ICHSA: A Review

Tags

a cappella, high school, ICHSA, music, varsity vocals

The following is a review of the ICHSA Finals that I wrote for CASA.

***

Last Friday I had the great pleasure of judging at the final round of the International Championship of High School A Cappella. The show, produced by Varsity Vocals at the Hunter College Kaye Playhouse, featured ten of the nation’s best high school a cappella groups. As a high school teacher I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to witness firsthand the great work that is happening at schools around the country. These young singers are simply inspiring.

One of the things that I look for as a judge is consistent delivery of an emotional message from all members of a group. It is so common for young singers to rock their faces off on a solo but fall into an emotional coma when relegated to jen ja doh’s. I was delighted to find that this was very rarely an issue from the ten groups that competed on Friday night. From the goofy antics of Enharmonic Fusion’s “Hollywood” to the raw emotion of Take 7’s “Rolling in the Deep,” these kids were fully engaged in their performances.

WitchPitch? grabbed the audience’s attention with a  humorous introduction based on themes from the Wizard of Oz, and Highlands Voices performed a dazzling homage to Gloria Estefan with choreography that would surely dazzle even the Latina legend herself. Mezzo Devotion closed their set with an electric finale that literally burst off of the stage, eliciting screams of excitement from the audience.

No less exciting were the subtle dynamics and sensitive phrasing shown by the surprisingly mature singers. Limited Edition wowed us with their tight harmonies and sincere delivery of the Sara Bareilles tune “Kaleidoscope Heart.” Likewise, OneVoice delivered an emotional and nuanced rendition of “Freebird.”

The champion group Vocal Rush stood apart from their competitors, delivering an unforgettable performance that I am still thinking about days later. What distinguished them from the rest was their surprisingly understated delivery. Their choreography was minimal, but they sang with swagger and poise.

Again and again I was impressed by the focus and professionalism of these groups. When a cell phone rang (endlessly) as the first pitch was blown, the students of Forte did not bat an eye. When a PFC member’s hair got stuck to her face, she never once touched it. It was clear that these students had carefully thought through the smallest details of their performance, resulting in polished performances from the moment they set foot on the stage.

Repeatedly we judges exclaimed in surprise: “these are high school kids?!?” Those seated around us expressed relief that they were not in the position to select a winner, for the quality of competing groups was consistently high. There is no doubt that the caliber of high school a cappella has skyrocketed in recent years, and the 2012 ICHSA finalists proved that these teens are ready to rock their respective college campuses. Friday night’s show was awesome. Not high school awesome. Just awesome. If the college groups are paying attention, they are no doubt chomping at the bit to attract the experienced new crop of high school graduates heading their way.

Here’s the Plan.

Tags

a cappella, plans, priorities, teaching

Over the last two days, my students and I have been busy making plans. With each of my choral groups I have been mapping out the rest of our school year. We used the white board to brainstorm our bucket lists of potential upcoming projects: play with our new recording equipment. Learn new songs. Record old ones. Take publicity photos. Collaborate with other groups. We have so many exciting ideas and, incredibly, few rehearsals left in which to bring them to fruition.

So our next step, after brainstorming, was to discuss the merits and limitations of each possible project before voting to determine which ones will get our attention over the next three months. The end result was a streamlined list of attainable goals and daily benchmarks to be met from now until June.

Bringing fourteen teenagers to a consensus about goals and priorities is like herding passionate and very opinionated cats. It was an interesting exercise. It got me thinking about the large and small decisions I make each day regarding allocation of my limited time and resources. There are lots of things that I would like to do – more than I will ever fit into a day, or even a month.

I want to take the time to write something of substance on my blog. To say something original and thought-provoking and articulate. Even on the days when none of these adjectives describe me.

I want to play the piano, not because my job requires it but because I like it.

I want to plan my upcoming vacation, which will be absolutely no surprise to any of my readers. Actually, finding time for travel planning is not really an issue for me. Stopping myself from travel planning when I should be doing other things is a bit trickier.

I want to read the five books on my reading list. One of them has actually been sitting on my coffee table for a month. There is a photo of the author on the front. Every day he stares at me while my fingers click and clack across my keyboard. I have yet to pick him up. I can’t help but think he looks a little bit more judgmental with every passing day.

I want to watch a movie – any movie. French films from the library. A chick flick from my modest but reliable collection. The Hunger Games (I don’t really know what all the fuss is about.) I’m pretty sure the last movie I saw was in 2011.

I want to take my dog on off-leash romps in the woods near my house. I want to cook through a backlog of Food and Wine recipes. I want to take a nap. I want to take a graduate course. I want to eat dinner with my friends.

