Chicago a cappella Shares Its Voices

The vocalists of Chicago a cappella performed for the first school audience of their traveling season as Parker's 8th annual Joan W. Harris Visiting Musicians in Residence.

Students got a taste of the universal experience of a cappella music in a Morning Ex, when ensemble members filled the Heller Auditorium with sweet harmonies, verbal percussion and dynamic syncopation without any instrumental accompaniment.

Performers shared the history of each piece before performing it. Artistic Director John William Trotter helped acquaint the audience with the 5/4 time signature in their rendition of Paul Desmond’s jazz standard “Take Five” and later, the 2/4 in bossa nova signature in “The Girl from Ipanema.”

Each singer introduced themself, identified their vocal part in the group and offered a story of their initial attraction to vocal performance. The audience learned that singers in an a cappella group are arranged with low bass and baritone voices on the left, tenors in the center and altos and sopranos on the right. Singers also revealed that early exposure to music experiences in their education proved transformative in bringing them to where they are today as artists and human beings.

The guest musicians invited questions from the audience. When someone asked how they were able to harmonize so well, one performer encouraged tons of practice with a healthy amount of mistakes. Students asked artists which song genres translate best to a cappella performance and learned that jazz harmonies provide them with the basis to proficiently perform most commercially popular music. When someone asked how to add texture to their music, singers demonstrated ways to recreate jazzy textures with their voices, be flexible with tones and timbres and pay attention to nuances in syllables. One vocalist pointed out that singing “doot do,” versus “bob ba” versus “do dat” produces different results, and this awareness affects composing and arranging.

Prior to this in-school performance, Upper School vocalists honed their craft in one of a pair of workshops. Later that day, the group returned to Parker for a public performance, available below. 

Photos from Chicago a cappella’s visit to Parker are available here.