Cherry Hill Men of Note
By LINDSAY HICKS
6/7/2006
The Cherry Hill West High School Men of Note captured the first ever Varsity Vocals International High School Championship title April 28, beating out top performing arts high schools with their smooth moves, stunning solos and a focus of having some fun.
The 11-man group arrived at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall with a healthy mix of confidence and modesty, recognizing that a chance to compete in finals meant the level of talent among their competitors couldn’t get much higher.
Cherry Hill West Choral Director Christine Bass, who formed the group when she came to the school 17 years ago, said she told the boys to focus less on the other groups’ talent and just get up on stage and have a good time. That’s just what they did, she said.
Schumann An, Dean Chung, Spencer Cowan, Richard Crandle, Justin Del Monte, Daniel Faber, Tupu Lemalu, Timothy McHale, Carlyle Phillips, Gary Sarno and Michael Styles earned the invitation to the first annual high school competition after beating Freehold’s Howell High School Rebel Yell group in the Mid-Atlantic semi-finals.
A cappella groups performed their way through regional brackets during competitions lasting from January through March. Winners of quarterfinal events then advanced to semifinals, where they joined top-scoring groups from the West, Midwest, Northeast and Southeast regions. Seven semifinal winners scored a spot at the ICHSA finals.
Men of Note pulled the audience in from the beginning with confidence, and an overall package tying together excellent vocal and visual performances, Bass said.
“I think that there’s a great depth to the talent,” she said of the group. “Each member is very strong; most all of them are really good soloists, and yet they have a real discipline to work together as a group and to strengthen the entire product.”
Vocal categories judged include intonation, rhythmic precision, balance, blend, diction and dynamics; the singers earn visual performance points for effectiveness of presentation, energy, stage presence, creativity and visual cohesiveness.
The 11 young men performed five songs rather than other finalists’ three- or four-song sets, according to Bass. They the started 12-minute medley with “As Long as We’ve Got Each Other,” the “Growing Pains” theme song, before launching into a traditional a cappella piece, “In the Still of the Night,” originally performed by The Beach Boys.
Part three, “I Thought She Knew,” featured a solo performance by sophomore Richard Crandle, who took home the “Outstanding Soloist” award for his part. The song, arranged by 1992 West graduate, David Das, also won the “Best Arrangement” award. The medley ended with “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” a song often covered by the group as a nod to the Cherry Hill West mascot, and Boys II Men’s “Thank You,” a group favorite.
Crandle, who also won “Outstanding Soloist” at the semi-finals, said he hoped to win, but didn’t expect to win after hearing all of the other vocalists, but the other Men of Note told him to keep his head up.
The singer said he has performed in choirs as long as he can remember, but no other group matches the prestige of Men of Note and the Cherry Hill West Chorus. “The drive and dedication and the excellence that you see coming from Mrs. Bass, herself, pouring onto the students,” he said, “and she’s just pulling so much from us that you really don’t see at another high school.”
Crandle decided to try out for the a cappella group after hearing and watching a former ensemble perform at an eighth grade assembly. When the group asked the male vocalists in the middle school audience to stand, Crandle rose alone. The next year, he joined the Cherry Hill West Chorus, attended the entry-level workshop and auditioned for Men of Note.
The sophomore, who plans to pursue a career as a vocal instructor and become more involved in musical theater, likes the performance Bass choreographed because it offers the group a chance to get “loosey goosey” on stage, Crandle said, adding that he likes the the Boys II Men song best because it showcases every vocalist’s voice.
The group of two sophomores, four juniors and five seniors demonstrates an incredible range of vocal ability, Bass said, and they have a real discipline to work together as a group and to strengthen the entire product.
“The group is really capable of a lot of stylistic changes,” she said, “and with five different songs, showing five different facets of the group, we were really able to bring a lot of elements to the table.”
Men of Note out-performed seven other groups, including second- and third-place finalists from performing arts high schools of Cincinnati, Ohio, and South Hadley, Mass. Crandle said he and the other members of his group considered Slate from Colorado the toughest competition and were shocked that the only other all-male a cappella group didn’t place.
Amanda Grish, executive director of ICHSA, said everyone was astounded by how great the high school groups were. “I would say our high school finalists are better than quite a few, if not the majority, better than most of the college competitors,” she said.
Men of Note’s “Thank You” won over audiences and judges, becoming a highlight of the competition, Grish said, because there is something special about an all-male group performing a “bleeding heart type of love song.”
The West boys received a standing ovation after their performance, which the executive director partly attributes to the short commute from New Jersey (Cherry Hill bused 51 friends and relatives to the city). Still, she agrees with the audience that “Thank You” was definitely a winning song and Men of Note surpassed all others in its group cohesiveness.
Men of Note boys declined the invitation to perform for 11,000 people in the sold-out college finals the next evening because of the junior prom. The honor instead went to the second-place ensemble. Bass said they didn’t mind giving away the opportunity, especially because the other group traveled all the way from Chicago to compete.
The group held their last performance last week, and the try-out process began last week. This year’s winning plan to record a CD with the help of Bass’ husband, a sound engineer who works with local artists in their basement studio.
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