List of Stanford University a cappella groups
arrived at Stanford University in 1963, when the Stanford Mendicants were founded by a transfer student from Yale University, the school where collegiate a cappella began. The Mendicants were the first a cappella group on the West Coast of the United States. The all-male Mendicants were followed by Stanford's second a cappella group, Counterpoint, the first all-female a cappella group on the West Coast.
By the 1980s, as collegiate a cappella hit an inflection point and the number of groups doubled around the United States, Stanford saw the founding of four more a cappella groups, each with its own initial differentiating focus: Fleet Street, Mixed Company, and Everyday People, and Stanford Talisman.
By the 1990s, Stanford a cappella groups began receiving national recognition for their recorded music, created with audio engineer Bill Hare. In 1995, Fleet Street won the 1995 national Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards for best album, best song, and best soloist. President of the Society, Deke Sharon, praised the group's work, saying, "The quality is fantastic. They're very good performers and their recordings are remarkably professional for a student-run group." In 1999, Stanford groups received a record 14 nominations at the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards. Sharon, said, "it's rare for so many excellent groups to come out of one school."List of a cappella groups
As of 2019, there are ten a cappella groups at Stanford. Here, in order of founding date:
- Mendicants : Stanford's oldest a cappella group.
- Counterpoint : the first all-female collegiate a cappella group on the West Coast.
- Fleet Street : a comedy a cappella group known for original songs.
- Mixed Company : a group focused on pop and Top 40 hits.
- Everyday People a group focused on Hip Hop, R&B, Motown and Soul music.
- Talisman : a group with roots in music from South Africa and the African diaspora.
- Harmonics : an alternative rock-focused group known for their highly produced recordings.
- Testimony : a Christian music a cappella group.
- Raagapella : a co-ed a cappella group with a South Asian focus.
- O-Tone : a group with a focus on East Asian music.