Stanford Counterpoint (also known simply as Counterpoint) is an all-femme

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

group from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. It is the second-oldest a cappella group from Stanford and the oldest female a cappella group on the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

. Counterpoint is a student-led group, and typically comprises 15–17 singers, selected by audition each September. As of 2020, Counterpoint has released fourteen studio albums. The group has been nominated for a dozen national a cappella awards, and has been featured three times on Varsity Vocals' annual ''Best Of College A Cappella'' album.

History

The group was founded in 1979 by sophomores Linda Chin and Joyce Rogers, to provide a female-oriented alternative to the

Stanford Mendicants The Stanford Mendicants are an all-male a cappella group at Stanford University. The group is Stanford University's first a cappella group. Since its founding in 1963, the group's size has varied from 6 to 19 members. Although they are strictly an ...

, an all-male group and the only a cappella group on campus at the time. The group was named "Counterpoint" because Rogers played the Harpsichord in high school and the concept of musical counterpoint is essential to the Baroque music she enjoyed playing. At first, the women of Counterpoint performed with an upright bass and occasional other instruments. The group's first performed song ("

Java Jive Java Jive is a song written by Ben Oakland and Milton Drake in 1940 and most famously recorded by The Ink Spots. The lyrics speak of the singer's love of coffee. The lyrics also reflect the slang of the day, including a reference to "Mr. Moto", a ...

") featured an upright bass and received a standing ovation at their first performance in the spring of 1979. That first year, the group won the Stanford Alumni Association's award for the "most innovative student project" of the year. In 1980, Counterpoint took The Mendicants on a tour to perform for Stanford alumni in Southern California; as of 2019, that tradition continues—as does the lasting relationship between the groups. In 1982, Counterpoint released a self-titled vinyl record, recorded in Stanford's Memorial Church. In the 1990s, the group ceased using instruments and became all-vocal. Counterpoint recorded a studio album every other year, touring the United States during the years they didn't record. In 2019, the women of Counterpoint went on their first international tour to Paris, France. Also in 2019, Stanford Counterpoint celebrated their 40th anniversary with a reunion concert featuring generations of alumnae. In 2019, Stanford Counterpoint released their 14th studio album (''Close to Home'') and an accompanying music video for the track " God is a Woman". Both works are entirely performed/recorded/produced by women. The track "

Light of a Clear Blue Morning "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" is a song written and recorded by American entertainer Dolly Parton. The song first appeared on her 1977 '' New Harvest...First Gathering'' album, and provided a top twenty country music hit for her as a single. As ...

" was selected for the Recorded A Cappella Review Board's 2019 "Picks of the Year" and their music video for has been nominated for an A Cappella Video Award. As of 2020, Counterpoint has been nominated for 14 a cappella recording-related awards and honors including Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award (CARA) award nominations and ''Best Of College A Cappella'' (BOCA) compilation album features. Many of these nominations were thanks to the work of Counterpoint's long-time audio engineer

Bill Hare Bill Hare is an American Grammy Award-winning audio engineer known for pioneering contemporary recording techniques in a cappella. He was the first to record voices individually, and the first to mic singers exactly as one would mic instruments. ...

Discography

As of 2020, Counterpoint has released fourteen studio albums: * ''Counterpoint'' (1981) * ''Run With It'' (1989) * ''Sing It, Baby!'' (1992) * ''Nomansland'' (1996) * ''Counterculture'' (1998) * ''Ticket to Anywhere'' (2000) * ''Cover Charge'' (2002) * ''Studio Confessions'' (2004) * ''Lights in the Rearview'' (2006) * ''Belladonna'' (2008) * ''Dancing Til Dawn'' (2010) * ''No Turning Back'' (2015) * ''A Woman Like That'' (2016) - EP * ''Close to Home'' (2019)

Awards and nominations

, - , 1997 , rowspan="10" ,

Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards The Contemporary A Cappella Society (of America), or CASA, is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to fostering and promoting a cappella music of all styles around the world. CASA was founded in 1991 by Deke Sharon in San Francisco just ...

, Best Female Collegiate Album , ''Nomansland'' , , , - , rowspan="4" , 1999 , Best Female Collegiate Album , ''Counterculture'' , , rowspan="4" , , - , Best Female Collegiate Song , "Don't Speak" , , - , Best Female Collegiate Arrangement , Katy Chow , , - , Best Female Collegiate Soloist , Sasha Polonsky , , - , rowspan="3" , 2001 , Best Female Collegiate Album , ''Ticket to Anywhere'' , , rowspan="3" , , - , Best Female Collegiate Song , "Good Enough" , , - , best Female Collegiate Arrangement , Katy Chow for "Crush" , , - , 2005 , Best Female Collegiate Song , "Clocks" from ''Studio Confessions'' , , , - , 2009 , Best Female Collegiate Album , ''Belladona'' , style="background: #FADEDE" , , , - , 2019 , rowspan="2" , A Cappella Video Awards , Best Female Collegiate Video , "Don't Wake Me Up" , style="background: #F4F2B0" , , , - , rowspan="2" , 2020 , Best Female Collegiate Video , "God Is a Woman" , , , - , Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards , Best Country Song , "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" from ''Close to Home'' , ,

''Best of College A Cappella'' appearances

Three songs released by Counterpoint have been selected for Varsity Vocals’ annual ''Best of College A Cappella'' album.

References

External links

Official Counterpoint website

Official Counterpoint YouTube channel
{{authority control

Counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...