List of Stanford University a cappella groups

Collegiate a cappella arrived at Stanford University in 1963, when the Stanford Mendicants were founded by a transfer student from Yale University, the school where collegiate a cappella began. The Mendicants were the first a cappella group on the West Coast of the United States. ^[1] The all-male Mendicants were followed by Stanford's second a cappella group, Counterpoint, the first all-female a cappella group on the West Coast. ^[2]

By the 1980s, as collegiate a cappella hit an inflection point and the number of groups doubled around the United States, ^[3] Stanford saw the founding of four more a cappella groups, each with its own initial differentiating focus: Fleet Street (founded 1981, focused on comedy), Mixed Company (founded 1985, Stanford's first co-ed a cappella group), and Everyday People (founded 1987, focused on Motown, R&B, and the burgeoning genre of hip hop music), and Stanford Talisman (founded in 1989, focused on music from the African diaspora).

By the 1990s, Stanford a cappella groups began receiving national recognition for their recorded music, created with audio engineer Bill Hare. In 1995, Fleet Street won the 1995 national Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards for best album, best song, and best soloist. President of the Society, Deke Sharon, praised the group's work, saying, "The quality [of their music] is fantastic. They're very good performers and their recordings are remarkably professional for a student-run group." ^[4] In 1999, Stanford groups received a record 14 nominations at the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards. Sharon, said, "it's rare for so many excellent groups to come out of one school." ^{[5] [6]}

List of a cappella groups

As of 2025, there are ten a cappella groups at Stanford. Here, in order of founding date:

• Mendicants (f. 1963): Stanford's oldest a cappella group.
• Counterpoint (f. 1979): first all-female collegiate a cappella group on the West Coast.
• Fleet Street (f. 1981): co-ed comedy group known for original songs.
• Mixed Company ("Mixed Co"; f. 1985): pop focus, Stanford's first co-ed a cappella group.
• Everyday People ("EP"; f. 1987): Hip Hop, R&B, Motown and Soul focus.
• Talisman (f. 1989): South Africa and the African diaspora focus, now broadly international.
• Harmonics (f. 1991): alternative rock focus.
• Testimony (f. 1991): Christian music focus.
• Raagapella (f. 2002): South Asian focus.
• O-Tone (f. 2016): East Asian focus.

Bibliography

• Brockenbrough, Andy (26 September 1991). "A time to sing and sing and..." published in The Stanford Daily , p. 8. Print.
• Chopra, Nitin (24 September 1998). "A cappella nation: A Stanford tradition," published in The Stanford Daily: Intermission, pp. 5–7. Print.
• Omer, Issra (11 August 2011). "Beyond the barbershop: Stanford’s diverse a capella scene" published online by The Stanford Daily . Online.

References

1. Weinstein, Dave (October 17, 2003). "Stanford group celebrating 40 years of song". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved December 27, 2019.
2. Chopra, Nitin (September 24, 1998). "A cappella nation: A Stanford tradition". The Stanford Daily . Vol. 214, no. 5. pp. 5–7. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
3. Duchan, Joshua S. (Winter 2007). "Collegiate a Cappella: Emulation and Originality". American Music . 25 (4): 447–506. doi:10.2307/40071679. JSTOR   40071679.
4. Yu, Cynthia (February 28, 1995). "Fleet Street wins national awards: Album 'What You Want' sweeps three of four categories". The Stanford Daily . Vol. 207, no. 16.
5. Yang, Virginia (February 2, 1999). "A cappella up for awards: Campus groups win 14 nominations". The Stanford Daily . Vol. 215, no. 2.
6. Daly, Bobby (April 8, 1999). "Unaccompanied recognition: Stanford groups win national a cappella prizes". The Stanford Daily . Vol. 215, no. 34.