Stanford Mendicants
| The Stanford Mendicants | |
|---|---|
The Mendicants performing at the 2011 State of the Valley Conference in San Jose
|
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Stanford, California, USA |
| Genres | A Cappella |
| Years active | 1963—present |
| Website | www.StanfordMendicants.com |
The Stanford Mendicants are an all-male a cappella group at Stanford University. The group is Stanford University's original a cappella group. Since its founding in 1963, the group's size has varied from 6 to 19 members. Although they are strictly an a cappella group today, they have performed with instruments in previous generations.[1][2] The group prides itself on singing a wide range of songs, from gospel to barbershop to pop tunes and original compositions. The Mendicants are known around Stanford's campus for their romantic serenades.
Contents
History and Accolades[edit]
The Stanford Mendicants was founded in 1963 by Hank Adams, a transfer student from Yale University, with a group of 5 undergraduate men. The group originally rehearsed only a single song before breaking into the dining commons of Branner Hall, an all-women's dormitory at the time, and performing their song during lunch. Adams often recalled, himself tearing up, that during their performance, the women wept, and there was literally "not a dry eye in the house". Having only rehearsed the one song, they quickly fled through an open window and went immediately back to rehearsal. [3]
Their 1998 album Besides What You See received a 4.2 rating [4] from the Recorded A Cappella Review Board (rarb.org), which is the group's highest album score to date.
The group was Runner-Up in three categories in the inaugural CARA Awards in 1992 and have been nominated for awards as recently as 2005.[5] [6]
Two Mendicant songs have been featured on the annual "Best of Collegiate A Cappella" Compilation.[7]
Current Members[edit]
Current members of the Stanford Mendicants include:
Top Alexander Ronneburg, Peter Kurzner, Zach Esrig, Trent Sandland, Tim Sherlock
Lead Alex Feldman, Trey Hale, John Sholar, Austin Zambito-Valente, Khoi Le, Tim Isaacs
Baritone Lachlan Green, Robert Haag, Kris Kaya, Chris Adusei-Poku
Bass Stefan Swaans, Carter Burr-Kirven, Gabe Wieder, Josh Adamson
Alumni[edit]
- Chris Ayer, Singer and Songwriter [8]
- Jordan Gelber, actor from the Broadway run of Avenue Q [9]
- Founding Mendicant Dick Grant, Director of the Pacific Mozart Ensemble[10][11]
- Former Musical Director John Livingston, actor and brother of Ron Livingston [12]
- Founding Mendicant John Frohnmayer, Politician and Oregon State University Professor
- Brandon Singleton, actor with the Jersey Boys Las Vegas production at the Palazzo Las Vegas-Resort Hotel Casino [13]
- Joseph Siravo, actor with The Sopranos and Jersey Boys National Tour [13]
Discography[edit]
- Untitled (1964)
- Untitled (1965)
- A Fellow Needs a Girl (1966)
- Untitled (1967)
- Untitled (1969)
- Untitled (1973)
- Untitled (1975)
- Untitled (1977)
- Untitled (1979)
- Clean-Cut and Slightly Frayed (1981)
- Somewhere in Hawaii (1982)
- Take You Back (1986)
- Pretending to Care (1987)
- Aquapella (1989)
- Just Like That (1991)
- Feline Casanova (1992)
- Back For Seconds (1994)
- Beggars Can't Be Choosers (1996)
- Besides What You See (1998)
- Room to Grow (2000)
- Best Laid Plans (2002)
- Mendication (2004)
- Beggar's Dozen (2006)
- Roses In My Hand (2008)
- Sh-Boom (2012)
- Just a Group of Guys (2013)
- Mendicants At Large (2015)
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Weinstein, Dave (2003-10-17). "Stanford group celebrating 40 years of song". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
- ^ Wykes, S.L. (2003-10-17). "Mendicants Magic". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
- ^ "The Mendicants Turn 40". Stanford Magazine. Nov–December 2003. Retrieved 2007-08-02. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ^ "Review of Besides What You See". RARB. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
- ^ "1992 CARA Winners". CARA. 1992. Archived from the original on October 28, 2009. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
- ^ "2005 CARA Nominees". CARA 2005 via RARB. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
- ^ "Official BOCA Track Lists". BOCA. Archived from the original on 2007-07-02. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
- ^ "Review of Best Laid Plans". RARB. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
- ^ Shin, Laura. "Where He Belongs". STANFORD Magazine. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
- ^ "Pacific Mozart Ensemble: Director Profile". PME. Archived from the original on 2007-05-31. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
- ^ Silvius van Löben Sels, Marilyn. "Class Notes 1966". STANFORD Magazine. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
- ^ "John Livingston's Bio". www.imdb.com. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
- ^ a b "Dressing The Part". STANFORD Magazine. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
