Stanford Talisman is a student

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 at

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 ...

, dedicated to sharing stories through music. Started in 1990 by Stanford student Joseph Pigato, their roots are in music from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and the

African diaspora The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from native Africans or people from Africa, predominantly in the Americas. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the West and Central Africans who were e ...

, but they have since broadened their horizons to include music from all over the world. They perform not only locally in the greater

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

but also around the world. Their most recent tour was to Mumbai and Udaipur, India, in spring of 2019. The group has also traveled to South Africa (2016) and Hawai'i (2018). The group won the 1997 ICCA competition and notable performances include the

1996 Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

, with 10-time Grammy award winner

Bobby McFerrin Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is an American folk and jazz singer. He is known for his vocal techniques, such as singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in pitch—for example, sustaining a melody while also rap ...

in 2005 and 2019, with

Seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

in 2009, with

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

in 2019, annually at Stanford Graduation Baccalaureate, and their sold-out 25th Anniversary Show in

Bing Concert Hall Bing Concert Hall is a performing arts facility at Stanford University that opened in January 2013. The heart of the building is the oval-shaped concert hall, which has 842 seats arranged in a vineyard style surrounding the stage in terraces. ...

in 2015. Their musical repertoire includes their arrangements of " One by One" by

Lebo M Lebohang Morake (born 11 July 1964), known as Lebo M, is a South African producer and composer, known for his songwriting and vocal work on the soundtracks to films such as ''The Lion King, The Power of One'' and ''Outbreak'' and numerous stage ...

., " Lift Ev'ry Voice" (the Black national anthem), "

Baba Yetu "Baba Yetu" (Swahili language, Swahili: "Our father, Our Father") is the theme song for the 2005 video game ''Civilization IV''. It was composed by Christopher Tin and performed by Ron Ragin and the Stanford Talisman. For its re-release in Tin's ...

" by Talisman alumni

Christopher Tin Christopher Chiyan Tin (born May 21, 1976) is an American composer of art music, often composed for film and video game soundtracks. His work is primarily orchestral and choral, often with a world music influence. He has won two Grammy Awar ...

(a song featured in the video game ''

Civilization IV ''Civilization IV'' (also known as ''Sid Meier's Civilization IV'') is a 4X turn-based strategy computer game and the fourth installment of the ''Civilization'' series, and designed by Soren Johnson under the direction of Sid Meier and his vid ...

''),

Sweet Honey in the Rock Sweet Honey in the Rock is an all-women band, all-woman, African American, African-American a cappella ensemble. They are an United States, American three-time Grammy Award–nominated troupe who express their history as black women through song ...

's "Wanting Memories," a compilation of the two songs "Hawai'i '78" and "E Ala E"] performed by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, and the traditional spiritual "

Amazing Grace "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn published in 1779 with words written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States, where it is used for both ...

." Talisman has released eight full-length albums as well as a 10-year anniversary compilation entitled "Shine," and a 20-year compilation, "Twenty," and two five-song EPs. The group was featured on the 1997 Best of Collegiate A Cappella compilation, and has received recognition from

CARA Cara or CARA may refer to: Places * Čara, a village on the island of Korčula, Croatia * Cara, a village in Cojocna Commune, Cluj County, Romania * Cara Island, off the west coast of Argyll, Scotland * Cara Paraná River, Colombia * Cara Sucia ...

, most recently in 2004, winning "Mixed-Group Album of the Year" for ''Watch Me Fly''.

History

From founder Joe Pigato at Talisman's 25th Anniversary Show:

"October 1989 - I was a sophomore here at Stanford and I had just started my second year and was not singing again, though I'd been singing most of my life. A good friend came up from my hometown and was lamenting the fact that I wouldn't be singing again. He said, 'Well, why don't you start your own group?' And I thought, 'Well, bit of work, my friend Ben sa super excitable guy - it's going to take a bit of work to do.'

I went home from that breakfast and my ideas was that I wanted to do world music because that's what's I grew up listening to and that's what I love, and as wonderful as college a cappella is, it wasn't the style or what I wanted to sing. So I went home, I jotted down a few songs - I wasn't going to ''start'' the group, I just jotted down a few songs, what I thought we might sing, what our name might be, maybe where we'd practice, maybe ''when'' we'd practice, and uh, pretty soon I realized I was on my way to doing this. I sat back and I thought, 'World music - it's not the thing that brings in the audience, I don't know if anyone's going to want to sing this.' But I decided on January 15th, 1990 at Braun room 105, I was going to have my first auditions.

