2022 ICCA & ICHSA Wild Card Results

Laura Dickinson is a Grammy-winning music producer and Emmy-winning singer best known for her extensive work over the last decade as vocal director and contractor for Disney TV Animation. She is currently vocal contracting and performing recurring roles on “Elena Of Avalor,” “Milo Murphy’s Law,” “Sofia The First,” and “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening’s “Disenchantment.” Film and television credits include over 100 episodes of “Phineas and Ferb,” “Ralph Breaks The Internet: Wreck It Ralph 2,” “The Nun,” “Sing,” “Pitch Perfect,” “Pitch Perfect 2,” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “War for the Planet of the Apes,” “The 7D,” “Jake and the Never Land Pirates,” “Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero,” “Wander Over Yonder,” “Son of Zorn,” “Billy Dilley’s Super-Duper Subterranean Summer,” “Pickle and Peanut,” “The Last Tycoon,” and “A Christmas Story: Live on Fox.” Laura also serves as Michael Bublé’s vocal contractor, arranger, and background vocal director. Mr. Bublé’s recent Grammy-nominated album, Nobody But Me, includes a featured vocal by Laura and a gospel choir she contracted and directed. Other recording projects include collaborations with Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson, and Engelbert Humperdinck. A cappella credits include founding Groove 66 with Deke Sharon, musical and artistic directing Vybration, singing first female voice in m-pact, assistant musical directing Voasis with musical director Greg Jasperse, and singing first soprano in Voices of Liberty under Tony DeRosa’s musical direction.You can find her on Twitter and Instagram @ElsieLaura, so go tag her right now!  www.lauradickinson.com

Katie Hayward is an alumna of the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, where she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees Music Education and Voice. Today, she enjoys an active career as a performing musician, vocal coach, and choral educator. Recognized as a popular music specialist, she regularly judges events in the Cincinnati area, and has managed vocal music direction for numerous musicals. Katie is currently the artistic director of 2Knight 2Knight and One Knight Only, Kings High School’s premier pop a cappella groups.

Candice Helfand-Rogers, a longtime Varsity Vocals judge, has been active in the a cappella community for decades. At Rutgers University, she sang with and musically directed Deep Treble, then went on to help found and direct ShockWave, leading the latter group to the ICCA Finals in its first year. After graduating, she co-founded semi-professional a cappella group Restated (formerly known as The Red States) and served as its musical director for several years. She garnered multiple awards for her onstage and in-studio contributions to these groups as a soloist, arranger and choreographer. In addition, Candice is a session singer whose voice can be heard in Universal Studios’ hit a cappella movies, “Pitch Perfect” and “Pitch Perfect 2,” as well as in numerous ad campaigns. Candice now sings with several New York City ensembles, including Broadway Inspirational Voices and Ghostlight Chorus, as well as the choir at First Unitarian in Brooklyn, where she is a section leader. She has also been a featured performer at venues like Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Minskoff and New Victory Theaters. Outside of her musical endeavors, Candice is a journalist, and an extremely proud mom.

Edric Mitchell has both his bachelors and masters degrees from Ball State University, where he studied musical theatre and executive development for public services. During his time at Ball State, he got his start in a cappella with the all-male group, Charlie’s Angels. He quickly became a founding member of the all-male a cappella group, Note to Self, with whom he spent four years as a member, coordinator, and music director. In addition, Edric was a founding member and music director of Sedoctave, and founder of the Association of Collegiate A Cappella (ACA) at Ball State. ACA is an umbrella organization that unites all collegiate a cappella groups on the BSU Campus. When Edric was a competitor in the ICCA, he received two Outstanding Arrangement awards as well as an Outstanding Soloist award. Since 2017, Edric has been a founding member of Impromptu, an Indianapolis based professional a cappella group that competed in The Open, placing 2nd in the Midwest Semifinal, 2nd in the Chicago Harmony Sweepstakes, and won the title of VoiceJam Champions in 2018. Impromptu has traveled around the world performing at a cappella festivals in Taiwan, Russia, Boston, Memphis, and of course the midwest! As a member of impromptu, Edric has received awards for Best Solo and Best Arrangement. He is currently the theatre director at Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis, Ind, where he directs the a cappella group Titan Harmony.

