Stanford Counterpoint | |
---|---|
Origin | Stanford, California, USA |
Genres | A cappella |
Years active | 1979–present |
Website | www |
Stanford Counterpoint (also known simply as Counterpoint) is an all-femme a cappella group from Stanford University. It is the second-oldest a cappella group from Stanford. [1] [2]
Counterpoint is a student-led group, [2] and typically comprises 15–17 singers, selected by audition each September. [1] [2] As of 2020, Counterpoint has released fourteen studio albums. The group has been nominated for a dozen national a cappella awards, and has been featured three times on Varsity Vocals' annual Best Of College A Cappella album. [3] [ better source needed ]
The group was founded in 1979 by sophomores Linda Chin and Joyce Rogers, to provide a female-oriented alternative to the Stanford Mendicants, an all-male group and the only a cappella group on campus at the time. [2] [4] The group was named "Counterpoint" because Rogers played the Harpsichord in high school and the concept of musical counterpoint is essential to the Baroque music she enjoyed playing. [5] At first, the women of Counterpoint performed with an upright bass and occasional other instruments.[ citation needed ] The group's first performed song ("Java Jive") featured an upright bass and received a standing ovation at their first performance in the spring of 1979. [2]
That first year, the group won the Stanford Alumni Association's award for the "most innovative student project" of the year. [4]
In 1980, Counterpoint took The Mendicants on a tour to perform for Stanford alumni in Southern California; as of 2019, that tradition continues—as does the lasting relationship between the groups. [5] In 1982, Counterpoint released a self-titled vinyl record, recorded in Stanford's Memorial Church.
In the 1990s, the group ceased using instruments and became all-vocal. Counterpoint recorded a studio album every other year, touring the United States during the years they didn't record. [1] In 2019, the women of Counterpoint went on their first international tour to Paris, France. [6] Also in 2019, Stanford Counterpoint celebrated their 40th anniversary with a reunion concert featuring generations of alumnae. [7]
In 2019, Stanford Counterpoint released their 14th studio album (Close to Home) and an accompanying music video for the track "God is a Woman". Both works are entirely performed/recorded/produced by women. The track "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" was selected for the Recorded A Cappella Review Board's 2019 "Picks of the Year" [8] and their music video for has been nominated for an A Cappella Video Award. [9]
As of 2020, Counterpoint has been nominated for 14 a cappella recording-related awards and honors including Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award (CARA) [9] award nominations and Best Of College A Cappella (BOCA) compilation album features. Many of these nominations were thanks to the work of Counterpoint's long-time audio engineer Bill Hare.[ citation needed ]
As of 2020, Counterpoint has released fourteen studio albums:
Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Female Collegiate Album | Nomansland | Nominated | [1] [13] |
1999 | Best Female Collegiate Album | Counterculture | Nominated | [14] [15] | |
Best Female Collegiate Song | "Don't Speak" | Nominated | |||
Best Female Collegiate Arrangement | Katy Chow | Nominated | |||
Best Female Collegiate Soloist | Sasha Polonsky | Nominated | |||
2001 | Best Female Collegiate Album | Ticket to Anywhere | Nominated | [16] | |
Best Female Collegiate Song | "Good Enough" | Nominated | |||
best Female Collegiate Arrangement | Katy Chow for "Crush" | Nominated | |||
2005 | Best Female Collegiate Song | "Clocks" from Studio Confessions | Nominated | [17] | |
2009 | Best Female Collegiate Album | Belladona | Shortlisted | [18] | |
2019 | A Cappella Video Awards | Best Female Collegiate Video | "Don't Wake Me Up" | Runner Up | [19] |
2020 | Best Female Collegiate Video | "God Is a Woman" | Nominated | [20] | |
Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Country Song | "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" from Close to Home | Nominated | [21] |
Three songs released by Counterpoint have been selected for Varsity Vocals’ annual Best of College A Cappella album.
Year | Song title | Originally performed by | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
1999 | “Don't Speak” | Bonnie Raitt | |
2001 | “Good Enough” | Sarah McLachlan | |
2007 | “Breathe (2 AM)” | Anna Nalick |
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