Over the past several years, Whitman’s many singing groups have hosted an annual choral contest. Beyond just the established groups, such as Sirens and T-Tones, Greek Life and sports teams would also compete at the contest. However, this choral contest tradition is experiencing some new restructuring. Rather than hosting a choral contest, Whitman’s a cappella groups will be putting on a choral showcase. The showcase will feature the established a cappella groups on campus like Schwa, Sirens and the T-Tones. 

The cause of this restructuring is simple — in an effort to increase attendance, WEB decided to remove the competitive aspect of the showcase and focus on the more popular musical acts.

“The main argument for reforming the choral contest was that not as many people were showing up as they used to, so the a cappella groups didn’t want the showcase just not happening and were able to make it just an a cappella showcase rather than a choral contest,” said Serina Vue ’20, a member of Schwa.

Apart from the a cappella performances, the upcoming showcase offers attendants a chance to see every group perform new music together. The enthusiasm of the performers and the prudent restructuring seem a good start, but they may not be enough to revitalize Whitman’s choral showcase. The problem may not be novelty, but visibility.

“Living off-campus, I’m basically disconnected from the whole musical scene,” said Jon Lever ‘20. “I’m not aware of it most of the time. If there was more advertising I’d be more likely to go. It seems like it’s mostly word of mouth that you hear stuff.”

Another aspect of this restructuring is the declining effort put forth by the non-a cappella performers at the annual contest.

“Unfortunately in recent years there has been diminishing effort from the Greek groups and special interests groups, with people dropping out at the last minute and just not putting forth as much effort as perhaps the organizers feel they should,” said Ben Adams ’19, a member of Schwa. “It’s a lot of work to organize it and at the last second they’ll drop out, or people just won’t put forth a lot of effort. We [a cappella] have two really big events every year. One is Speakeasy in the fall and then Choral Contest in the spring.”

This restructuring is a tremendous change for Whitman’s a cappella and choral scene, as the Choral Contest is a long running tradition. Perhaps in the future, non-a cappella groups will again participate in major choral performances. Until then, this year we can anticipate a performance that showcases the long running Whitman tradition of student a cappella groups honing their voices and carrying the tone.