Contemporary A Cappella Society

The Contemporary A Cappella Society (of America), or CASA, is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to fostering and promoting a cappella music of all styles around the world. CASA was founded in 1991 by Deke Sharon in San Francisco just after graduation. In his Tufts University dorm room during his senior year, Sharon published a newsletter, The "C.A.N." (The Collegiate A Cappella Newsletter for the first 2 issues, then The Contemporary A Cappella Newsletter), mailed to all known collegiate a cappella groups by merging "The List," founded in 1988 & distributed by Rex Solomon, with the database maintained by his college a cappella group the Beelzebubs. The organization boasts over 6,000 current members, and serves as a resource for media and scholarly work in the area of contemporary a cappella.

Since 1992, the annual Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (aka the "CARAs") recognize the best recorded a cappella and aim to support this burgeoning culture of instrumentless enthusiasts. Every a cappella album produced each year is automatically considered in this celebration of the best a cappella recorded around the planet.

The CARA mission reflects that of its parent organization, the Contemporary A Cappella Society (CASA) : an aim to reward artists that create outstanding work and to promote innovation, creativity, and continued growth of the a cappella modality. Furthermore, the awards aim to foster the a cappella community by having its best and brightest participate in the CARA nomination and judging process. Finally, CASA uses the application process as a means to provide resources to charitable programs such as Tunes to Teens (free a cappella recordings for students).

The "A Cappella Community Awards" (aka the "ACAs") are voted on annually by registered users of CASA.org to allow fans the chance to award their favorite a cappella groups. Often called the "People's Choice Awards of the A Cappella community", the ACAs aim to further award excellent groups and individuals in the a cappella community, including non-American groups, by giving fans a venue to reward their favorite groups.

CASA produces weekend-long educational festivals open to the general public several times a year around the US, including the Los Angeles A Cappella Festival ("LAAF") in February, the Boston A Cappella Festival ("BOSS") in April, and the Southern A Cappella Festival ("SoJam"). In the past festivals have been held in San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago.

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