Golden Lips 2026: Thank You for the Music!

Launched by Art Department Chair Joe Raciti in 2018, the annual Golden Lips competition is the premier a cappella competition among New England and Upstate New York boarding schools. The 2026 show was held on Saturday and delivered smooth harmonizations by four boarding school ensembles, along with a surprise appearance by the competition’s judges, who turned out to be Berklee College of Music’s premier mixed voices group.

After last year’s winners, Kingswood Oxford’s all-boys group Crimson 7, returned the trophy, the competition began. Mr. Raciti, resplendent in his traditional golden cape, emceed the event. He kept the audience on the edges of their seats with his clever rhymes and dramatic tossing of the pyramidical dice, which dictated that Millbrook’s Singers take the Chelsea Morrison Theater stage first. And take the stage they did, thrilling the crowd with a medley of songs from the musical Mama Mia, arranged by Sofia Gottsegen ’27.

Next up, Crimson 7 performed energetic versions of Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie” and Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” At one point they pulled a judge out of the front row for a quick twirl around the stage, a move that may have affected the scoring—but we’ll forgive them!

Cheshire Academy’s 1794s then crooned “Somebody to Love” by Queen and “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish, followed by Kent’s Kentatonix singing “I Lived” by OneRepublic and stepping their way through AURORA’s “Apple Tree.” Kingswood Oxford’s all-girls group, The Oxfordians, closed out the competition with “Man I need” by Olivia Dean and “Thank You for the Music” by ABBA—which also happened to be the Singers’ closing tune.

The repeat number prompted Mr. Raciti to proclaim, “After the show, when the moment is right, Oxfordians and singers must combine their might, reprise the number they both happened to learn, one more ‘Thanks for the Music’ you’ll earn.”

Berklee College of Music performed eight pop songs as a finale to the show. They rapped, beatboxed, and showcased amazing vocal skill. When they announced their final song—“Deja Vu” by Beyonce—the crowd lamented their imminent departure.

All the school groups sang beautifully, demonstrating the dedication and collaboration that thrive in the boarding environment. But in the end, only one group could walk away with the coveted Golden Lips trophy. And that group was, yet again, Crimson 7, who accepted their trophy to wild applause and a shower of bubbles. Congratulations to the boys from Kingswood Oxford on their back-to-back victories, and we at Millbrook look forward to ending your reign when Golden Lips returns to campus in 2027!

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