Weekend Pick: Sing Strong a Cappella Festival at SLHS

The Funx featuring Reston's Nate Tao are among the headliners at SingString/Credit: The FunxSingStrong — the three-day a cappella festival that raises money for the Alzheimer’s Association and local music programs — returns to South Lakes High School this weekend.

The event features some of the best-known a cappella singers, including gospel-pop group Ten, runners up on this season of NBC’s “The Sing-Off”; Blake Lewis, runner up on Season 6 of American Idol;  The Funx with Nate Tao, a Reston native and a contestant on last season’s American Idol; Grace McLean, NYC live looper; Kaila Mullady, top-ranked female beatboxer at the this year’s American Beatbox Championships; Classic Sounds, an award winning doo-wop group, among many others.

There will be five concerts at SLHS’ Little Theatre, including shows throughout the day on Saturday, Feb. 22. Visit the SingStrong site for the exact schedule as each show will have a different lineup. Friday’s 7 p.m. show is “ACA-Idol,” an “American Idol”-style competition for pro and college groups.

Saturday’s 7 p.m. Main Event show features several  multiple professional a cappella groups, including  Blake Lewis, Blue Jupiter, Stiletta, The Funx with Nate Tao and Amy “Bob”  Engelhardt.  The 9:30 p.m. Saturday show  features  Ten, Classic Sounds, Grace McLean, Kaila Mullady, and others.

Matinee concerts include Saturday’s finals of the High School Competition, with awards for performance, arranging and composition and Sunday’s show featuring Ten, The Capital Hearings, The Alexandria Harmonizers, The Funx, Kaila Mullady, Grace McLean and more.

Also at SLHS: A wide variety of classes and coachings for singers. The workshops are part of weekend pass or class pass admission.

Need more? There will be open mic sessions at the Westin Reston Heights each night.

Tickets range from $15 to $35. Discounted passes are available for seniors, students and groups of 10 or more. Parking is free.  For more information, visit www.SingStrong.org.

Recent Stories

George Mason University has been exploring plans to expand its West Campus off of Braddock Road (staff photo by Angela Woolsey) It has not been a great week for plans…

Fox Mill Road in Herndon will be closed on April 1 (via VDOT) Fox Mill Road will be closed at the beginning of next month to allow for a pipe…

Morning Notes

A truck lifts trimmed tree branches in Vienna (staff photo by Angela Woolsey) N. Va. Sees Rise in Home Sales — “The number of home sales in Northern Virginia rose…

Herndon’s indoor tennis court center is closed early for the season (courtesy Town of Herndon) The Town of Herndon’s indoor tennis center has closed early for the season, the Herndon…

Ă—

Subscribe to our mailing list