Mosaic Whispers

Last updated
Mosaic Whispers
SplashofColor2014.jpg
The Mosaic Whispers' annual concert, Splash of Color
Background information
Also known asThe Whispers, Washington University in St. Louis Mosaic Whispers
Origin St. Louis, Missouri, United States
GenresA Cappella
Years active1991–present
LabelsCollegiate
Website Official website

Mosaic Whispers (also known as "The Whispers") is a Washington University all-gender a cappella group that performs music from a variety of genres. The group has performed on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews as well as on local radio stations such as 93.7 The Bull. The group competed in the international finals of the 2016 ICCA competition. They have progressed to the regional level of multiple ICCA competitions and the final four of a national competition to sing with Andy Grammer. [1] They have toured nationally, opened for Ben Folds and Straight No Chaser, received a number of CARA nominations, and have been included on a number of national a cappella compilation albums.

Contents

History

The Mosaic Whispers was founded in 1991 by a group of students and first performed together at Washington University's Thurtene Carnival. It is the oldest mixed-gender group at the university. The original roster included P. Daniel Newman, Jason Coryell, Brian Stephenson, Liz Radford, Josh Einsohn, Devorah Rosner, and Lora Norback, with the group holding auditions in the fall of 1991. Many alumni return and join current students at the group's annual spring concert, known as Splash of Color.

The group has appeared on several compilation a cappella albums, including an appearance on the 2008 Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella! . [2] The Whispers were selected after submitting a video of the group performing Folds' song "Still Fighting It" to Ben Folds' university a cappella competition.

The group released their 10th studio album, Wavelength, in the spring of 2015, and their first EP, ICCA 2016: The Extended Cuts, in the spring of 2017. Their most recent album, titled Oasis, was released in 2018.

One notable alumna is Eliotte Henderson ('10) who has toured internationally as a member of Taylor Swift's band. [3]

Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella!

The Mosaic Whispers were selected to be featured on the album after submitting a video of the group performing Folds' song "Still Fighting It" to Ben Folds' university a cappella competition. Reviews for their rendition of "Still Fighting It" were positive, [4] [5] with the Norwich Bulletin praising their performance. [6]

Mosaic Whispers and Ben Folds take a break from recording "Still Fighting It" for Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella! Mosaic Whispers with Ben Folds.jpg
Mosaic Whispers and Ben Folds take a break from recording "Still Fighting It" for Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella!

Andy Grammer Competition

In Spring 2012, The Whispers reached the final four in a competition to sing with Andy Grammer. The competition, which was 12 days long, consisted of submitting three performance videos, including two Andy Grammer songs. The Whispers arranged and learned the song Fine By Me in 8 hours for their final video submission. To gain votes, the Whispers got support of both the WashU newspaper Studlife [7] and the St. Louis Metro social media staff. [8] [9] While they won the popular vote (consisting of Facebook Likes, Tweets, and user account votes) in their final round, they ultimately lost to the professional a cappella group Six Appeal, who garnered the votes of both TopBlip and Grammer himself.

International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella

Senior William Skubish solos on Harry Styles' "Music for a Sushi Restaurant" at the 2023 Midwest Semifinal. Photo by William Urdahl. The Whispers onstage at the ICCA Midwest Semifinal..jpg
Senior William Skubish solos on Harry Styles' "Music for a Sushi Restaurant" at the 2023 Midwest Semifinal. Photo by William Urdahl.

The group regularly competes in the Varsity Vocals International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA). In the spring of 2016, they were the Midwest Champions and advanced to the Finals round at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, NY. [10] There, they performed their award-winning set which included their arrangements of "Smooth" by Santana, "Elastic Heart" by Sia, "Tremors" by SOHN, and "Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars. They also advanced to the Semifinals round of the competition in the spring of 2017. [10] Before the competition was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the group placed first at the 2020 Midwest Quarterfinal, where Samara Lillioja was awarded both Outstanding Arrangement and Outstanding Soloist for Yebba's "My Mind". [10] Most recently, Whispers won the 2023 Midwest Quarterfinal, where Natalie Feldstein was awarded Outstanding Choreography and Noah Maguigad was awarded Outstanding Arrangement, both for the entire set. They then advanced to the Midwest Semifinal, where Eli Cohen was awarded Outstanding Vocal Percussion and the group was awarded 3rd place. [10]

Notable performances

In Spring 2012, the Whispers sang "Change the World" for Bill Nye and Washington University's board of trustees, as a part of the dedication to WUSTL's new Earth, Planetary, and Space Science Center.

