Samo's noteworthy a capella groups

Samo’s choir program not only offers several choral ensembles, but is is filled with students who run five unique a cappella groups on campus. Noa Goldsmith (’20), Owen Halpert (’20), Zelda Saltzman (’20), Maya Lauer (’20), Sila Akora (’22) and Abby Geissler (’20) are the presidents of the five different groups. From size, to genre of music, to grade levels accepted, each group has unique distinguishing characteristics. T-tone and Barbershop are Samo’s two all-boys a cappella groups. Both are run by Halpert and have roots at Samo 15 years deep. To participate in these two groups, members commit to weekly lunch rehearsals and sparse weekend practices. Although the two all-male groups have many similarities, they differ in auditioning and size.  “T-tones is open audition, Barbershop is a strict 8-9 person limit and every year kids audition to fill spots of graduated seniors,” Halpert said. One of Samo’s all-girls groups is Beautyshop, a group created in pair with Barbershop more than a decade ago. Goldsmith runs this upper-classmen-only group who perform traditional American music including songs such as “Mr. Sandman” and ''Lollipop” by the Chordettes. This year, nine girls were accepted into the tight-knit group by preparing and performing 30-45 second audition pieces for Goldsmith.  “Because all of the groups are student lead, it gives us the opportunity to learn how to be leaders, which can be tough sometimes, especially when you’re leading your peers,” Goldsmith said. Valkyries is Samo’s second all-girl group. Saltzman and Lauer co-run the group of 21 with the help of vice president Sadie Inatsugu (’21). Like the all-male groups and Beautyshop, Valkyries has had a presence at Samo for many years. Along with accepting choir students from grades 9-12, they practice and perform mostly pop music but occasionally venture into other genres. After four years of singing with Valkyries, Saltzman has experienced the benefits of joining a larger a cappella group. “As a freshman, being in Valkyries was a dream come true because I got to become friends with upperclassmen. Being in an a capella group at Samo not only pushes you musically and vocally, but gives you a built in family throughout your time at Samo choir,” said Saltzman. The fifth and final a capella group, Encore, prides itself on not restricting membership to one gender. Co-presidents Geissler and Akora started Encore this year. Similar to Valkyries, Encore performs and practices music from many different genres and rehearses at lunch every Tuesday. One reason they started Encore was to create an a capella group that did not leave anyone out.  “In creating this group, I wanted to make sure that people who don’t necessarily associate with a gender, or who feel uncomfortable in a situation where they may be labeled as one, had a place to come and make music,” Geissler said. Overall, the five a capella groups at Samo differ in many ways, but all strive to create close friendships and build a community. To watch these five hard-working groups perform, attend the upcoming winter choir concert.