Disney Acapella

April 21, 2020 11:28 AM

Voctave is an acapella vocal group that was originally formed by members of the Voices of Liberty, who perform at Disney's EPCOT Center. Since 2015 they have covered a diverse range of musical styles, and although the group has gone through several iterations during the years, their sound has remained reliably spectacular. Their videos have over 100 million views on YouTube, and one of the best, if you ask me, is their Disney Fly Medly.

As someone who is a fan of the sound of the classic Disney movie choirs (You Can Fly from Peter Pan is featured in the medly) it's great to see that this arrangement has so perfectly captured the sound and feeling of this bygone era! By the way, the soprano in the black and green who is absolutely killing those high notes is Jackie Stressman, who is currently a real estate agent in Orlando.

The choir's arranger, Jamey Ray, has a few more of their videos posted on his YouTube site. Here's an interview with him from 2016.

Voctave also has their own channel, with a whole lot more acapella goodness to listen to.

You can learn more about their current line-up on Voctave's web site.

posted by Quasimike (8 comments total)

Thank you so much for this! Bowties spouse and I are huge, huge, huge fans of Disney parks, and this year (this spring!) was supposed to be our big Asia trip that bagged him a visit to every park on the planet. It's a stupid first world problem, but we were really looking forward to it, and now we don't know if we'll ever be able to do it, or what any of the parks will look like if/when they reopen, and it's been an extra huge bummer on top of the general existential dread.

This brought a little ray of sunshine to a crummy day. I will also share my favorite Disney musical act, the Dapper Dans, performing from home.
posted by bowtiesarecool at 11:42 AM on April 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

Those lush chords! Love this!
posted by Clustercuss at 12:48 PM on April 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

This is gorgeous and hoo boy it's choking me up fierce. I'm also a fan of the Disney Parks and like everything else I've been thinking about the last few weeks if I live through this and manage to get back there I will savor every moment like it's my first.
posted by kimberussell at 1:27 PM on April 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

Living in Orlando, until recently I would keep a Disney annual pass when I had a little extra. (For Florida residents, it's a little over $30 a month for the main theme parks with parking.)

I rarely used it to go spend a full day at the parks. Instead, I would find afternoons when I needed a couple hours to calm my brain and just go walk around and watch people, maybe hit a ride or two, grab a snack, but basically just enjoy the magic of Disney in the way I did when I was a kid and didn't live within a thousand miles.

And one of the best ways to do this is to walk into American Adventure when I know the Voices of Liberty are going to perform, get a seat under the dome where the sound is best, and just fall into bliss.
posted by replayer at 3:32 PM on April 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

The impact of these folks live under the dome really cannot be relayed via YouTube videos. They are amazing live. Easily the best thing in Epcot.
posted by RolandOfEld at 3:34 PM on April 21, 2020 [3 favorites]

As a longtime fan, thanks for the post!
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:02 PM on April 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

Their stuff is addictive as can be. "How Far I'll Go," from Moana is probably driving my neighbors around the bend this month.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 5:58 PM on April 21, 2020

So, my not-quite-3-yo didn’t have a nap today, so it’s been everything in my bag of tricks to prevent COMPLETE TODDLER SCREAMING MADNESS this evening.

Now, I’m sitting here with him sleeping my arms, lulled to sleep by a couple Disney medleys. Bedtime, at least, was peaceful, enjoyable and stress-free.

Thank you.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 6:37 PM on April 22, 2020