ABOUT ACCENT A CAPPELLA
No Southern Accent was founded in 2001 by Laura Silva and Cara Christeson, becoming the first a cappella group at the University of Florida and one of the first in the South. Because the a cappella scene was then heavily concentrated in the Northeast, our founders sought to distinguish themselves as musicians within the group’s name. Indeed, as a whole, No Southern Accent has never been a “country” group with Southern accents. Over two decades later, we stand as a group run by University of Florida students of various majors, identities, voice parts, and musical interests.
Since our establishment in 2001, UF’s premiere all-gender a cappella group has performed and competed under the name No Southern Accent. The group originally adopted this name to send a message to the northern contemporary groups that we are to be taken seriously. With the group’s name being so closely associated to the group’s overall identity, it is critical that we remain constantly reflective of the image we portray to the world.
A principal aspect of our group’s mission statement is that we strive to create a second home for everyone involved. With this group being a long withstanding part of UF’s history and culture, it is important to recognize the message we send to our members, supporters, audience and potential auditionees.
Our group has recently pledged to support causes such as Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ+ Pride. If the verbal message we communicate to people is that we support these causes, our nonverbal messages must communicate the same thing. We plan to continue rerouting our group’s mission in an attempt to begin to rectify any harm that may have been inflicted. We feel as a group the name “No Southern Accent” does not represent our current values and the main title of the group cannot contradict our goals and intentions.
We are beyond thrilled to announce the opening of a new chapter of our group as
Accent A Cappella.
We value the progress of what the group has become, and want to maintain a connection to all of the music made over the group’s first 20 years as a competitive a cappella group. Accent A Cappella will move forward with intentionality, always working to improve and push further.