By Elizabeth Miller ’15, Co Editor-in-Chief

When Jack Hupper ’15 came to Country Day at the beginning of the year, a distinct part of his school back in Massachusetts was missing: acapella. Hupper explained, “I joined the acapella club at my old school because it sounded like a cool concept that I’d heard of before, so I wanted to try it.” So, he decided to take initiative over Spring Break in order to bring the same opportunity and gift of music to the Country Day community. “I saw a gap in the community, and I decided to fill that gap with the acapella club.”

The idea of an acapella club caught on quickly, and auditions were packed and had to be spread out over two sessions. Acapella requires a large amount of vocal control, so applicants had to be able demonstrate the ability to match pitch, carry a tune, and even harmonize in some cases. In the end, Hupper and Mr. Mark Femia selected 14 singers to join the club: two basses (Leonard Behrens ’15, Ian Hayes ’16), four tenors (Brian McSwiggen ’14, Pranav Madabhushi ’15, Connor Wiley ’15, Zach Stacy ’17), three altos (Elizabeth Grace ’15, Elizabeth Miller ’15, Taylor Boggs ’16), and five sopranos (Lynn Im ’15, Alexandra Sukin ’15, Hannah Taylor ’15, Haven Watson ’16, Lily Hill ’17).

Learning how to sing acapella during lunches and club periods, and during a very short period of time at that, is a nearly impossible feat, but it is one that Hupper and the club took on with enthusiasm and determination. Slowly putting together “Stand By Me” by Ben E. King mashed-up with “Beautiful Girls” by Sean Kingston, the singers began to fit into their parts and forced their voices to mesh with the other vocal sections. Some of their biggest struggles were avoiding fluctuations in pitch and tempo, which were resolved with practicing with a metronome and a pitch-pipe.

The acapella club sang twice, at the Evening of the Arts and at an assembly, and both performances were received with great enthusiasm by the student body and faculty. As Hupper told the club at the end of the year, “We didn’t have that much time, but we knocked it out of the park anyways.” Next year, Hupper hopes to slightly expand the size of the club, learn and perform more songs, and perhaps incorporate a community service aspect into the club.