1306Our school was honored to host an a cappella concert by the University of Virginia a cappella group at the end of the day on March 15. The “mini-concert” lasted 30 minutes—but by the end, peoples’ throats were hurting as if they were screaming their souls out at a 2-hour concert. Since not many students were notified about this event, the participation rate was low, but people who attended definitely enjoyed their time. The a cappella group called the Academical Village People has been performing all around China over the past few days. They have visited both Beijing and Shanghai, and Guangzhou was their last stop.
The Academical Village People is currently made up of 16 guys. Just like a “council” or a club, there is a president, vice president, business manager, publicity chair and music director to manage performances and tours. This a cappella group was formed 26 years ago with guys “who vowed to never take themselves seriously”, says Kiran Menon, current business manager of the a cappella group. Their aim is to “make sure the audience is enjoying all and each of their performances.” The Academical Village People has been traveling mainly in the U.S. but decided to begin a tour in China to spread this type of performing and their style of music.
A cappella is the art of performing without instruments, meaning that performers have to create sounds through different body types, such as their mouth and hands. Beat-boxing is an extremely common method used in an a cappella performance. A cappella performances are rare in China as this type of performing is not as well-known.
They performed Chinese songs such as the “甜蜜蜜”, or “Tian Mi Mi” by Teresa Teng and also performed modern hit songs such as “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga. The different genres of songs truly made the concert sensational for everyone that attended, as different songs targeted different people. It was easier for the audience to focus on the lyrics and the different sounds that were made as no instruments were used.
“The performers looked like they were having a lot of fun,” which made the overall performance even more joyful, says senior Sameer S. As a member of APAC choir, Sameer S. also noted: “A cappella performances are different from choir performances. Although sometimes choirs will perform a cappella, it was refreshing to see an entire medley of songs performed a cappella by more professional singers.”
In addition to the performance, the Academic Village People was also invited to a “coral exchange session” with choir students at AISG. It was a chance for students from both schools to share ideas, techniques and methods. Performers of the University of Virginia also taught our choir performers how to perform a cappella. They explained the process of being an a cappella performance group, starting from which person gets which role of a song, to who becomes the lead singer for songs.
Different people have different taste in music and performances, although many enjoyed this musical-like performance held by the a cappella performers, some wanted and was expecting a rather serious and formal choir performance.
Share
Print
