Photo by: Ryan Lumpkin
DU’s a capella group, the Idiosingcrasies, opened for the famed Yale Whiffenpoofs this past Thursday before a sold-out Gates Concert Hall.
The Idiosingcrasies have performed at numerous events around Denver, though April Martz, a senior in the Idiosingcrasies, acknowledged that the Thursday concert was about “the biggest ever.”
The Whiffenpoofs are an a capella men’s chorus made up of 14 select Yale senior students.
Every year they tour the world, performing at venues such as Carnegie Hall and the White House, in addition to numerous schools and universities.
The group sings a diverse repertoire of music, ranging from traditional Hungarian folk songs to fiery spirituals and classic jazz pieces. Don’t think they take themselves too seriously, though.
During the Thursday concert, the Whiffenpoofs seemed just as intent to make the audience laugh as to astound them with their musical talents. At one point every member introduced himself with his name and major. One said he was studying geology – so he wouldn’t “take life for granite.”
“When the Whiffenpoofs perform it is always guaranteed it’s going to be a good show,” said current president of the Idiosingcrasies Maryclaire Costello, a junior at DU.
This is the second year in which DU’s oldest a capella group, the Idiosingcrasies, has opened for the Whiffenpoofs, who performed at Gates Concert Hall in January of last year.
“This is huge. Performing in Gates alone is a really big opportunity. It’s an incredible venue. We truly are so fortunate to be recognized by a group as well-known as the Whifffenpoofs,” said Costello.
Last quarter the Idiosingcrasies won the Mile High Vocal Jam competition for the second year in a row. On Thursday they performed two of their award-winning pieces, “Cold War” and “Time.”
“[The Idiosingcrasies] have a really good, exciting sound and great soloists. They are very different from us. I like that they are doing their own thing,” said Mitchel Kawash, a second tenor in the Whiffenpoofs.
Kawash emphasized how much the Whiffenpoofs enjoy hearing other groups, how they arrange and how they perform. He also said that performing with other university groups is especially exciting for the Whiffenpoofs.
“It’s really fun to get to hang out with people our own age. Normally we perform at very serious events with a lot of older people. The Idiosingcrasies were especially gracious hosts,” said Kawash.
The performances by both the Whiffenpoofs and the Idiosingcrasies demonstrated talent not only in singing, but in arranging music for a capella voices. Each piece sung by the Whiffenpoofs was arranged by either a current or past member. Likewise, the Idiosingcrasies take pride in their skills at arranging. As Costello says, “we’re not just singers, we’re musicians.”
