A Cappella Rejects Form Own Group

The story of “Off the Clef”, UNH’s newest coed a cappella group seems something straight from a Hollywood script. A group of rejects band together to form their own group, ultimately triumphing over the same people who denied them.

Rejected from the other a cappella groups on campus, the six originating members of “Off the Clef” decided that if they couldn’t join the other a cappella groups, then they would just start their own. Armed with an out of tune piano, the pioneers of “Off the Clef” met for the first time in the basement of Jessie Doe, a dorm on campus.

“I tried out for the other a cappella groups and did not get in, so I got together with a friend who had also been rejected and we decided we wanted to form our own group,” said Phoebe Bonaparte- Krogh,the musical director of the group. “I was already in concert choir but I wanted another outlet for singing.”

“Off the Clef” just recently held auditions for new members. In their informational meeting beforehand, they stressed their goal of being officially recognized on campus. “It’s really hard to jump into the whole performing realm because first you need built up a repertoire and that takes time,” said Bonaparte-Krogh. The group hopes that their establishment will lead to various gigs in the area, including benefit shows, dorm socials, retirement homes, local schools, and opening for other performers. They are also hoping that when the group is official, they will have access to practice space inside the MUB, rather than their cramped practice space in a lounge in Serc B.

Being on the other side of the audition process was certainly odd for the members. The group wanted “Off the Clef” to be more open than the other a cappella groups, and felt for the singers they could not take, since they had been on the rejected side. However, in the case of an a cappella group this size, balance is extremely important. Since “Off the Clef” is still struggling to recruit basses for their group, they were forced to take only 2 girls from the 30+ that auditioned.

“Off the Clef” describes it’s style as different from the other a cappella groups, performing spirituals, show tunes, and African songs in addition to the common folk and pop songs performed by cappella groups. The groups went through several names before deciding on “Off the Clef”, including “Low Key”, until they realized another New England group already went by that name. “We’re hoping it implies a certain ‘off the cliff greatness’ tone,” Bonaparte-Krough said.

With the establishment of “Off the Clef”, UNH will have 6 a cappella groups on campus including two all female, two all male, and now, two coed. A cappella groups have become very popular on college campuses across the country, with groups singing and beat-boxing to simulate the voices and instruments involved in producing a song, often with individual harmonies. “Off the Clef” performed an arrangement of “Build me a Buttercup” by the Foundations for the group hopefuls during the information session on Wednesday.

Although the group has had several struggles getting started, it has only added to the excitement and dedication of continuing the group’s existence. They have received help from the other a cappella groups on campus in many aspects of running a group like this, and look forward to performing in gigs with them.

As for how the established a cappella groups on campus feel about the emergence of these newcomers, Bonaparte-Krogh responded, “There’s somewhat of a note in the air, no pun intended, of people waiting to see how we’ll measure up; hopefully we won’t let anyone down.”