Recently, the Whispers sang for the launch of Washington University's Leading Together Campaign, a multibillion-dollar fundraiser to aid the expanding university. They also sang to help the Boatload of Toys fundraiser, a charity event for St. Louis children hosted by 93.7 St. Louis, with Mason and Remy. They have also sung for the WUSTL Founder's Day ball on multiple occasions, which has been attended by Robert Gates, John Huntsman, and Anderson Cooper.

Albums

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanford Mendicants</span> Musical artist

The Stanford Mendicants are an all-male a cappella group at Stanford University. The group is Stanford University's first a cappella group. Since its founding in 1963, the group's size has varied from 6 to 19 members. Although they are strictly an a cappella group today, they have performed with instruments in previous generations. The group prides itself on singing a wide range of songs, from gospel to barbershop to pop tunes and original compositions. The Mendicants are known around Stanford's campus for their red blazers and romantic serenades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia Gentlemen</span> American a cappella group

The Virginia Gentlemen (VGs) is a lower voices collegiate a cappella group and the oldest a cappella group at the University of Virginia. The group was founded in 1953 as an elite octet of the Virginia Glee Club. Since establishing independence from the Virginia Glee Club in 1987, the group has continued to perform a mix of contemporary pop and classic vocal music.

After Dark (AD) is a co-ed a cappella group at Washington University in St. Louis specializing in contemporary rock and pop music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voices in Your Head</span> Musical artist

Voices in Your Head is a student-run a cappella group from the University of Chicago who aim to "push the bounds of contemporary a cappella." Founded in 1998, the group has consisted of both undergraduate and graduate students whose studies range from Economics to Music to MD/PhD programs. Its unique repertoire includes original pieces, as well as an eclectic mix of pop, R&B, rock, and alternative music. Voices competes regularly in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) and releases studio recordings of their arrangements.

DJs A Cappella is one of the 15 officially recognized a cappella groups of the University of Michigan, according to the Michigan A Cappella Council. Created in 1998, the group continues to perform a cappella music in Ann Arbor, MI and around the country, as well as in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. The group is notable for being featured on three Best of Collegiate A Cappella recordings, as well as hosting Acappellooza, a well-known annual invitational concert. The group is coed and entirely self-run and self-funded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midnight Ramblers</span> Musical artist

The Midnight Ramblers (Ramblers) are an award-winning TTBB a cappella group based at the University of Rochester. Since their founding in 1998, they have been entirely student organized and directed. They are also made up exclusively of members of Rochester's undergraduate community. The Ramblers finished third in the 2005 International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella; they were also the Mid-Atlantic Champions. In April 2008, they celebrated their tenth anniversary, with nearly every alumnus of the group in attendance. Following the show, they became the first undergraduate organization to sponsor a scholarship for incoming students at the university.

Deep Treble is the premier co-ed a cappella group at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. The group was founded in September, 1998 by Hanna Schwartz, a then-sophomore in Rutgers College and Jordan Ullman, a then-graduate student at the Rutgers University School of Education. It was the fifth co-ed A Cappella group on campus and since its inception, has been entirely student-run. The group travels across the eastern seaboard, and has participated in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella several times, making it to the finals twice and picking up several awards along the way. They recently celebrated their 25th Anniversary Season.

