Lights shine bright on the Carlmont stage, and a packed auditorium waits in silence.
One by one, students file out onto the stage and line up in front of a closed curtain. They’re small in number and face an enormous audience, but each and every one of them is smiling wide.
“One, two, three — ”
And the auditorium fills with music: from high tones to low vibratos, students sing boldly, entirely unaccompanied.
These singers are part of Carlmont’s a cappella groups.
From May 12 to May 13, Carlmont’s a cappella groups — In Treble, Fine Tuning, and Out of the Blue — performed at the Choral Spring Concert. In accordance with the concert’s theme, each group performed pieces reflecting cultures from outside of the United States.
Sophomore Jade Margolis, a two-year member of the all-girls group In Treble, said, “For the Spring Concert, the theme was the Language of Song. We did a famous Portuguese song called ‘Más que Nada (translation: ‘More than Anything’).'”
In Treble was the first to take the stage. With an engaging performance, the girls got the audience eager to hear more from the next two groups.
Fine Tuning, an all-male group, followed In Treble’s performance with The Tokens’ well-known song, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” The melody was jubilant yet relaxing.
Finally, the all-girls group Out of the Blue performed their two songs for the concert.
“We did this really nice song called ‘A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square,’ and we also did ‘The Girl From Ipanema,’ which is a more fun and upbeat song,” said Snehal Pandey, a senior in Out of the Blue.
I didn’t even hear them until the day of the concert, because I know that I can trust them. They’re such incredible musicians.
— Genevieve Tep
Genevieve Tep, the choir director, was pleased with the a cappella groups’ performances.
“I was particularly proud of Out of the Blue, because they did some really challenging jazz charts,” said Tep. “I didn’t even hear them until the day of the concert, because I know that I can trust them. They’re such incredible musicians. They were insanely good.”
The successes of Carlmont’s a cappella groups wasn’t only due to the talent of the vocalists, however. Each and every group put in an immense amount of hard work throughout the entire year, helping them prepare for their final concert.
Pandey said, “We come early Wednesday mornings; during the weekends, we practice for an hour or two a week. We work in our own sections to get our music down, and we work together a lot.”
Fine Tuning also participates in community service as a way to practice their songs while also being of help towards local institutions.
Blake Du Bois, a senior and member of Fine Tuning, said, “In the past, we have gone to retirement homes and sung. We’ve sung for different events like Chickens’ Ball; last year, we sung at that as an opening performance.”
With the Spring Concert now over, a cappella groups have completed their performances for the school year. In the end, members of the groups have received a positive sense of community and leadership that they’ve found invaluable.
“The experience of learning, getting better at music, and learning how to teach yourself music is really rewarding,” said Margolis. “It was just really fun being in a close group that likes to do music together.”
