Alton Accola, artist liaison
Choral Music Director | 10 years
Artist Representative | 29 years
Behind The Mic | 6 years
“Our gift is giving deserving artists the opportunity to achieve their dreams.”
For 29 years, Accola was the talent representative for the big band vocal quintet, Five By Design. The artists performed with hundreds of symphony orchestras throughout the United States and Canada. Notable orchestras included the Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Houston Symphony, Utah Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Winnipeg Symphony, the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, and a holiday tour with conductor Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops.
As the founder/artist liaison for Behind The Mic, Accola has filmed interviews with nearly 100 artists, educators, and music industry specialists including Bobby McFerrin, The Hi-Lo’s (Clark Burroughs and Don Shelton), The Lettermen’s Tony Butala, The Manhattan Transfer (Janis Siegel, Alan Paul, and Cheryl Bentyne), Ben Folds, Home Free (winners of NBC’s The Sing-Off), Take 6’s Alvin Chea, Lee Greenwood (singer/songwriter of “God Bless The USA”). In addition, we have interviewed international vocal groups from South Korea, the Philippines, Slovenia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, India, Sweden, France, England, Brazil, Canada, and the United States.
In 2018, we produced Behind The Mic’s Worldwide Holiday Special hosted by Cheryl Bentyne, of the Grammy-winning Manhattan Transfer, and 8 international vocal groups. The YouTube broadcast was produced as 1-hour pilot for a future television special..