The Bear Necessities is an American TTBB acappella group from Brown University. Also known as "The Bears", they were established in 1992, making them the youngest of the two TTBB acappella groups at Brown. The Bears have released 8 albums, and are currently in the process of recording an EP to be released in late 2024. They are best known for wearing suspenders and former member Masi Oka, one of the best known alumnus of a college a cappella group and actor in the television series Heroes. The group performs at Brown, across the country and internationally. Their repertoire ranges from R&B to jazz to classic rock to pop to Disney songs. Founded as an alternative a cappella ensemble, the group has a tradition of highly theatrical, interactive performance and is acclaimed for creating a fun, down-to-earth atmosphere in both rehearsal and concert. This is evident in the final track of each of their albums, titled “Bear-a-oke,” a karaoke version of one of the album’s songs designed to invite the listener to sing along. The group’s alumni song is "Streets of Philadelphia" by Bruce Springsteen, arranged by member Andrew Callard in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Brown Derbies</span> American a cappella group

The Brown Derbies is an a cappella group at Brown University. They were founded by Darryl Shrock in 1982 and have released fourteen albums. They sing a variety of different genres, ranging from Rock, to Pop, to R&B and are known in the a cappella community for their unique use of syllables in the background vocals. They have toured throughout the United States and internationally, with recent performances in Beijing, China, Shanghai, China, and New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1997, the group performed for President Bill Clinton at the White House. In November 2007, they were featured on the CBS Early Show in a segment about the rising popularity of a cappella groups on college campuses, and in July 2011 they were featured on the Gospel Music Channel reality show America Sings. In January 2012, they performed in the London A Cappella Festival.

<i>Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella!</i> 2009 album produced by Ben Folds

Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella! is an album produced by Ben Folds featuring collegiate a cappella music groups from the United States. Folds became interested in a cappella music after hearing his song "Brick" performed by an Ohio University group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Academical Village People</span> A cappella group at the University of Virginia

The Academical Village People (AVP) is an a cappella group at the University of Virginia founded in 1993 by a group of people who vowed to "never take themselves too seriously." They set themselves apart from other groups by being able to keep professional while maintaining their lax attitude, wild antics while performing, and their less traditional uniform of a garage mechanic style shirt. The name "Academical Village People" comes from Thomas Jefferson's Academical Village at the university in Charlottesville, Virginia. As of 2017, AVP, as it is often called for short, has released thirteen studio albums, including a greatest hits album, DECADEmical: Best of 1993-2003, of its first ten years in existence. The group has recorded many notable performances such as opening for Dana Carvey and Girl Talk, performing for Reba McEntire at the White House, concerts at the Kennedy Center, and performances in such countries as England, Spain, and Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Compulsive Lyres</span> American a cappella group

The Compulsive Lyres is an a cappella group at the University of Michigan. The group includes both music and non-music majors and sings various arrangements of pop, rock, and R&B songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noteworthy (vocal group)</span> American all-female a cappella group

BYU Noteworthy is a seven to nine-member, female Brigham Young University (BYU) a cappella group, based in Provo, Utah, United States. They won 1st place at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) in 2007 and appeared on the first season of NBC's a cappella competition reality show The Sing-Off in 2009. Esther Yoder formed the group in 2003, aided by members of BYU's Vocal Point. Noteworthy began operating under the direction of the Performing Arts Management (PAM) at BYU in 2014. One of their most popular music videos is a cover of Amazing Grace, which won the Contemporary A Cappella Society (CARA) award for Best Religious Video and has garnered millions of views on YouTube since its release. Noteworthy has released six albums since its formation in 2003. In 2018, Noteworthy performed "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" for a Mormon Message for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Stanford Raagapella is Stanford University's South Asian focus a cappella group. The group was founded as an all-male group in 2002 and transitioned to an all-gender group in 2017. Stanford Raagapella has released three albums to date, Raags to Riches, Raag Time and Raagstars. Raagapella regularly performs on campus in events hosted by the group itself as well as by organizations such as Stanford Sanskriti, the South Asian cultural organization. Stanford Raagapella has toured the United States and India, performing with artists such as A.R. Rahman. The group's repertoire consists of world music, much of which originates in India and Pakistan, and Western songs.

