A cappella music is specifically group or solo singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It contrasts with cantata, which is usually accompanied singing. The term "a cappella" was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato style. In the 19th century a renewed interest in Renaissance polyphony coupled with an ignorance of the fact that vocal parts were often doubled by instrumentalists led to the term coming to mean unaccompanied vocal music. The term is also used, albeit rarely, as a synonym for alla breve.
Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. A charter member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), Tufts College was founded in 1852 by Christian universalists who worked for years to open a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. For more than a century, Tufts was a small New England liberal arts college until its transformation into a larger research university in the 1970s. The university emphasizes active citizenship and public service in all of its disciplines, and is known for its internationalism and study abroad programs. From a nationwide perspective, U.S. News & World Report categorizes Tufts as "most selective," which is the highest degree of selectivity the magazine offers. In addition, Tufts is considered one of the Hidden Ivies of the Northeastern United States.
Collegiate a cappella ensembles are college-affiliated singing groups, primarily in the United States and, increasingly, the United Kingdom and Ireland, that perform entirely without musical instruments. The groups are typically composed of, operated by, and directed by students. In the context of collegiate a cappella, the term a cappella typically also refers to the music genre performed by pop-centric student singing groups. Consequently, an ensemble that sings unaccompanied classical music may not be considered an a cappella group, even though technically it is performing a cappella.
Deke Sharon is an American singer, arranger, composer, director, producer and teacher of a cappella music, and is one of the leaders and promoters of the contemporary a cappella community and a pioneer of the contemporary a cappella style. He has been referred to as "the father of contemporary a cappella" by some authors.
The Contemporary A Cappella Society, or CASA, is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to fostering and promoting a cappella music of all styles around the world. CASA was founded in 1991 by Deke Sharon in San Francisco just after graduation. In his Tufts University dorm room during his senior year, Sharon published a newsletter, The "C.A.N.", mailed to all known collegiate a cappella groups by merging "The List," founded in 1988 & distributed by Rex Solomon, with the database maintained by his college a cappella group the Beelzebubs. The organization boasts over 6,000 current members, and serves as a resource for media and scholarly work in the area of contemporary a cappella.
Tufts University School of Dental Medicine (TUSDM) is a private, American dental school located in the Chinatown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, and is connected to Tufts Medical Center. It is one of the 8 graduate schools that comprise Tufts University. Founded in 1868 as Boston Dental College by Dr. Isaac J. Wetherbee, the university is the second oldest dental school in the city, and one of the oldest in the country. As of 2013, Tufts is the second largest dental school in the United States, with a class size of approximately 190 students per class.
Shir Appeal is Tufts University’s only mixed-gender Jewish a cappella group. Founded in 1995 with assistance from the Jewish Agency, Shir Appeal is one of the nation’s oldest collegiate Jewish a cappella groups. The group sings music from a wide range of genres, including Israeli rock and pop, traditional and liturgical Jewish songs, Jewish world music, and English music with strong Jewish themes. Though based at Tufts University outside Boston, Shir Appeal has gone on tour to numerous areas in the United States, including New York City, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, and Chicago, as well as the New England and Boston areas. Shir Appeal has been on Best of College a Cappella (BOCA) four times. It was the first non-secular a cappella group to be recognized on BOCA, and the only Jewish group to have ever been featured on it.
Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School (HWRHS) is a public high school in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, United States. It is the only high school in the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District, which has its administrative offices in Wenham, Massachusetts. The school's athletic teams are called the Generals, named after General George S. Patton, who lived in Hamilton. Students' average SAT scores are above the state average and the school regularly sends top students to Ivy League schools. In 2010, Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School placed in the top 10% of Massachusetts schools, ranking number 12, according to the Boston Magazine's Annual "Best Schools" list. In 2011, Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School moved up to number 9 in Boston Magazine's "Best Schools" list.
Chicago a cappella is a non-profit organization devoted to furthering the art of ensemble singing without any instruments. The group of professional singers began in 1993 by Jonathan Miller and conduct a series of performances annually. The organization displays a yearly subscription series for Chicago residents, produces studio recordings as well as live and broadcast-media musical content, and performs on tour and in special arrangements. The ensemble is known for their outstanding vocal abilities, innovative programming, and have a reputation of being a leader within the choral field. Expanding from a collection of a Gregorian chants to the Beatles and beyond, the singers are known for their wide repertoire including early works, vocal jazz, and spirituals. The ensemble is also a champion of performing works by living composers.
Wakefield Memorial High School is a public school located in Wakefield, Massachusetts, United States.
The College of Design at the Georgia Institute of Technology, established in 1908 as the Department of Architecture and also formerly called the College of Architecture, offered the first four-year course of study in architecture in the Southern United States.
Boston Arts Academy (BAA) in Boston, Massachusetts, USA is Boston's first and only high school for the visual and performing arts and is a partnership between Boston Public Schools and the ProArts Consortium. ProArts, a group of six arts colleges and universities in the Boston area, pushed the city to open the school, which was founded in 1998. The Consortium continues to support the school with performance space, music lessons and free college-level classes to BAA students.
Overboard is an a cappella group based in Boston, MA.
The Dear Abbeys is an all-male a cappella group consisting of current Boston University students, typically undergraduates. Founded in 1992, the Dear Abbeys won the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) competition in April 2005. In addition to regular appearances at Boston University and throughout the state of Massachusetts, the Dear Abbeys have traveled within the United States to promote the a cappella genre as well as K-12 music education.
The Virginia Sil'hooettes is a student-run, all-female a cappella group at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA. Once just the vision of four UVa students in the winter of 1988, the Sil'hooettes are now the most award-winning a cappella group at UVa. The Sil'hooettes, as they are sometimes called, have performed for thousands of people at such venues as the Kennedy Center, The White House, John Paul Jones Arena, Baltimore Orioles home baseball games, and Boston Red Sox home baseball games.
The Alleycats are a collegiate a cappella group, hailing from the University of St Andrews, Scotland. The group was established in 2001. Since then, they have produced 9 albums, performing across the UK.
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University is the first and oldest graduate school in the United States dedicated solely to international affairs. It is named after Dr. Austin Barclay Fletcher, a Tufts University alumnus whose bequest helped establish the school in 1933.
Glee: The Music Presents the Warblers is the seventh soundtrack album by the cast of Glee, a musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States. Released through Columbia Records on April 19, 2011, it contains thirteen covers: eleven accompanying performances from the series' second season and two exclusive to the album. Performers are portrayed on Glee as the fictional Dalton Academy Warblers, an all-male high school glee club from Westerville, Ohio. Darren Criss serves as lead vocalist, with Chris Colfer singing lead on one track and co-lead on a couple of others, while the Beelzebubs, an all-male a cappella group from Tufts University, provide background vocals. Dante Di Loreto and Brad Falchuk serve as the album's executive producers, and its tracks have collectively sold over 1.3 million copies.
The Dalton Academy Warblers are a fictional a cappella glee club from the private school Dalton Academy, located in Westerville, Ohio. They were first introduced in the Glee television episode "Never Been Kissed". The episode also introduced recurring guest star Darren Criss as Blaine Anderson, lead singer and junior member of the group. Performing a cover version of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" with Criss on lead vocals, the actors who portrayed the Warblers lip synced to background vocals provided by the Beelzebubs, an all-male a cappella group from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, who did not appear onscreen.
