A capella Fest; a hefty feast for the years
by Dan Forman
Theater | 5/1/07
Posted online at 11:57 PM EST on 4/30/07
/ Last updated at 7:27 AM EST on 4/30/07
If you were not in the Slosberg Auditorium Wednesday at 8 p.m., then you missed the opportunity to hear, see, experience and be engulfed in the harmoniously soulful reverie of wavy chord intervals, sailing cadences and vivacious body gyrations of a cappella ecstasy.
It was the only time of the year to see all of the University's a cappella groups in one venue, underscoring the creative current that bursts through these walls upon the arrival of the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Arts.
A Cappella Fest 2007 was primarily organized by Starving Artists with all proceeds going to the St. Joseph's Homes for Boys in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. I know what you're thinking: "a cappella and charity? The night must have been just one giant, warm and fuzzy bear hug." Well, it was.
But one should not be fooled by these groups' insouciant, fun-loving attitudes while on stage. Making the songs look effortless and sound melodic is a tedious task of mastering the subtleties of arrangement.
I think that there are few who could argue that VoiceMale's performance was not the main attraction at this event. The all-male winner of practically every a cappella award in existence reinforced its boy-band, Hollywood-produced image with Hanson's "Where's the Love," Corinne Bailey Rae's "Put Your Records On," and O.K. Go's "Here it Goes Again."
Up the Octave, an all-girl group, performed a spectacular arrangement of Frou Frou's "Let Go," masterfully conveying the overall feel and sound of the synthesized instrumentation and backing vocals of the actual recording.
Voices of Soul's rendition of Seal's "Kiss From a Rose" was equally impressive. While the the group's powerful voices swelled, pauses and vocal alternations truly took the soloist's performance to another level. Their voices hovered over the audience's heads. The group aptly captured the energy and grandeur of the song.
Rather Be Giraffes ambitiously took on Guster's "Barrel of a Gun," a song whose hand-played drumming and instrumental breaks are especially difficult to mimic. The group recreated these effects with great innovation without sacrificing the song's energy.
It was the only time of the year to see all of the University's a cappella groups in one venue, underscoring the creative current that bursts through these walls upon the arrival of the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Arts.
A Cappella Fest 2007 was primarily organized by Starving Artists with all proceeds going to the St. Joseph's Homes for Boys in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. I know what you're thinking: "a cappella and charity? The night must have been just one giant, warm and fuzzy bear hug." Well, it was.
But one should not be fooled by these groups' insouciant, fun-loving attitudes while on stage. Making the songs look effortless and sound melodic is a tedious task of mastering the subtleties of arrangement.
I think that there are few who could argue that VoiceMale's performance was not the main attraction at this event. The all-male winner of practically every a cappella award in existence reinforced its boy-band, Hollywood-produced image with Hanson's "Where's the Love," Corinne Bailey Rae's "Put Your Records On," and O.K. Go's "Here it Goes Again."
Up the Octave, an all-girl group, performed a spectacular arrangement of Frou Frou's "Let Go," masterfully conveying the overall feel and sound of the synthesized instrumentation and backing vocals of the actual recording.
Voices of Soul's rendition of Seal's "Kiss From a Rose" was equally impressive. While the the group's powerful voices swelled, pauses and vocal alternations truly took the soloist's performance to another level. Their voices hovered over the audience's heads. The group aptly captured the energy and grandeur of the song.
Rather Be Giraffes ambitiously took on Guster's "Barrel of a Gun," a song whose hand-played drumming and instrumental breaks are especially difficult to mimic. The group recreated these effects with great innovation without sacrificing the song's energy.
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