A look at East’s three a cappella groups

By Andrew Xu Staff Writer

Last December, 14 boys at East gathered to practice every day after school for their upcoming choral performance at the North Carolina Executive Mansion. After two weeks of restless preparation, the date was finally nearing.

“Everybody showed up and everybody was wearing their uniforms, everybody had their little scarves on and their music, and everything went great,” said their leader, now-senior Zane Buckner. “I went from having done nothing all year to doing the greatest performance of my entire life.”

East has three a cappella groups: the Alley Cats, the Chiefs of Staff and the Scattertones; all-female, all-male and mixedgender extracurricular choral ensembles, respectively. They comprise 11-15 members who arrange and perform popular music without instrumental accompaniment. Despite being closely associated, the groups work separately.

The ensembles perform about once a month, such as at school chorus concerts, the Cat’s Cradle, joint concerts with UNC a cappella groups. In addition, the groups participate in informal community gigs, even including street performances on Franklin Street.

Each a cappella group regularly meets twice per week: once at lunch, and once at an off-campus rehearsal. They are student-run, with indirect involvement from DavisOmburo, who oversees them and deals with administrative tasks such as event organization.

“[A cappella is] very different from doing music by yourself or even doing music in a class... because all our groups are student-run,” said Cece Harrison, the co-president of the Scattertones. “If you are serious about music, and if you want to learn how to be a good leader... you can get a lot of useful skills…. It takes a good work ethic to be a part of a group of people who share a common goal of creating a final product that... we can all be proud of.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ensembles were unable to perform or meet in person until last year. Instead, they held online meetings and recorded performances.

Nonetheless, senior Micah Hughes, president of the Alley