Philharmonics can sing and dance with the best of ’em

BY DANA BENSON
Rice News Staff

The Rice Philharmonics
really know how to roll with the punches. In just six years,
the campus a cappella group has transformed from a bunch
of students who just like to sing to a competitive musical
ensemble.

The Philharmonics
took third at the quarterfinals of this year’s International
Championship of Collegiate A Cappella competition, only
the second time the group participated in the event.

Ellen Wan, president
of the Rice Philharmonics, attributes their success to the
lessons they learned at the 2000 competition, the group’s
first competitive event.

“Last year,
we didn’t place at all, and it was obvious why,”
said Wan, a Hanszen senior. “But we saw the benefits
of the competition. We got to see new groups and styles,
and we got really excited and motivated to try new things,
and I think that’s why we placed at the competition
this year.”

Until last year,
the Rice a cappella group was very traditional in format,
even singing a lot of spirituals and madrigals. But one
thing they learned is that now collegiate a cappella is
into contemporary pop rock.

They changed
their repetoire up a bit, and the group’s performance
at the February competition in which they placed third included
Sublime’s “Santaria”; “Seaside Rendevous,”
written by Freddie Mercury; “Life in a Nutshell”
by the Barenaked Ladies; and “My Lovin’”
by En Vogue.

The Rice Philharmonics
also incorporated choreography into their performance and
wore costumes of all black with one red accessory. The choreography
was a challenge, Wan said, and even kind of scary. While
on “Life in a Nutshell” the choreography was fairly
simple changes in formation, on “My Lovin’”
and “Santaria” the choreography included complicated
steps and movements.

The size of
the competition venue also was intimidating for the Rice
Philharmonics. At Rice, the group performs at smaller places,
like Lovett Underground, Sammy’s and the Rice Chapel.
The campus performances also show the Philharmonics’
eclectic side, whereas at the competition, they were a little
more serious.

Wan explained
that the judges look for creativity and originality, but
at the 2000 competition, they didn’t seem to “get”
a couple of the Philharmonics’ songs, including “The
Boy Who Grew Up Upside Down.” Written by a former member
of the Rice Philharmonics, the song, a group favorite, is
about a boy whom everyone thinks is weird because he grew
up upside down.

“That’s
when we found out it’s really more of an internal favorite,”
Wan said. “It’s really fast, and no one understood
it at the competition. We realized we had to do more mainstream
music.”

The Philharmonics
still sing the song at their campus performances. Another
song they often present on campus is “Baker 13”
about the Rice group that streaks across campus.

“We’re
sort of a goofy group,” Wan said with a laugh.

Some of the
other songs that the 16-member Philharmonics frequently
performs include “Spiderweb” by No Doubt, “Power
of Two” by the Indigo Girls and “Faith” and
“Freedom” by George Michael. On most songs there
is a soloist while the rest of group provides backup.

The Rice Philharmonics,
which formed in 1995, will face challenges next year, Wan
said. A lot of the current members who have been in the
group for several years will be graduating.

“The group
has always had a connection to the past and there was some
continuity. Next year’s group will be very young,”
she said, adding that they will have to decide if they want
to continue competing, which can be very expensive and time-consuming.
Check out the Rice Philharmonics on the Web at <www.philharmonics.
rice.edu>.