A Capella is a singing art form that has gone through a serious revival in the past few years. In translates to ‘in the matter of the church’.
A Capella has been around for centuries, but reached the height of its popularity in the 1930s. This was due to barbershop quartets. In the 1960’s and 70’s the art form was revived again. Pop music and modern tunes were applied to the art form. A great example is ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ by The Nylons.
A Capella was recently revived in the late 2000’s. Television shows like “Glee”, and “The Sing-Off” began to thrive. Leading musical phenomenon like the Pentatonix. Movies such as “Pitch Perfect,” took the country by storm.
Newtown High School has also been apart A Capella revival. “Asking for Treble”, and “XY Chromosome” are two groups that have been performing this year. “Asking for Treble” began in 2013, in the response for the need to have an all-girls A Capella group.
“XY began seven years ago with George Primavera and a few of his friends, who had an idea for a male A Capella group,” Newtown High School “XY Chromosomes” Manager Joe Verga said.
“We are not only the only male A Cappella group in the school, but the whole town,” Verga said.
Both groups have had a positive influence on its participants.
“I personally really like that it allows you to only rely on the group's sound,” NHS Junior and “Asking for Treble” member Mackenzie Iazzetta said.
“For The Longest Time by Billy Joel and it’s become a tradition to teach that to the new boys every year,” NHS Senior and “XY Chromosomes” member Charles Romano said. Traditions like these have kept these clubs alive. Innovation also plays a big role.
As A Capella changes the groups have been adapting their sound. In the past developments like creating instruments sounds with their voices to complement the words. Techniques like “beatboxing” became popular.
“We try to do a good variety of music, we do a lot of pop music, as well as even some r&b and gospel last year,” Iazzetta said. To her, this is what makes “Asking for Treble” so unique.
New members also affect the groups’ sound, and what they decide to perform.
“There was so much new talent and we're all really excited to get started,” Iazzetta said.
“XY Chromosome” is excited, too.
“Our plans for this year is to take our musical technique and blend to a whole new level. With a few new very talented guys, we are excited to take on more difficult pieces and engage more audiences than ever before,” Legeret said. Performance is important in A Cappella. Delivering the sound is just as important as creating it.
“We perform at the two annual choral concerts and at the tree-lighting on the Ram’s Pasture. We also have performed at some community events and as a birthday surprise for fans” Romano comments. “Asking for Treble” also performs live. They perform in all the choir concerts. Everyone is excited to see what these groups do next!
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