A Penn State group takes on the big dogs of collegiate a cappella.
The musty smell of New York rain seeps through the cracks in the Broadway theatre’s walls as 14 Penn State students step on the stage. Adam Giesy, an electrical engineering major, sets up his bass mike as a fan in the audience yells "We are…" The crowd roars "Penn State". The lights come up, and the student singers take their places.
They are the Pennharmonics, a Penn State a cappella group who won the International Collegiate A Cappella quarterfinals last spring. They went on to pull off a surprise by beating out the University of Michigan’s Amazin’ Blue – the hometown favorites – at the regional finals in Ann Arbor. That win earned them the right to stand on this stage in the fabled Beacon Theatre on Broadway, competing in the international finals. No Penn State group has even made it this far, and their odds of winning are a long shot.
The top names in collegiate a cappella are here – groups like the North Carolina State Grains of Time (started as a war protest group in 1968), and the SUNY Binghamton Crosbys (three-time ICCA Finals veterans). The Pennharmonics, soon to be 10 years old, are one of the youngest groups on the competitive circuit, and they’re the only coed group who made it up to the Beacon’s stage (many a cappella groups are men-only).
Under the hot lights, the Pennharmonics start their performance with Bon Jovi’s "Living on a Prayer". Soloists Deb Copenhaver and Jim Fleckenstein fill the theatre with 80’s angst, though tempo problems throw the singers off by mid-tune. They recover during their second song, a Counting Crows ballad called "Anna Begins".
Their final number is a creepy rendition of Pink Floyd’s "Brain Damage/Eclipse". Dan Brian conveys the madness of a slow descent into dementia as Peter Drake sings eerie harmony as the little voice in Dan’s head. In the meantime, the group does its best to look collectively nuts: Ben Clarke catatonically stares off toward the back of the theatre and Sara Schonour compulsively rubs her eyes.
One by one, the other five groups take the stage to show off with their best sets. On the Rocks, from the University of Oregon, does a jazzy rendition of "Peanut Vendor". The Amherst College Zumbyes have a quirky, audience-pleasing style, complete with a swing-dancing group member dressed as a huge banana.
The ICCA judges weigh the groups on two qualities: musicality (including arrangements, tone and pitch) and presentation (stage presence, visual coherence, and overall effect).
The winners are announced: The Crosbys have won; the Pennharmonics didn’t make it to the top three. But placing wasn’t the only reason the Pennharmonics got on a bus bound for Broadway – they came here to make a name for University Park a cappella.
Boarding the bus headed home, Giesy glances at the lights of Broadway one last time. "Just looking up at that marquee, I can’t help but get teary-eyed. This is something I’ve always dreamed about."
For him, and for most of the other Pennharmonics, just singing on that stage was enough.
The Pennharmonics have taken time off from competition to raise money for a new studio disk, but they’ll host the ICAA quarterfinals at the University Park campus in early February.
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