I put 2,000 fliers up around campus talking about singing music with stories from around the world. I was sure no one was going to come to our audition. I woke up with an awful, awful migraine. My accompanist couldn't come and play scales. I thought, "Maybe this isn't meant to be." I went over to Braun 105, there was a big crowd outside the room, and I had already messed up scheduling a couple times. I thought maybe the Ram's Head Musical had got the room for auditions, and now I'm just a wreck. I walk up, there's a crowd, I'm like, 'So what is this for?' Someone looks and says 'It's for Talisman?' And I panicked, and I said, 'Um, great. Well, good luck with that.' I walked away to the Tresidder Parking Lot and was justing thinking, 'Okay, here.' I was humming this song, N'kayalamakawa, this African song that I loved. I was thinking about the music that I wanted to sing, the stories and music from around the world. I thought, 'I know this music can exist on campus. If I can just find people who would sing this, we could do something big.' I looked back at Braun and I thought, 'There are those people.'

So I walked back, I said 'Did you say ''Talisman''?' and he said 'Talisman!', and they were there. From that group, we found 15 fantastic singers. For the next 25 years, every year we have 5 or 10 new singers who have wonderful heart, wonderful vision, who want to bring the stories of the world to express them, and we've now been able to bring those people together for 25 years."

Discography

* ''No Murmur, No Zealots'' (1992) * ''Tonic Rhythms'' (1994) * ''After Silence'' (1996) * ''Anthem'' (1996), greatest hits album * ''Held in Shining'' (1998) * ''Shine'' (2000), 10-year anniversary album * ''Passage'' (2001) * ''Watch Me Fly'' (2003) * ''The Quick Day is Done'' (2006) * ''Twenty'' (2010), 20-year anniversary album * ''Going Home'' (2011) * ''New Crossroads'' (2012), a joint recording with Peace Africa Children's Ensemble * ''Stanford Talisman Live'' (2020), a compilation of live Talisman performances from 2018-2019 * ''Your Voice, Above the Storm'' (2020)

EPs and other appearances

* Featured in "

Calling All Dawns ''Calling All Dawns'' is a classical crossover album by Christopher Tin released in 2009. The album won two Grammys at the 53rd Grammy Awards for Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album, Best Classical Crossover Album and Best Instrument ...

", debut

album (2009) * ''The Knoll Sessions'' (2017), a five-song collection recorded at

CCRMA Stanford University has many centers and institutes dedicated to the study of various specific topics. These centers and institutes may be within a department, within a school but across departments, an independent laboratory, institute or center ...

in the summer of 2017 * ''Muliwai'' (2018), a five-song collection recorded at

in the summer of 2018

Awards and nominations

, - , 1995 ,

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 Mixed Collegiate Soloist , Elena Melendez , style="background: #F4F2B0" , , , - , rowspan="2" , 1997 , rowspan="2" , Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards , Best Mixed Collegiate Album , ''After Silence'' , , , - , Best Mixed Collegiate Song , "The Rainmaker" , style="background: #AFFBA3" , , , - , 1999 , Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards , Best Mixed Collegiate Album , ''Held in Shining'' , , , - , rowspan="2" , 2004 , rowspan="2" , Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards , Best Mixed Collegiate Album , ''Watch Me Fly'' , , rowspan="2" , , - , Best Mixed Collegiate Arrangement , Ron Ragin for "Swing Low" , style="background: #F4F2B0" ,

ICCA results

The

International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella The International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA), originally the National Championship of Collegiate A Cappella ("NCCA", a play on NCAA), is an international competition that attracts hundreds of college ''a cappella'' groups each ye ...

(ICCA) first judged live a cappella performance competitions in 1996.

Notable alumni

Former members include composer

, class of '98; filmmaker

Jeff Orlowski Jeff Orlowski-Yang is an American filmmaker. He is best known for both directing and producing the Emmy Award-winning documentary ''Chasing Ice'' (2012) and ''Chasing Coral'' (2017) and for directing ''The Social Dilemma'' about the damaging socie ...

, class of '06;

Sameer Gadhia Samir (variantly spelled Sameer) is a male name found commonly in the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe. In Arabic, Samir () means holy, jovial, loyal or charming. In Albanian, it translates literally as “so good” but the connotation is clo ...

, frontman of the band

Young the Giant Young the Giant is an American rock band that formed in Irvine, California, in 2004. The band's line-up consists of Sameer Gadhia (lead vocals), Jacob Tilley (guitar), Eric Cannata (guitar), Payam Doostzadeh (bass guitar), and Francois Comtois ...

class of '11; and author

Yaa Gyasi Yaa Gyasi (born 1989) is a Ghanaian-American novelist. Her debut novel ''Homegoing'', published in 2016, won her, at the age of 26, the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Award for best first book, the PEN/Hemingway Award for a first ...

, class of '11.

References

External links

*
Youtube ChannelFacebook
{{Authority control Collegiate a cappella groups

Talisman A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...

Musical groups established in 1990