The Uptones performing at Mayne Stage, December 2015.

About Us

The Uptones are one of the most venerable post-collegiate/adult a cappella groups in Chicago; we were founded as Uptown Sound in 2009 — before The Sing-Off, before Pitch Perfect, just as a cappella was exploding off of college campuses nationwide. A group of young professionals, with a mixture of singing experience (from college a cappella groups, to musical theatre, to choirs, to nothing at all), came together and decided to set out on an adventure in the world of contemporary pop a cappella.

We’ve gone from performing for 20-odd family and friends in a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop to regular audiences of over 100 at our biannual concerts, and from a repertoire of (admittedly lovely) borrowed and purchased music to arranging all of our own songs. In our more than a decade of singing together, over 50 people have joined us for at least a little while (anywhere from 12–16 at any one time). Generally, folks stay as long as they feel able to fit it into their lives.

We are, after all, adults, with jobs and families and bills and all the rest of it. We sing because we enjoy performing, because we need a creative outlet… and we stay, because it’s fun. The makeup of the group continues to change, but the personality remains the same: music, friendship, and a little bit of humor. We hope you'll love listening to us as much as we love performing for you.