From hard rock to pop and R&B, the a cappella groups at our school perform for the people. The boys group, On The Rocks, and the girls group, Straight Up, told about what it’s like to be together in the mornings and the atmosphere within the group. The groups together comprise what they call The Breakfast Club, fitting to their practice times and how early they have to be at school.
“I ran the microphones for choir concerts when I was a sophomore and wanted to be in the group as soon as I saw them perform,” senior Maura Madinger said.
The group is led student led, but they still have an adviser in music teacher Ben Silvermintz.
“I think there is an interest in pop a cappella music and I happen to really enjoy the genre. I think it’s educational, I think it’s important, and I think participation in a good a cappella group reinforces excellent musicianship,” Silvermintz said.
Madinger said she loves the atmosphere within the group and enjoys the practices, despite the early mornings.
“We know that we have a lot of work to get done before school starts, but we get to sing songs that we love. It can be kind of tough being so early sometimes, too, but the end product makes it so worth it,” Madinger said.
Sophomore Austin Sellinger said he loves the songs they sing and enjoys doing it with the group.
“My favorite song is the one when we sing about Star Wars and stuff and hold light sabers,” Sellinger said of the song that was performed at the Mr. PCH Pageant.
The rehearsals are before school and early for the kids who already get up earlier compared to other area schools.
“I get to do what I enjoy to do. Although sometimes it’s hard to get up early and want to miss the rehearsals, you will ultimately feel accomplished after the concert,” sophomore Rachel Yang said.
Junior Kyle Pollak agreed with Yang that although the rehearsals are early, it is easily overlooked.
“The atmosphere is great. We all get along really well even when we are tired early in the morning,” junior Kyle Pollak said.
Pollak likes the group’s camaraderie as well, citing the diversity of people as a barrier unseen.
“We all get along nicely. We all might come from different friend groups but we are all still good friends. We make eachother laugh and have a great time,” Pollak said.
Yang says she loves the songs they sing, especially what she did in her first performance.
“I enjoyed singing Single Ladies, that was the first song that I got to perform after joining the group,” Yang said.
Pop songs are popular with these groups as well as mashups.
“We sing a lot of pop music of custom arrangements from other groups. It is fun because we take our own all vocal approach on the songs instead of the normal autotuned sound,” Pollak said.
The Breakfast Club will join together for mashups from time to time to create more of a bond between the two groups.
“The Breakfast Club (Straight Up & On The Rocks) performed a mash up of “I’ll Be” and “Blackbird” last year. It’s fun to sing with the guys every now and then,” Madinger said.
The concerts are a time to perform both for the school, as well as at other schools and in competitions.
“Every concert is my favorite concert. I tend to enjoy the spring concert a lot but it’s also incredibly bittersweet as we get ready to say goodbye to kids we’ve known for four years,” Silvermintz said.
Madinger says she likes the invitational that Central hosts every year.
“Central hosts an Invitational for groups in the area every March. We help out with getting the performers where they need to be and get to see a lot of talented groups,” Madinger said.
All in all, the a cappella are all about performing and improving musical ability, but they don’t forget about having fun.
“We all get along nicely. We all might come from different friend groups but we are all still good friends. We make each other laugh and have a great time,” Pollak said.
