After two weeks of competitive auditions and tough decisions, Choate’s six a cappella groups—the Whimawehs, Lilith, the Stonatos, The Maiyeros, The Kapraphones, and The Milagros—are now ready for a great new year. Many groups performed short, attention-drawing pieces at the school’s Club Fair last Sunday. A cappella groups are very popular at Choate, and their performances are often the most anticipated events at school meetings. Each of these a cappella groups boasts a different flavor, making each one of them unique.
The Whimawehs make up the oldest all-girls group—its lineage stems from Rosemary Hall’s Greenwich era, Glenn Close being a former “Whim.” Its members actively performed last year in several school meetings and held recitals of their own. However, many members graduated last year. In order to make up for this loss, Ali Smith ’09, the head of the group, picked a large batch of new students. She says, “We heavily depended upon the seniors last year, so we tried to make up for that by building up more on the younger kids.” It looks like the Whims are off to a good start, with new under formers Lyra Olson ’11 and Kyra Lammers ’10.
Smith is also the head of Stonatos, a fairly new singing group to Choate. It is very different from other groups in that it is a co-ed, studentfaculty group. Ali explains, “Stonatos works together in that it incorporates students and faculty. It is also co-ed, which is different because many of the other singing groups at Choate are of one gender. This year we hope to do more performances, including Parents Weekend.”
Another a cappella group has been drawing attention since the start of the year: the Maiyeros. Choate’s longest running all-male singing group recorded a CD last year, “Listen Up…” It is selling again this year, and is high up in the Choate billboard charts. David Woo ’10, a member of the group, says, “We picked four new members this year, like freshman Will Laverack ’11. We want to perform more during school events, like the meeting—and hopefully record another CD this year.” As the interest in their album is high, their new CD can be anticipated.
Louder than these soft-singing a cappella groups is the powerful gospel choir Milagros. Although it made relatively few appearances before the Choate public last year—most notably the holiday events—its powerful singing has captivated many who heard them. Akanke Small ’08 wants to keep this Milagros trait. She says, “My goal and hope for Milagros is that people enjoy singing and when they sing, they sing their hearts out.” Milagros, undoubtedly the largest a cappella group at Choate—“it ranges from 15 to 36 members”—hopes to find those who enjoy singing to come and join their group.
The other two a cappella groups, Lilith and The Kapraphones, are now finished with their auditions, with fresh new faces to join them. Choate students will be able to hear their amazing voices at the numerous school meetings and concerts this year.