Another Round, formerly Straight No Chaser, is a collegiate a cappella group which originated in 1996 at Indiana University. The group changed its name several years after the original members reformed as a professional group with the same name.

The Northwestern Undertones are a 20-member co-ed collegiate a cappella group from Northwestern University in Evanston. Founded in 2001 by Jeni Noerenberg, the group was originally called Something Old, Something NU, but the name changed within a year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Chordials</span>

The Chordials is a collegiate all-gender a cappella group from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. They are known for their edgy and passionate style, and perform a broad variety of music genres ranging from rock to alternative/indie to pop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dhamakapella</span> Asian a cappella group

Dhamakapella is a coed South Asian fusion a cappella group based at Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in the spring of 2005 by students Mayank Prasad, Raksha Soora, and Manoj Nair, Dhamakapella's music is influenced by both South Asian and Western genres, and mixes contemporary Western songs with popular South Asian music. Since Dhamaka's inception in 2005, the group has recorded and produced albums, EPs, and singles composed of both professional and original arrangements written by current members of the group or alumni. As CWRU's largest competitive a cappella group, the group competes nationally and has won thirty-one national titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Semi-Toned</span> British all-male a cappella group

Semi-Toned is a British all-male A cappella group from the University of Exeter, in the United Kingdom who sing a variety of modern and classic songs. They were formed in October 2010 originally as a barbershop quintet, before establishing themselves as a twelve-man contemporary group with a wide range of repertoire dedicated to developing their musical abilities whilst sharing a passion for singing and performing. They became more well known after multiple TV and radio appearances on shows such as 'The Choir: Gareth's Best in Britain' (BBC2) and 'Sing: Ultimate A Cappella', as well as singing on BBC Radio 2 with Rylan Clarke-Neal during his 'Great Ka-Ry-oke Challenge' in support of BBC Children in Need 2019. They now regularly tour both the UK and US, as well as performing annually at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and frequently releasing albums and music videos.

References

  1. Hunter, Andie (26 March 2012). "Mosaic Whispers in their own Final Four, trying to bring Andy Grammer to WU". Student Life. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  2. "FRONTRUNNERS". Washington University. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  3. "From pre-med to international performer | The Source | Washington University in St. Louis". The Source. 2016-10-14. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  4. Brummet, Aaron. "Ben Folds | Presents: University A Cappella (Epic)". Playback STL. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  5. Hair, Margaret. "CD Review of "Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella," by Various Artists and Ben Folds". Steamboat Today. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  6. Varine, Patrick (May 7, 2009). "Album review: 'University A Cappella,' by Various Artists & Ben Folds". Norwich Bulletin. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  7. "Mosaic Whispers in their own Final Four, trying to bring Andy Grammer to WU". 26 March 2012.
  8. Mosaic Whispers [@MosaicWhispers] (23 March 2012). "@STLMetro We love Metro! Ride u everyday. Thx for following! We're competing to bring @AndyGrammer to #STL. Could u RT? http://t.co/5zH0DXqQ" (Tweet). Retrieved 3 January 2021 via Twitter.
  9. Mosaic Whispers [@MosaicWhispers] (26 March 2012). "@STLMetro We're in a super close Final Four round (new video!) to bring @AndyGrammer to #STL. Could you RT again? Thx! http://t.co/lb114gLv" (Tweet). Retrieved 3 January 2021 via Twitter.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Results". Varsity Vocals. 2015-08-12. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  11. "REVIEW: WU Mosaic Whispers - Watercolors". rarb.org. Archived from the original on 1999-11-11.
  12. "REVIEW: WU Mosaic Whispers - 3 A.M. and Nowhere to Go". rarb.org. Archived from the original on 2001-06-29.
  13. "RARB Review of Mosaic Whispers - Behind Bars". Rarb.org. Archived from the original on 2007-08-27.
  14. "Mouth off: The weekly podcast about a cappella music » Mouth off 01.29.12". Archived from the original on 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
  15. "RARB Picks of 2018". Rarb.org.