In order to focus on attending more festivals and competitions, the music department is introducing a new acapella group called Crimson, which will be a competitive group.
Souderton’s music program offers three different acapella groups to the students.
According to choir director Ryan Carlin, there are two long-lasting student-run groups.
The first group, the Soudertones, are composed of tenors and basses whereas the second group, Chordination, is mainly composed of sopranos and altos.
However, this year there has been a new addition to the two previous acapella groups.
“New to the school this year is a group called Crimson, which is going to be focused on festivals and competitions,” Carlin said. “It will be a little bit more on the competitive and bigger production side.”
For these groups, there are a few events that they are preparing for.
“The biggest thing on our plates right now is the winter concert that is coming up. It is very late this year, but it is the last two days of school before winter break, December 19 and 20,” Carlin said.
The groups will also be fundraising in order to raise enough money for another event called the “OneVoice Acapella Invitational” which will be held in January.
“It is just outside of Memphis, Tennessee, and we are super excited about this festival in particular,” Carlin said.
Although acapella has many unique aspects, there are also some things about acapella that many people don’t realize are very difficult.
“In acapella, the different voice parts can clash a lot. So it’s important to hear your note and keep it and know what you have to sing and in the right time and signature,” junior Crimson and Soudertones member Jacen Reed said.
According to sophomore Crimson and Chordination member Ava Collaton-Lomas, staying in tempo with the rest of the group is also essential.
According to Collaton-Lomas, the reason this is such a crucial part of acapella is “because the parts between different sections in the group can be so diverse and different.”
“You could be singing something completely different from the person next to you,” Collaton-Lomas said.
For Collaton-Lomas, practice is something that makes her more confident in her musical ability.
“You do have a few outside rehearsals and you really just have to make sure you go to those and then just get the rest of your work done,” Collaton-Lomas said. “And making sure to practice music just like it’s any other homework assignment.
For many of the acapella members, calming their nerves before a performance is an important skill to have.
For Reed, he makes sure to tell himself that “the world is going to keep spinning and whatever happens, happens.”
According to Collaton-Lomas, it is comforting to know that if she were to make a mistake, she would have the choir to back her up and support her.
“If you have a voice crack or if you skip a verse, you’ll always have your team to back you up,” Collaton-Lomas said. “You will have the rest of the choir to get you back up on your feet.”
For others, however, dealing with and calming nerves is not as much of a struggle.
“I usually do not have any nerves. If I do, I usually do breathing exercises,” sophomore Crimson and Soudertones member Jack Boell said.