For West Chester University students Nathan Diehl and Andrew Smith, love for music started at an early age. Now they are taking their passion for music and creating West Chester’s first all-male acappella group.
Diehl (class of 2013) is a music education percussion major and Smith (class of 2012) is a music education voice major.
Both have big dreams and goals to fulfill: Diehl plans on touring the world and playing music, while Smith plans on becoming a music teacher.
As a form of singing done with no instrument other than one’s vocal cords, acappella appealed to both Diehl and Smith in high school.
“Sophomore year I was in a male acappella group called Harmony Explosion (HEX). I loved performing in a group,” said Diehl.
Smith was also involved in an acappella group during his sophomore year.
“A lot of my inspiration came from my choir teacher,” stated Smith.
Acappella comes from the Italian phrase “from the choir.”
The style consists of a group of people singing in harmony without any musical instruments.
Why take the initiative to form such a group?
“West Chester needs to have an all male acappella, being one of the best music schools in the country,” said Diehl.
Smith added that it felt great to direct an acappella group; he directed a smaller group in high school.
In order to start things up for the group, Diehl and Smith set up auditions for any male interested in performing in such a group.
“Auditions were great, 12 guys came out and we accepted four,” Smith said.
The new members are Daniel Christie, Dan Hinderliter, Adam Rizzo and Sam Krepps.
Both founding members mentioned upcoming goals for the new group. They hope to raise money for charities and events, and the group itself.
They also hope to perform at many different venues around West Chester. Diehl and Smith both plan to have their group perform at WCUR’s “Grand Ram Band Jam.”
For more information on the group, Diehl and Smith are available at ND717554@wcupa.edu or SS679483@wcupa.edu, respectively.
[West Chester University currently also has an all-female acappella group, Gracenotes, who recorded with popular musician Ben Folds on his ‘University A Cappella’ album last year.]Angela Thomas is a third-year English major. She can be reached at AT683005@wcupa.edu.