Post by Jessica Hartley

Reflecting on my year as President for Warwick A Cappella Society 💜 WACA has been such a pivotal part of my university experience. From performing with both OffScore and The Leamingtones, to leading the society in my final year, it's hard to put into words how much I have LOVED this experience. Hopefully this gives a little insight into what we've been able to achieve over the last year! 🎶 The society has grown from 3 to 7 groups - we now have a new barbershop and beatbox group, alongside Open Harmony (non-auditioned and open for anyone to join). 🕺 I organised four successful termly showcases and our groups additionally performed at Warwick Castle's Christmas Lights trail, Butterworth Hall, Warwick Sport's 'Women's Night In' and more! ✍ I have been successful with four competitive grant applications: - Warwick Enterprise (University of Warwick)'s Lord Rootes Fund - Warwick Arts Centre's PLATFORM Programme - Warwick Institute of Engagement fund - Warwick Students'​ Union Equipment Grant 🎤 Founding & Producing the Midlands A Cappella Showcase (MACS) Thanks to the generous funding from the PLATFORM Programme and Lord Rootes Fund, I had the opportunity to produce our first ever Midlands A Cappella Showcase in Warwick Arts Centre - bringing together seven talented a cappella groups from across the Midlands. I led a production team of 10, liaised with 53 performers, the venue and tech teams, and we put on a fantastic show of a cappella, beatbox and barbershop 🤩 This sat alongside our weekend of events with Warwick Student Arts Festival, where we hosted a real-life Pitch Perfect Riff Off and Beatbox Battle, as well as a Beatbox workshop and One Day Choir workshop with Tom Hartley (member of the Grammy Award-Winning group The Swingles) - using additional funding from Warwick Institute of Engagement. Organising this weekend was by far the most rewarding experience from my time at university, and I cannot thank my production team and fellow producers Emma George and Keisha Austin enough for all their support! 🪩 Competition Success The Leamingtones placed 3rd in the UK and won the People's Choice Award at The Open A Cappella Competition, alongside performing in the ICCA Semi-finals at the New Wimbledon Theatre. 🩶 WACA received the Silver Accreditation Award from the Student Union (the only society to achieve this level). 🏆 We were shortlisted for 'Most Improved Society' at the SU Awards 2026. Additional Achievements: ⭐ Received PR packages for our groups from Vocalzone ⭐ Organised a successful alumni reunion event for The Leamingtones ⭐ Organised filming a professional video of The Leamingtones for the University of Warwick graduation ceremonies. I could not have achieved any of this without my incredible executive committee. Wishing next year's president Belicia Marel Reyes the best of luck - I can't wait to see the amazing things WACA does next!