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Winter Jam Rocks LHS Auditorium

The Gillespie Auditorium was packed on Saturday March 1, as both students and parents flocked to the Winter A Cappella Jamboree, the second a cappella concert of the year. LHS a cappella jams always draw choral alumni back to the school with the promise of seeing their friends and siblings perform on the same stage that they once did. This jam was no exception, as many former members of LHS a cappella groups returned to watch and cheer.

Choral director, Brian O’ Connell, began the night with an enthusiastic introduction. “With all of its varied a cappella groups, LHS is like no other high school in the nation,” O’ Connell said. LHS indeed has an incredibly unique program. Boasting seven different a cappella groups, its vocal music department stands out compared to most other high schools where one or two cappella groups struggle to maintain an audience.

Pitchpipes during "Let it Go"

Beginning the night were the Pitchpipes. After soloist Jon Berryman introduced the group, the Pitchpipes launched into “Oh What A Night” by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Their set continued with Alex Parrish soloing “Bright Lights” by Matchbox 20 and concluded with “Let It Go,” a song from the Full Monty to which the group members gradually removed many layers of clothing - a nod to the theme of the movie.


Next was Sorstis, who began their set with the theme song from the classic film noir television show, “Peter Gunn.” Micaela Godfrey then stepped up to solo on their first song, “Save Me” by Jem, which was followed by a soulful version of “How To Save A Life” by The Fray, soloed by Caroline Fink.  Sorstis ended with “Ring Ring” by Mika, with Sara Harari delivering a powerful performance to close off their set.


Continuing the theme of television show themes, Guacamole entered dressed in hospital attire and appropriately sang the theme from “Scrubs.” Next, Syd Fleischmann sang Sugar Ray’s “Every Morning,” and convincingly imitated singer Mark McGrath.  Guac continued with the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Zephyr Song,” soloed by Sarah Wilson. The group then announced their final selection, “Never Give Up On The Good Times,” by the Spice Girls, a song that playfully coincided with the pop group’s current comeback tour. The song was soloed by Anna Neumann, Tasneem Islam, and Stephanie Bond.

Following Guacamole, Mixed Nuts, the only coed group at LHS, entered dressed as various Disney characters.  Their set began with “The Ghost at Number One,” soloed by Mariah Slone, whose performance won alumnus Antoine Cancre’s illustrious “boots” that O’Connell awards to the best performance at each jam. Next, Tommy Moriarty and Christine Joyce intertwined voices on the Ben Taylor and Macy Gray duet on “I Try.”  Mixed Nuts’ set ended with an astoundingly intricate arrangement of Sufjan Stevens’ “The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out To Get Us” both arranged and soloed by Gabe Shirley.

Mixed Nuts dressed as characters from Disney.

The next group, the newly formed Onomatopoeia (or Ono for short), showed a great amount of vocal prowess that belied their relatively short time as a group.  Ono began with the soothing “Satellite” by the Dave Matthews Band, soloed wistfully by Claire Hunt. Rachel Perlman then sang Aqualung’s soothing, yet melancholy “Brighter Than Sunshine,” and Anisha Vachani belted out Rascal Flatt’s vibrant cover of “Life Is A Highway” by Tom Cochrane.

Euphoria followed Onomatopoeia andbeganwith impressive rap by Karen Freeberg to start the set. They then moved into “Love Song” by Sarah Bareilles soloed by Eliza Strauss and Sarah Hebert-Johnson. Euphoria continued with two more musical selections as talented soloists Jessica Lin and Jane Berryman soloed “You and I” by Jason Mraz and “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield respectively.

Euphoria

To finish the night, another newly formed group, Rocks Paper Scissors (RPS), took the stage with a comical introduction a la “Chariots of Fire.”  They then launched into “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers, with soloist Ted Day sounding like a dead-ringer for the band’s singer Brendan Flowers. Next, despite a terrible cold, Peter Colombo stepped up and provided an excellent performance of the All American Rejects’ “Move Along.”  RPS then appropriately ended their set with a rendition of “Closing Time” by Semisonic, soloed by Jon Belford.

Rocks Paper Scissors

Winter Jam was a great success, and as the weather begins to warm, the a cappella groups start to choose and arrange new songs, looking forward to the final, and most popular, a cappella concert of the year: Spring Jam on Saturday June 7.

- Mikel McCavana
(Images: Lina Colucci)


22 March 2008