On most days I accomplish one or two of these things. Others are sorely neglected. That’s life. I do the things that are most important in the moment and hope my actions are at least somewhat consistent with the things that are important to me in the long run.

On a related topic: April vacation is two weeks away, and I can’t wait.

Searching

Tags

a cappella, blog, breakups, Facebook, google, search, social media

Hello, reader. Who are you?

Judging by my blog stats, chances are you know who I am. You probably arrived here via a link from Facebook, or from the web page of my local paper. And unless you leave me a comment, chances are I will never know it was you that stopped by. This is our unspoken agreement. I publish the words, and you read them. I’m pretty much okay with our arrangement. I’m getting used to the realization that the person with whom I’m chatting in the lunch line might already know embarrassing details about my oral hygiene or where I’m going for my next vacation. When I launched this blog I weighed the pros and cons of going incognito and ultimately decided against it. It felt somehow dishonest. It also would have allowed for some pretty interesting stories. But as I’ve said before, I don’t have much respect for anonymous online writers without filters.

One interesting feature of my blog stats is that they reveal the search terms that have led readers to my site. I am intrigued by these search terms, which have included “Ingrid Andress Boston,” “Beth Delforge,” “americaine stupide,” and “Whole Foods resignation letter.”

But what to make of the numerous Google searches for Amanda Roeder?

Do you know how many people are performing Google searches on you?

Well. Welcome to my blog, readers and searchers of all sorts. I’m not sure what you’ve been looking for, but you’ve found me.

I’m fascinated by the role of social media in the exchange of information. I’ve watched numerous political debates, controversies, and social gaffes play out in the online forum. It’s interesting how, as information becomes increasingly accessible, we seem to understand each other less and less.  And thus, we resort to the strangest ways of learning about one another.

Lately I’ve been fretting over a suitably sensitive way to deflect the unwanted online advances of one particular gentleman. I have been thus far unsuccessful in communicating my lack of interest in this very persistent person, whose interpretation of written communication is no more nuanced than his interpretation of body language. His advances are getting downright uncomfortable. I’ve considered possible ways to put a stop to it, but the thought has crossed my mind: at least he’s up front about his curiosity. I am not always so forthright.

I’ll admit it: I use social media to seek answers to the questions I don’t know how to ask in person. That’s a diplomatic way to describe an activity that most people call Facebook stalking. Yes, I do it. If you use social media, chances are you do it too. I read and re-read the tweets from certain individuals. I have a fair number of pseudo-celebrity friends in the a cappella circuit over whom I am more star-struck than I care to admit, and I watch their YouTube videos. A lot. I have scoured the Facebook profile of the one who broke my heart, searching (unsuccessfully) for some crumb of the closure he could not provide. This is what the internet was invented for, right?

So here I am, managing the delicate balance between my public and private lives, and finding the junctions where they intersect with yours. As a result, the question keeps resonating in my brain: when I type a word or name in that search bar, what am I really looking for?

N. E. Voices

Tags

a cappella, music, N. E. Voices, teaching

I am still recovering from an incredible weekend of a cappella at the N. E. Voices festival. In its inaugural year, N. E. Voices included an adjudicated performance by nine high school a cappella groups, a full day of workshops led by some of the best in the business, and a culminating showcase concert featuring local pros Firedrill! and Pitch Slapped from the Berklee College of Music.

This festival was born out of less than ideal circumstances. Having performed in several regional tournaments over the last four years, my students and I found that our culture around competition needed some serious examination. Following a series of conversations about the merits and perils of competition in general, I asked them to consider taking a break from the competitive circuit while we reevaluate our priorities. Some were more than happy to oblige, but others were dismayed by the thought of giving up on a tradition that had motivated and challenged them for years. I asked them to go out on a limb with me, and to trust that if we let go of our familiar competitive routine, something equally worthwhile would come along.

Later that night, I emailed my friend Nate Altimari to rekindle a conversation that he had initiated months before about starting up a high school a cappella festival. At the time he first suggested it, I had been too focused on other projects to engage in the conversation, and so the idea fell dormant. This time, we were both motivated to see it come to fruition. Thus, N. E. Voices was born.

Planning the festival was a massive undertaking that was executed entirely via email, Google docs, and the occasional phone call. Dave Grossman of Plymouth North High School spearheaded an ambitious publicity campaign and managed our finances while Shannon Phypers of Marlborough High School coordinated an impressive array of workshops and masterclasses for the participating students. The event took place at Wilmington Middle School where site host Jason Luciana left no detail unaddressed in order to ensure that the weekend went smoothly.

There was no doubt that with an army of skilled a cappella singers, the two evening concerts would be nothing short of electrifying. But what truly made N. E. Voices special was the quality of the clinicians. The scope and sequence of the offered workshops far exceeded that of any a cappella event that I have witnessed. As I poked my head into session after session, I was repeatedly amazed and humbled by the quality of the teaching I witnessed.