Matthew Swope holds an M.M. in voice performance and pedagogy, as well as bachelor’s degrees in music and classics from Penn State University. He is currently working toward his doctorate in choral conducting at CCM. Previously he served as director of choral activities and performing arts chair at Winter Park High School, where he conducted four choirs and directed two a cappella groups (Take 7 and Naughty Scotty and the Octapella). He is on the executive board of the A Cappella Education Association and the staff of Camp A Cappella. Matthew has served on the voice faculty of Rollins College and was a founding member of the Simon Carrington Chamber Singers. Matthew is the 2013 recipient of the Penn State Outstanding Alumni Music Educator Award. Ensembles under his direction have competed at ICHSA Finals (2012, 2015), appeared on BOHSA (2017, 2018), and performed for conferences of the Florida American Choral Directors Association (2011, 2015) and the Florida Music Education Association (2016).

ICCA 2022 Wild Card

Katherine Bodor is an arranger, a massive choir nerd, and an award-winning composer of contemporary choral and chamber music. Her arrangements have been CARA-nominated and featured on compilation albums such as BOHSA and Voices Only, and her original compositions have received premieres throughout the U.S. She works as a freelance arranger for scholastic and professional a cappella groups, and has arranged arranged numerous full ICHSA and ICCA sets. Whether arranging for voices or writing or contemporary chamber ensembles, Katherine’s musical focus is on layering, texture, and nuance within emotional story arcs. Katherine has a master’s degree in composition from IU Jacobs School of music and a Bachelor of Science in engineering and music from Washington University in St. Louis.

Mel Daneke is a performer, producer, and vocal coach living in Austin, TX, and owns and operates Viridian Productions. Mel graduated from Ithaca College in December of 2013 with a B.M. in Vocal Performance, minor in Audio Production, and also studied Music Education. At Ithaca, she directed the female-identifying a cappella group, Premium Blend. Mel currently performs with two internationally renowned and award winning vocal bands. Musae (Beatboxer + Live Electronics) and Six Appeal (Singer). She’s traveled extensively teaching and performing at festivals in Asia, Europe, and all over the United States. Her performances and CARA-nominated production has appeared on compilations like Sing, BOHSA, Voices Only, Voices Only Forte, and A Cappella Video Awards.

Christopher M. Diaz is the co-founder of the international touring group, The Exchange, which performed hundreds of shows for audiences in over 25 countries on six continents, notably opening for The Backstreet Boys in their 32-city “In A World Like This” stadium tour. Christopher’s a cappella journey began at Florida State University School of Music, where they graduated with a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance. While there, Christopher led the co-ed All-Night Yahtzee to three consecutive ICCA Finals appearances and was a two-time winner of the Outstanding Soloist award. Their voice and arrangements have appeared on compilations such as Voices Only, BOCA, SING, and Voices Only Forte, and have been nominated for numerous CARAs. As a coach, Christopher has adjudicated, sung, and instructed at vocal festivals around the country and world, and has served on the vocal coaching and arranging staff of “The Sing-Off.” They also recently served as the director of vocal music at The Miami Valley School in Dayton, Ohio, where they directed 2017 ICHSA Finalists Ars Nova.

A graduate of Ithaca College, Shannon McNulty is a vocalist, educator, event planner and mom of two. Currently, Shannon is the Executive Producer of the National A Cappella Convention and a member of Blacklight, a Boston-based a cappella group with strong ties to the beatbox community. Previously, Shannon taught music at Marlborough High School, where she directed two choirs and developed and taught their award-winning a cappella recording class, Music Production. Shannon has a B.M in vocal performance and music education  and a M.M. in music education.

Ben Spalding is the head choral director at Centerville High School in Centerville, Ohio. At Centerville, Ben directs Forte, a four time runner-up and the 2016 winner of the ICHSA Finals. He is an avid supporter of a cappella music, and wrote a book with Deke Sharon and Brody McDonald, called “A Cappella” (available at amazon.com and other resellers). Ben is also a founding member of the A Cappella Education Association and is associated with several other a cappella organizations. He is an instructor at Camp A Cappella and a clinician for vocal groups across the country.