By JAMES DILLON
NRHS Arts Department student intern
NORTH READING — NOTEorious is at it again. During the last weekend of January, NOTEorious competed at NEVoices, winning a Top 3 Competitor Award plus three individual awards in this New England competition.
NEVoices began in 2011 by North Reading High School alumnus Dave Grossman as an annual festival for high school vocal ensembles and their teachers that also offered educationally sound, affordable performances and classes that stayed current with contemporary a cappella trends. NOTEorious has been participating in one way or another since then, enjoying guidance from professional adjudicators, personalized group masterclasses, and workshops on topics such as arranging, performance, production, and more from experts in the field of contemporary a cappella.
The NRHS a cappella group has been competing within the New England division for over a decade, but this does not guarantee entry. Each group has to submit a recording in October, and in November eight groups are chosen for the competition.
NOTEorious wrote their arrangements for this competition over December break and began rehearsing at the beginning of January, preparing their performance set for both NEVoices and the International Championship for High School A cappella (ICHSA).
NEVoices takes place over two days. Starting Friday afternoon, groups have 15 minutes on stage to sound check and work with a professional sound engineer. Within that time frame every student has to sing a solo and they run sections of their set to make sure the microphones are balanced.
To keep the competition fair, slots were randomly chosen by the NEVoices staff. NOTEorious drew the second slot, ultimately performing at 7:15 that night. From start to finish, their set electrified the audience, each song so unique in style and pace. When finished, the crowd exploded with a standing ovation.
The night was filled with powerful and talented groups from Plymouth, Marlborough, Medfield, Marblehead, Chelmsford, and North Reading performing well-developed sets, and certainly gave the crowd something to be excited about. The energy was earsplitting at times.
When the night was over, all the groups took the stage for the award ceremony. NOTEorious won one of the top three spots along with two all treble groups: Spectrum from Plymouth North High School and The Crescendos from Chelmsford High School. In addition to placing, NOTEorious won three of the four special awards given: senior Sophie Donovan won two awards, best vocal arrangement and best choreography and junior Vinny Costantino won best vocal percussion.
Post competition, NOTEorious went back to Plymouth North on Saturday and took masterclasses all day long, learning about sound recording, publicity, arranging, group dynamics, leadership and vocal production to name a few.
On Saturday night NOTEorious opened for the professional showcase and performed Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night Away” while the audience danced and sang along.
ICHSA Quarterfinals in Wakefield
Up next, NOTEorious will perform in the Northeast Quarterfinal round of the International Championship for High School A cappella (ICHSA).
This competition is hosted all over the United States, Canada and the UK. Starting at 3 p.m. on Sunday, February 11, NOTEorious will compete against 10 other schools from Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York at the Galvin Middle School, 525 Main St., Wakefield. Each school will perform a 10-minute timed set in front of judges and a live audience.
Audience energy is a key factor, so NOTEorious encourages their fans to show their Hornet pride and #PACKTHEHOUSE! To purchase tickets for $15 each go to freshtix.com or https://www.freshtix.com/events/ichsa-northeast-quarterfinal-at-galvin-middle-school-2024
As the field of contemporary a cappella continues to grow, NOTEorious is working hard to represent North Reading proudly everywhere they go. Allison Kane serves as the group’s director.