Lo Barreiro (of Musae and The Vocal Company) led a masterclass that challenged and inspired my female group. Equal parts perky, demanding, and affirming, Lo held my students to the highest standards of musicality. Lo has mastered the delicate mix of critique and praise that motivate high school singers.

Ingrid Andress (of Pitch Slapped and Delilah) led a session on singing female lead, which brought up lots of strong emotions from the young women in attendance. Ingrid masterfully presided over a conversation in which students freely admitted to the jealousy and insecurities that can lurk behind the façade of even the most successful singing groups.  She managed to both affirm the normalcy of these feelings and give guidance on the healthiest way to respond to them.

Jo Vinson, best recognized as the bass singer for Delilah on the The Sing Off, led a fascinating workshop on the art of singing bass. When I walked in, she had the rapt attention of a classroom full of boys (and one girl.) The fact that this festival was able to address the artistry of an often-overlooked vocal line was inspiring. The fact that a woman led the session was even more so. I watched with great interest as the young singers practiced the mechanics of tongue placement and mouth formation to achieve the optimal tone quality.

My coed group spent an invigorating hour with the members of Pitch Slapped, who took the time to break apart an arrangement, identifying problem spots and adjusting them in order to highlight the strengths of our group. One Pitch Slapped member spoke extensively about the use of imagery to enhance the emotional message of a song. She described the song in question as the soundtrack to a climactic – and ultimately devastating – moment of a love story. She spoke in such vivid detail that it brought tears to my eyes and forever changed the way my students will sing the song.

Boston-based group Overboard was well-represented at N. E. Voices, with Scott Cobban and Nick Girard leading workshops while Caleb Whelden tackled the mammoth task of running the sound system for the entire event. The men of Firedrill! not only put on a show that highlighted their vocal finesse but also led workshops (most notably, a popular series of vocal percussion sessions by Matt Wrobel.) Tyson McNulty (formerly of the MIT Logarhythms) coached students on arranging. Christopher Diaz brought his extensive understanding of the field and his characteristic warmth and charm, contributing sessions on songwriting and “A Cappella Groups You Should Know.”

And these are just the clinicians I saw in action.

Huge gratitude is also owed to Kevin Guest, Megan Alexander, and Rachel-Anne Minor who, for all of their assistance throughout the weekend, deserve the title of honorary board members.

The most gratifying part of the weekend was to witness the culture of enthusiastic, genuine support and collaboration among the students. Although the weekend began with a competition, what I will remember most is their enthusiasm for singing and learning. The moment that best expressed this feeling was when one of my students approached Jo Vinson to thank her for her guidance. “Never before has my life been altered by a singing workshop,” he told her. “You’ve completely changed my sound.” She extended her hand and thanked him for being a part of the weekend. He clasped her hand in his and bowed in gratitude.

Twenty four hours later, I am both exhausted and inspired. The first N. E. Voices festival was truly a highlight of my professional life.

A Half-Baked Effort

Tags

a cappella, music, N. E. Voices, teaching

For those who need a bit more context than seven haikus can provide, I have spent the weekend at N. E. Voices, a brand new high school a cappella festival for which I was one of several coordinators. The two-day festival took place at Wilmington Middle School and featured an impressive array of performers and clinicians, all of whom are experts in the field of a cappella singing.

I have lots to say about the weekend and the fine work of my colleagues, and I will surely tell you all about it tomorrow after some heavy sleep and a strong cup of coffee. At the moment, overwhelmed as I am with emotion and sleep deprivation, I just don’t think I can do the topic justice. I must confess that after two long and intense work days, I am starting to think that I played the haiku card a little too soon.

Meanwhile, as I sit here feeling sorry for myself over my inability to force a blog post out of my work-addled brain, one of my N. E. Voices colleagues has gone and started a blog of his own. Way to show me up, Jason. And welcome to the blogging community.

I’m not sure that this post could be called creative, but for what it’s worth, I had a hand in bringing a little more creativity into the world today. Just not here.

Aca-Haiku

Tags

a cappella, festival, haiku, music, N. E. Voices, poetry, teaching

A cappella is

getting hugely popular

among high school kids.

***

Festivals, I’ve learned,

are more work than they appear

when they are brand new.

***

Wise people have said

that many hands make light work.

Thank God for colleagues.

***

I cried a little

when Sam won best soloist.

This is why I teach.

***

So nice to see kids

having fun making music.

Nice too: no drama.

***

Late night, early rise.

Working weekends take their toll

but are so worth it.

***

Done with writing now.

Time for bed, not for blogging.

Sorry for cop-out.