NE Voices 2026 Workshops

Below is the preliminary list of workshops for NE Voices 2026!

 Management

From Rehearsal to Recognition:
Branding Your A Cappella Group

Walter Nelson

A cappella groups do way more than just sing. They build communities, tell stories, and create identities. In this workshop, I’ll share how to think about your group as a brand, using lessons from both my advertising career and my time in a cappella. We’ll talk practical strategies for clarifying who you are, strengthening leadership and organization, and setting your group up for long-term growth—without losing the fun or creativity that makes your group yours!

How to Build a Better Brand

Hannah Caple

What does it mean to have a brand, and why does it matter? This workshop introduces the idea of branding as a creative and evolving process, exploring how design, color, and social media can help express identity and tell a story. We’ll learn about how visual choices and online presence shape the way a group or project is seen and understood. Together, we’ll experiment with ideas, look at examples, and talk through different approaches to building a brand that feels authentic and adaptable. This session is designed to spark creativity, encourage exploration, and provide a starting point for anyone interested in branding, visual identity, and creative expression!

Warm Up with Intention

Anthony Pulido

Are you phoning in your warmups and warmup planning? They should make your group feel ready physically, vocally, and mentally to take on the challenges you’ll face in rehearsals. Learn how to run warmups in a way that is purposeful, structured, and maintains group interest.

Performance

A Cappella Super Group

Amber Bates and Adam Tarpey

This year's A Cappella Super-Group will be focused on building bridges within the NE Voices community! Join us to sing some meaningful music together while exploring vulnerability and what it means to really connect.

Barbershop Tags

Kari Francis

Ring some chords and get a taste of singing barbershop music with this intro to barbershop tags. Through singing these short snippets of barbershop music, attendees will experience some of the most fun sounds that vocal music has to offer! ​

Crafting a Unique and
Expressive Solo Line

Jess Garcia

This workshop focuses on how to take a solo from a recreation of the original singer to a piece of art that is a unique extension of the performer singing it-- attendees will even have a chance to workshop a section of their own solo in front of the class.

Improving Your VP

Arun Venugopal

This workshop aims to provide attendees of all skill levels with the tools to improve their Vocal Percussion both during the session and on their own. We will focus on learning some basic sounds, expanding your kit, picking up new patterns, conceptual frameworks to expand your approach to VP, differences between rehearsal/live/competitive/recorded environments, and more!

Movement for the Stage

Shannon Phypers

Comfort on the stage begins with comfort within your group. In this workshop, we'll dive into dicussions and exercises to find comfortability with others before honing in on movement as individuals. You'll explore how to isolate and engage each section of your body, analyze and learn from others' performances, and how to bring that to your confidence on stage. 

Presence and Confidence:
Bringing Yourself to the Stage

Andrew Orsie

Performing requires a strong connection between the performer and the audience, and the foundation of that is built on how you as the performer physically take the stage. If you tend to suffer from stage fright, or find yourself lost with what to do with your hands or body when you're taking a solo, this workshop is for you! We'll talk through ways you can channel nerves and energy into connecting with and capturing the audience, and practice observing ourselves through some stage exercises so we can peel away layers to find an individualized, authentic stage persona that we can inhabit confidently whenever we're on stage, whether singing a solo or just singing in a group.

Solo Coachings

Amber Bates and Adam Tarpey

We’ve all been in a place where we feel stuck trying to work on our solos and audition songs, just running them over and over without making any real changes. Solo Coachings is designed to help you overcome that feeling and to give you specific practice techniques to take home! 4-5 Volunteers will sing sections of their solo, and together we'll identify specific areas that need work, before digging in and putting these practice techniques to the test.

This is categorized as a Level 3 solo workshop, as those who volulnteer should have experience sinigng solos, but anyone is welcome to come and learn from others!

Creation

Advanced Arranging

Blake Farfan

A workshop for students with some experience arranging a cappella and looking to dive further into what makes an interesting and effective arrangement. 

Anybody Can Arrange

Louis Shriber

This workshop will provide students different ways to access arranging by meeting them at their level of musicianship and theory knowledge. Whether you come up with parts by ear, you play everything on the piano, or use a DAW to create your arrangements, this workshop will provide resources to empower your process, raising the level of your arrangements by introducing new musical ideas and theoretical concepts.

Intro to Vocal Painting

Kari Francis

Have you ever wondered how a choir can improvise music together? In this hands-on workshop, Kari will introduce you to Vocal Painting (VoPa), a practice that combines Walter Thompson's Soundpainting gestures with Bobby McFerrin's Circlesongs to make a sign language for composing music in the moment with other singers.

Under the Hood: Behind the Songs of Galaxy Rush

Adam Tarpey

Join game composer and songwriter Adam Tarpey to break down his songwriting process. We'll examine the two songs he wrote for Galaxy Rush, a sci-fi, racing game released on steam. You'll leave with some tips and tricks to tackle your next songwriting challenge!

Vocal Percussion: Balancing
Responsibility & Creativity

Olivia Materetsky

This session is designed for vocal percussionists who already have a solid grasp of their own kits. One of the biggest challenges of being a vocal percussionist, rather than a beatboxer, is understanding your role in shaping the group’s overall sound. We’ll explore vocal percussion through the lens of enhancing ensemble blend and fostering harmony between the rhythm section and the vocalists. Developing this skill can make or break a group’s ability to keep audiences engaged.

Deeper Learning

All About Nexus

Jess Chen and Adam Tarpey

Join the founders and directors of Nexus, NE Voices' summer program, in this workshop to learn more about the program and participate in a exercise to explore our group arranging process. 

How to Manage Your Group Dynamics

Dylan Melville

This discussion-based class teaches how a cappella groups work as a team. With Dylan, we'll talk about communication, leadership, and solving problems, using real-life examples to learn how to sing better together and support each other as a group.

Music 🤝 Life: How to Keep Music in Your Life When It's Not Your Career

Lauren Garcia and Jules Zannikos

Are you wanting to keep music in your life after high school without it being your full-time career? This workshop demonstrates creative ways to incorporate music and performance into everyday life—from social media content, to professional event singing, and more!

Open Rehearsal

The Nor'Easters

Join the award-winning Nor'easters for an open rehearsal! The Nor'easters will work together on a piece from their spring repertoire, giving attendees a glimpse of what collaborating with peers, engaging in active listening, and providing feedback can look like in a premier collegiate a cappella group. They will close the session with an intimate, off-mic performance.

So You Don't Want to Pursue Music...

Norah Flanders

Do you want to make an impact through music but plan on majoring in another field? You don’t need a music degree to inspire change or make a difference. There are so many meaningful ways to teach, mentor, and support others through music while pursuing different career paths. This workshop focuses on embracing your passion for music and sharing it without feeling like you need to leave it behind. It shows how your passion for music can fit alongside any career. Music doesn’t have to be your degree to be a part of your purpose.

Music Technology

Demo Editing and Production

Blake Farfan

A tutorial-style workshop for current and aspiring arrangers who would like to make vocal demos or make better vocal demos for their arrangements. 

YOU Can Make a Music Video!:
Accessible Video Production

Jess Garcia and Olivia Materetsky

Does the idea of creating a professional level music video for your group feel impossible? Does the thought of producing a set video feel overwhelming and inaccessible? That's what I used to think too! In this workshop, we will go over all of the basics for transforming your group performances into professional-grade visual media. We will go over the production process from start to finish, discuss options for different budget levels, talk about the creative elements of production, and simply talk about where to even start. (Note: This is not a workshop on the technical skills of video filming or editing, but rather a workshop on how to get all of the elements together in order to produce a video for your group)