The sky’s the limit for student A Cappella group Northern Lights
Reigning UK champions Northern Lights were placed third at the world finals of the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) in the New York Town Hall on Broadway, USA. The 15-strong ensemble were the only UK representatives in the finals and faced competition from nine other A Cappella groups from across Canada and the USA.
Their set, which was arranged entirely in-house by the group’s Musical Director, Aman Krishna, included performances of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ from ‘The Wizard of Oz’, ‘Dream On’ by Aerosmith, ‘Golden Slumbers’ by the Beatles, and ‘Night Fever’ by the Bee Gees. This placed them in third position on the leaderboard, marking the first time a mixed UK A Cappella group has ever placed on the podium at these internationally recognised awards. This year isn’t the first time Northern Lights has reached the finals of the ICCA. They first qualified in 2023, in their 10th year as a group. They repeated this in 2024, wowing audiences with their vibrant set, where Lucie Fletcher also came away with a coveted ‘Outstanding Soloist’ award. In 2025, Northern Lights retained their UK ICCA championship title for the third consecutive year (fifth time overall), progressed to the international ICCA finals for the third time. Outside of ICCA, at the start of the year, the group won the UK’s Open A Cappella Competition in Warwick against nine finalists (including non-collegiate groups). They also won two special awards for Exceptional Arrangement and Exceptional Choreography. Northern Lights’ talent and sheer determination has taken them on a demonstrable upwards trajectory year on year. In the past two years, the University has supported their development through a dedicated resource from Performing Arts for Jazz and Commercial music.
A huge thank you to all of [our alumni]. Northern Lights would not have got to this place had it not been for all of our fantastic alumni, and we are beyond grateful. Thank you so much for all of your support always, and we hope we have done you all proud!”
- Northern Lights President Joe Butler Smith
The group is in its 12th year as a student-led, mixed vocal ensemble. Fourteen singers and a beatboxer perform a wide range of genres from mainstream pop to musical theatre ballads. Their singing takes them around the world, from headlining sell-out shows at Durham’s Gala Theatre, to the world-famous Edinburgh Fringe, and New York. The group arrange all their own music in close collaboration with previous alumni generations, many of whom provide regular mentorship and support their performances in the UK and the USA. The ICCA is the competition that the ‘Pitch Perfect’ movies are based around. It was founded in a college dorm room in 1996 and has since grown to include 450 groups competing in nine regions in the US and Europe.
Northern Lights’ success on national and international stages is an extraordinary achievement. To see them not only repeat, but build on these each year amidst the change brought by the academic cycles, is incredible and testament to their hard work, drive and determination. Each member balances their busy extra-curricular schedule with academic and potentially also College commitments, making their success in New York even more laudable.”
- Nicola Candlish, Senior Manager – Performing Arts