A Cappella at NAMM

From 1998-2012, AMY ENGELHARDT was the sole female voice/writer/arranger for Grammy®-nominated vocal quartet The Bobs. She recorded and toured extensively with the band, from Lincoln Center's American Songbook to Northwest Folklife to the Pori (Finland) Jazz Festival. And as Mother Superior of the Chattering Order of St. Beryl in Amazon Prime's GOOD OMENS promo campaign (arrangements by Deke Sharon), Amy recently led a gaggle of rocking, satanic a cappella nuns though the series premieres in LA, New York and London, and produced their EP Unholy Night, released on Amazon Music.

Equally at home in theatre, Amy made her Off-Broadway debut as composer/lyricist of BASTARD JONES in 2017; the show was a Richard Rodgers Award Finalist and Off-Broadway Alliance nominee for Best New Musical. A New York Transit Museum commission led Amy to write TRIPTYCH, a trio of 10-minute musicals set on the M42 crosstown bus. She's written lyrics/vocal arrangements for TESLA (Foundation for New Musicals), lyrics for commissioned adaptations of Carl Sagan's CONTACT (2009 Puget Sound Theater Award - Best New Play) and NICHOLAS NICKLEBY (Seattle's CenterStage).

Her solo CD, Not Gonna Be Pretty, garnered multiple Just Plain Folks Awards Nominations, and her follow-up album, Finish What You drops in spring 2020. Amy is the only honorary female member of the Vienna Boys Choir.

Originally from Brooklyn, NY, India Carney is an American singer, songwriter, vocal arranger/producer and actress. In 2019, India signed to UK publishing company, Phrased Differently, to start the next chapter in her music career. India tours with award-winning pop artist, Katy Perry, and has sung for Grammy-award winning artists, including Lady Gaga, David Foster, Meghan Trainor, H.E.R., Natasha Bedingfield, Mavis Staples and Rita Ora, to name a few. Her recording and producing collaborations include a mix of her pop, folk, classical, R&B, A Cappella, jazz and musical theater influences. Classically trained in music at UCLA, before graduating college, India became a national name, wowing audiences worldwide with her "voice of gold" while debuting performances on NBC's The Voice, Season 8.

At UCLA, India served as music director for co-ed collegiate a cappella group, The ScatterTones, leading the group to ICCA Finals and earning both Outstanding Arrangement and Outstanding Soloist awards in the process. Other awards and accolades include the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music (BKCM) Music Impact Award, Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award (CARA), and recognition at the Los Angeles A Cappella Festival (LAAF). She gives back to the a cappella community by donating her time, judging competitions like Varsity Vocals' ICCAs/The Open, teaching at the Betsy A Cappella Festival and A Cappella Academy. She is excited to be judging the first A Cappella at NAMM Competition!

Los Angeles musician Jeff Smith is perhaps best known for his work as artistic director and vocalist for the internationally-touring vocal group, m-pact. Since joining the band in 2004, he has performed across four continents in venues ranging from jazz clubs and festivals to concert halls and opera houses. Under Jeff’s direction, m-pact has been selected as headliners for prestigious a cappella, jazz, and vocal festivals around the world; and they have won multiple a cappella recording and video awards, including best jazz album, best jazz song, best jazz video, and best R&B video.

When not harmonizing and beatboxing with m-pact, Jeff is a full-time freelance musician, producer, arranger, and teacher. As a vocalist, he has performed in a wide range of settings - including recording sessions for Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox Film, Disney TV, HBO, and Yamaha Electronics; and live performances for Disneyland Resort and the MTV Video Music Awards. As a vocal percussionist, Jeff has been a featured performer for national corporate events and meetings (Wal-Mart, Toyota, H&R Block, and many others), as well as on recordings for film (Epic, Dance Flick) and television (Glee).

Jeff is a frequent soloist and worship leader at numerous churches around southern California, and is highly sought-after as a clinician and coach for choirs, a cappella groups, and other ensembles. He is also a recording artist, with several solo releases available on all digital platforms. In addition to these endeavors, Jeff finds time to maintain a career in the U.S. Army Reserve as the commander and conductor of the 300th Army Band in Los Angeles.

Jeff is a member of SAG-AFTRA and lives in the LA area with his wife Heather and 4 children.

VJ Rosales is a singer/songwriter from the greater Los Angeles area. Graduating with a degree in Choral Vocal Education and Jazz Studies Performance from CSU Long Beach, VJ works as a professional singer, songwriter/arranger, & educator in the music world.

VJ Rosales sings as part of a 5 member, all-Filipino-American group called The Filharmonic. Formed together to compete on the hit television a cappella show, NBC's the Sing Off in 2013, they continue to have many great opportunities in the world of a cappella. Together they have starred in Pitch Perfect 2 and are currently the in-house a cappella group for the Late Late Show w James Corden. As music director of the group, VJ has arranged and directed 8 Late Late Show riff offs- some of which include Anna Kendrick, Shawn Mendes, Usher, John Legend and more!

As the world of a cappella evolves, VJ continues to write/arrange music and teach not only nationally, but worldwide.

Rob Dietz is a multiple CARA winning producer who has been arranging, performing, and teaching contemporary a cappella music for over fifteen years. Based in Los Angeles, Rob is best known for his work as an arranger and group coach for NBC's The Sing-Off. Through his work on the show, Rob has had the pleasure of collaborating with some of the top talent in the vocal music world, including Pentatonix, Streetcorner Symphony, The Exchange, Traces, and many more. As a performer he is an award winning vocal percussionist, and his distinctive sound has been featured on several TV shows, including FOX's Glee and The Late Late Show with James Corden.

Rob has a deep passion for a cappella education, and is a founding co-director (along with Ben Bram and Avi Kaplan) of A Cappella Academy. In addition to his work with the Academy, Rob is also the director of Legacy: an auditioned, community youth a cappella group based in Los Angeles. In the three years since the group's inception, Legacy has won the Los Angeles A Cappella Festival's Scholastic Competition, the Southwest semifinal round of the Varsity Vocals A Cappella Open, and the Finals of the International Championship of High School A Cappella at Lincoln Center.

Alongside his work in contemporary a cappella, Rob is also an avid choral composer, with work published by Alfred Music Publishing.