Hours of hard work, passion, and drive has paid off for two popular UConn a cappella groups that were recently recognized as being among the best college performance groups in the country by the Contemporary A Cappella Society (CASA).
Songs by the Conn-Men and A Completely Different Note will be featured on CASA’s nationally distributed compilation CD, The Best of College A Cappella or BOCA 2010.
UConn was one of only three universities across the nation that had multiple winners this year; the others being Tufts and the University of Pennsylvania. Only 20 groups are selected for the BOCA showcase CD out of more than 2,000 active a cappella singing groups on more than 400 college campuses. The BOCA CD is produced by Varsity Vocals, a national organization dedicated to promoting a cappella at the college and high school level.
“It’s a great honor to be selected for such a highly-rated CD,” says John DePalma, a senior member of the Conn-Men. “If you sing in an a cappella group, you know what BOCA is. It was always in the back of our minds for one of our songs to be selected for BOCA. We never thought with thousands of songs submitted, ours would be one. It’s like winning the lottery!”
The Conn-Men’s unique version of Marc Broussard’s “Come Around” is featured on the BOCA CD. The song was arranged by Joseph Bates and features soloist Greg Nelson, a sophomore international business major from New Jersey.
This isn’t the first time the Conn-Men have received national notoriety. In December 2008, the group, with the help of the UConn Foundation, traveled to Washington, D.C., for three special performances. By request of Anita McBride, a UConn alumna and then-Chief of Staff to First Lady Laura Bush, the Conn-Men performed in the White House to help ring in the holidays. The group also traveled to Virginia to perform for music students at Yorktown High School and for the staff at the Music Educators National Conference Headquarters in Reston.
The group is currently finishing production work on its first studio album, Released.
A Completely Different Note (CDN), formed in 1999, is the oldest all-male a cappella group at UConn. The group has put out several CDs, and their version of “Irish Lullaby” on the CD Mixed Nuts was nominated for a Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award (CARA) in 2009 in the category of “Best Barbershop Song.”
The group’s version of Tonic’s “Take Me As I Am,” which is the lead track on CDN’s latest CD Blazin’, is featured on the BOCA 2010 CD. The track was arranged by Nick Lyons and features soloist Joshua Blodgett, an English major from Massachusetts who graduated in August 2009.
“When the group first found out we were selected to be on the BOCA 2010 CD, we were ecstatic,” group member Justin Beauchamp says. “It is such a prestigious honor and we are ever so grateful for being chosen.”
Beauchamp says the group prides itself on its diverse repertoire, which includes pop songs, country, rock, and choral pieces.
“We don’t always follow the status quo or perform songs that countless other groups do,” he says. “We take a chance and sing tunes that may not traditionally be done a cappella.”
The Conn-Men also pride themselves on their work ethic, spending countless hours rehearsing a song to make sure it’s right before performing it at events or recording it on an album.
“Our work ethic and drive help separate us from the rest,” DePalma says. “Collectively, we have always felt we’ve had the talent to be a very good group, and we have been lucky enough to have excellent musicians to lead us. We’re all very close friends, but when it’s time to get down to business, we need no reminding.”
Since UConn’s a cappella experience began in 1998, eight groups have established themselves on campus. Some of the earliest groups included the all-female ensembles The Chordials and Rubyfruit. A Completely Different Note and the Conn-Men emerged along with several other groups over the years: A Minor – the University’s first co-ed group; Extreme Measures; The Rolling Tones; and most recently, the co-ed group Notes Over Storrs. Together, they make up the University’s A Cappella Association.
Music professor Robert Miller, faculty advisor to the Conn-Men, says the groups operate in a cooperative and supportive environment. They receive encouragement and support from the School of Fine Arts and are popular headliners at campus events.
“The a cappella scene here at UConn is extremely healthy,” Miller says. “Our established groups continue to perform at a very high level. New groups join them each year, and the number of students continues to grow. This growth has been encouraged by the excellent support and cooperation the singers have received from the Music Department, the School of Fine Arts, the UConn Foundation, and the University at large.
“The students benefit greatly from the help they receive,” Miller says. “In return, these ensembles are tremendous assets for the University and the state of Connecticut, performing each year in venues from local nursing homes to the White House. Quite a range.”
To order copies of the Contemporary A Cappella Society’s BOCA 2010 CD, go to the a-cappella.com website. To listen to a sample of the selected tunes on the CD, go to iTunes.
