Help Me Get to A Cappella Academy!
Donation protected
Hello! My name is Kaedi Dalley, and I am a 15 year old sophomore at The Taft School. How ya doin'?
Music has always been a part of me for as long as I can remember. It has always been my refuge in times of but joy and sadness. I started singing from five or six years old, and I have enjoyed it immensely, but I didn't fully recognize that music was my calling until I was 11. I taught myself how to play piano after taking lessons for a year, and I also teach myself how to play guitar. I've never received any formal vocal training; however I have participated in school and church choirs for majority of my life, which I can say have has helped me mature my voice greatly. At my current school, I am a part of an all-female a cappella group called Hydrox, a student-run club that I am very proud to be a part of. I have also participated in a couple of musicals at my high school; in my freshman year I was part of the ensemble for "The Drowsy Chaperone," and earlier in my current sophomore year I played the role Motormouth Maybelle in "Hairspray."
^ That's me :)
Now I want to expand myself as much as possible in terms of music, and I believe that A Cappella Academy will help me get on the right track to do so.
A Cappella Academy is a 10-day summer program in California, designed to educate highschool students ages 13-18 about a cappella music, providing the campers with information about writing, arranging, and producing music. This program was created by Avi Kaplan - the bass member of the Grammy Award-winning Pentatonix, Ben Bram - Grammy Award-winning arranger and producer, and Rob Dietz - CARA-winning arranger who was an offscreen percussionist for the Warblers on Season 3 of Glee. These are three people I strongly believe are commendable and successful people in the music industry, a cappella especially. They have definitely shaped the way I define a cappella today, making me realize the authenticity of creating music with just my voice.
I am absolutely IN LOVE with Pentatonix, even from the Sing-Off days. So, when I heard from an announcement on one of their videos on YouTube that this program was created, I just knew that I had to audition.
You can check out my audition video below.
Fortunately, I am excited to say that...
I DID GET ACCEPTED! I am proud to be the top 13% who got accepted into this exclusive program, one of the 73 who got accepted out of the 556 who auditioned. I am in awe, and forever thankful to Avi, Ben, and Rob who chose me to be a part of this amazing opportunity.
Now, here is the reason I have created this GoFundMe page. Although I have been accepted into this program, I must do my part in covering my tuition and my traveling expenses, and this is not always possible. However, donating to my GoFundMe does more than just paying money. This provides me with an amazing opportunity to expand my horizons and gain more knowledge on how to produce, write, and arrange music. I've always dreamt that I could share my talent with the world someday, so I believe that, with this program, I can go out into the world with extended knowledge about music, which could help me in a possible future music career.
This program will provide me with information about a cappella music, which I am very enthusiastic about. I believe that with this newfound information I can take it back to my a cappella group at high school, and incorporate it into the group's practices/rehersals so that we can improve ourselves and our sound, both collectively and individually. I know that some of the members in our group soon-to-be seniors, so the tips that I carry back form A Cappella Academy can definitely help them as well if they would like to apply for a cappella groups in college.
Also, this program will help me share a space with people who are as equally as passionate about music as I am. I believe that I will make so many strong bonds and friendships with people there. I have already created a friendship with someone else who got accepted into A Cappella Acemy as well, and I CANNOT wait to meet them. I'm so exited!
Attending this program will be a dream come true, and I do hope that you will help me with this journey. It is such an amazing opportunity, and I don't think that I could ask for a better way to spend a bit of my summer time. Even if you cannot donate (and trust me, I COMPLETELY understand), please share this with others. I would appreciate this greatly.
There is so much that I haven't learned about the world of music, and A Cappella Academy is going to help me expand my knowledge in that aspect.
Thank you all so much!
Music has always been a part of me for as long as I can remember. It has always been my refuge in times of but joy and sadness. I started singing from five or six years old, and I have enjoyed it immensely, but I didn't fully recognize that music was my calling until I was 11. I taught myself how to play piano after taking lessons for a year, and I also teach myself how to play guitar. I've never received any formal vocal training; however I have participated in school and church choirs for majority of my life, which I can say have has helped me mature my voice greatly. At my current school, I am a part of an all-female a cappella group called Hydrox, a student-run club that I am very proud to be a part of. I have also participated in a couple of musicals at my high school; in my freshman year I was part of the ensemble for "The Drowsy Chaperone," and earlier in my current sophomore year I played the role Motormouth Maybelle in "Hairspray."
^ That's me :)Now I want to expand myself as much as possible in terms of music, and I believe that A Cappella Academy will help me get on the right track to do so.
A Cappella Academy is a 10-day summer program in California, designed to educate highschool students ages 13-18 about a cappella music, providing the campers with information about writing, arranging, and producing music. This program was created by Avi Kaplan - the bass member of the Grammy Award-winning Pentatonix, Ben Bram - Grammy Award-winning arranger and producer, and Rob Dietz - CARA-winning arranger who was an offscreen percussionist for the Warblers on Season 3 of Glee. These are three people I strongly believe are commendable and successful people in the music industry, a cappella especially. They have definitely shaped the way I define a cappella today, making me realize the authenticity of creating music with just my voice.
I am absolutely IN LOVE with Pentatonix, even from the Sing-Off days. So, when I heard from an announcement on one of their videos on YouTube that this program was created, I just knew that I had to audition.
You can check out my audition video below.
Fortunately, I am excited to say that...
I DID GET ACCEPTED! I am proud to be the top 13% who got accepted into this exclusive program, one of the 73 who got accepted out of the 556 who auditioned. I am in awe, and forever thankful to Avi, Ben, and Rob who chose me to be a part of this amazing opportunity.
Now, here is the reason I have created this GoFundMe page. Although I have been accepted into this program, I must do my part in covering my tuition and my traveling expenses, and this is not always possible. However, donating to my GoFundMe does more than just paying money. This provides me with an amazing opportunity to expand my horizons and gain more knowledge on how to produce, write, and arrange music. I've always dreamt that I could share my talent with the world someday, so I believe that, with this program, I can go out into the world with extended knowledge about music, which could help me in a possible future music career.
This program will provide me with information about a cappella music, which I am very enthusiastic about. I believe that with this newfound information I can take it back to my a cappella group at high school, and incorporate it into the group's practices/rehersals so that we can improve ourselves and our sound, both collectively and individually. I know that some of the members in our group soon-to-be seniors, so the tips that I carry back form A Cappella Academy can definitely help them as well if they would like to apply for a cappella groups in college.
Also, this program will help me share a space with people who are as equally as passionate about music as I am. I believe that I will make so many strong bonds and friendships with people there. I have already created a friendship with someone else who got accepted into A Cappella Acemy as well, and I CANNOT wait to meet them. I'm so exited!
Attending this program will be a dream come true, and I do hope that you will help me with this journey. It is such an amazing opportunity, and I don't think that I could ask for a better way to spend a bit of my summer time. Even if you cannot donate (and trust me, I COMPLETELY understand), please share this with others. I would appreciate this greatly.
There is so much that I haven't learned about the world of music, and A Cappella Academy is going to help me expand my knowledge in that aspect.
Thank you all so much!
Organizer
Kaedi Dalley
Organizer
New York, NY
