the annual In Performance at Forrest Meadows performing arts series at Dominican University and the Festival soon became a local audience favorite. After a few years theatrical producer John Neal attended a concert and was thoroughly enthralled by the singing, the show and the concept of this first-of-its-kind music festival. John approached Lisa and offered to help develop the show and to expand to other cities and to make it a national event. They immediately became partners and other cities were added and the venue for the National Finals was moved to the much larger Marin Veteran's Auditorium. Over the next few years the concerts grew in popularity and most every up and coming vocal harmony group across the land has performed in at least one show. After a while groups from overseas also started to participate and to date there has been two Champions from overseas namely Vocaldente (Germany) and The Idea of North (Australia). The Festival is now firmly established as the leading showcase for vocal harmony groups and has helped further the careers of many artists. National Champions & Audience Favorites Most of the groups that have earned the title of Harmony Sweepstakes National Champions have continued their careers to great success. After 30 plus years of competition the majority of national champions still continue to perform in some form or other. 1999 champions National Seven was signed with Sony Records and has toured internationally for years as the support act for Michael Buble. M-Pact was hailed by Billboard Magazine as the year's "Best Unsigned Artist." Hi Fidelity landed a gig performing frequently on the Carson Daly show, a direct result of their success in the contest. 2012 champs Six Appeal landed an agent after winning the event and now have a busy touring schedule throughout the country. The Knudsen Brothers (now known as SIX) have become a big hit in Branson, MO where they perform year round. 2009 champions Maxx Factor went on to become Sweet Adeline's International Queens of Harmony and, along with several of our other national champions such as Groove For Thought and Northshore A Cappella, appeared on the NBC show The Sing-Off. National finalists 2014 Finalists: Catatonic, mid-Atlantic region SeaNote - Pacific Northwest 3AM - Chicago region Women of the World - Boston region Prime Time - Bay Area region #FourB - Los Angeles region Quintessential Five - New York City region