A Capella Groups Perform at the Rye High School

They called it “Ah! Capella” and it was billed as a “Happy and Harmonious Valentine’s Day” gift to Rye.

The (RAC) staged an innovative high school “Ah Cappella” showcase Sunday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Rye High School Performing Arts Center. 

The event drew more than 300 people and featured six high school a cappella groups, including Horace Greeley’s Quaker Notes, Fox Lane’s Foxappella and Bronxville’s Sha!capella. There were also three groups from in and around Rye: Rhythm on Rye, an award-winning student-run a cappella ensemble from Rye High School; WeRNTune, a new group from Rye Neck High School; and The WildScats, a 12-voice a cappella ensemble from Rye Country Day School. Each group sang several songs –from Broadway to pop, rock and jazz.

A New York City professional a cappella group called Blue Jupiter dominated the second half of the show, which ended with a finale that included an ensemble chorus from all a capella groups.

The overall effect was “awesome, sensational” in the words of Peggy Hill, RAC executive director.

Master of Ceremonies Jonathan Minkoff, a virtual one man band of instrumental imitations with Blue Jupiter, announced that Rhythm in Rye had just that weekend won first prize for best presentation at the International Championship of High School A Cappella in the Mid-Atlantic and finished second overall.

Rhythm in Rye showed why in two of their numbers: “Chicago” featuring a solo by Justin Giallorenzo and “Firework,” which spotlighted Jasmine Woort-Menker as soloist.

Other outstanding performances ranged from the WildScats rendition of Queen’s “Under Pressure” to WeRNTune's vocalizing on “Seasons of Love” from Broadway’s “Rent.”

Minkoff broke the crowd up by saying: “The older you are, the less tunes you are going to recognize, but just keep nodding your head in time to the music like you know the songs the kids are singing.”

It was the unsung workers behind the scenes who made “Ah! Cappella!” happen, from Daryl Cooper, arts coordinator for RAC, to Jane Pearson, an RAC Board member and head of the RAC Performing Arts Committee.

“The Master’s School in Dobbs Ferry has been staging A cappella festivals to showcase the high school groups in the Rivertowns,” Pearson said after the show. “The RAC would like to do the same thing for Rye and the Sound Shore community. So we hope to make Ah! Cappella an annual event. We did at the [Rye] middle school a few years back. Now we’ve graduated to the high school.” 

“Ah! Cappella” was the Rye Arts Center’s latest effort in their ongoing “Season of Love” for the arts. Barbara and Richard Dannenberg and the Judson Memorial Fund provided funding for the performance.