.

    The video is now available pubicly on YouTube.
    YouTube Video URL:
  • Website refresh
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  •  Date Posted: Fri, 28 May 2021
    For the past several months the volunteer website team at Island A Cappella has been working on a refresh of the website. We are pleased to be working with Harmony Site to bring our fans, customers, and members a fresh new look with lots of great features. Harmony Site caters specifically to musical groups and we are looking forward to experiencing everything it has to offer. Any questions or concerns please drop us a line on our contact us page.
  • Island A Cappella Virtual Chorus to be Featured in Virtual Festival
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  •  Date Posted: Fri, 7 May 2021
    Ask us how excited we are to be a part of the roster of performers on Night 1 of Sing! The Toronto Vocal Arts Festival's Aca Night in Canada 1 streaming online Thursday, May 27th at 8:00 (Eastern), 9:00 (Atlantic)!
    This is your chance to see the world premiere of Island A Cappella's very first foray into the virtual chorus video community with our performance of "Zing Went The Strings of My Heart."
    Buy your tickets now at https://bit.ly/33dqV2d to join us and other a cappella performers from across Canada who will be showcased as a part of the festival.