A quartet of Mercer Island girls, calling themselves ‘KISS’ (an acronym for their initials — Kate, Izzy, Sara and Sydney), will appear at the “Rising Star” singing contest next month in Seattle.

The girls are freshmen at Mercer Island High School and include Sara Lindquist, lead vocals, Isabella Bernal, tenor, Kate Reinertson, baritone and Sydney Blosch, singing bass.

The girls also perform with Island Sound, under the direction of Cheryl Falk.

The girls have taken up “barbershop,” a unique form of a cappella harmony.

Kate, who sings baritone, enjoys the flexibility of singing without instrumentation.

“What I love most is that we can just sing anywhere, anytime. All we need is each other,” she said.

The Rising Star Contest is a feature of the Sweet Adelines International Convention, held in Seattle for the first time in nearly four decades. Over 150 young women will participate in workshops and competitions, culminating in the Rising Star Contest.

The KISS quartet will also perform at Benaroya Hall on Oct. 17, in the “Sounds of Sweden” Show, featuring a cappella groups from Sweden.

“These are four very talented and focused singers,” said their coach, Melanie Wroe who is a member of Sweet Adelines International, where she is a singer, judge and international coach. “I believe they will do well in this contest, even though they may be one of the youngest quartets in the mix.”

The Rising Star Contest will be held at Key Arena: www.sweetadelineintl.org/risingstar.cfm. Tickets will be sold at the door. Tickets for the Sounds of Sweden Show are available through the Benaroya ticket office.