Noted: An Inside Look at Acappella from Fordham’s Hot Notes

By Annemarie Marconi

It was a warm Sunday night in April, and while many students were enjoying a late night chat on Eddie’s or finishing up assignments in the library, the Hot Notes were hard at work, practicing new songs and perfecting harmonies in the Keating Basement.

“We’re in the middle of sectionals,” Brendan Caulfield, FCRH ’17, said. The tenors and basses were practicing separate from the altos and sopranos so the different voices could learn their parts before coming together to rehearse as a big group. “It speeds up the process,” he said.

On this night, they were rehearsing a jazz mash-up of two Sara Bareilles songs, “Bluebird” and “Kaleidoscope Heart.” The tenors and basses first heard their parts played on the piano and then repeated what they had heard in harmony with each other. Every sound has a purpose and they truly try to recreate the noises of the instruments with their voices.

Even their breathing was calculated, with members inhaling at the same rests. While the breakdown between upper and lower voices is usually female/male, there was one female member who sang tenor last semester. This time, however, she is back with the ladies who carry the melody. Amy Caffrey, FCRH ’16, took a break from leading the upper voices to announce: “This is one of the hardest songs we’ve ever done.”

While this particular arrangement was outsourced, the Hot Notes do perform songs of their own arrangements quite frequently. Caulfield knows a thing or two about arrangements, considering he arranged the most recent set the Hot Notes performed all by himself. Not only did that set advance them to the semifinals of the International Championship of Collegiate Acappella, Caulfield won an award for Outstanding Arrangement in the quarterfinal. This special award, according to the ICCA website, is not required to have a winner and may be given at the judges’ discretion. The set included jazz renditions of Drake’s recent hit “Hotline Bling” and Fetty Wap’s club anthem “679.”

“I wanted to do something fun, but still fitting into our jazz sound,” said Caulfield of his winning arrangement. “It was really entertaining, but clearly a great competitive set as well.” While Caulfield took on this successful arrangement himself, any member is welcome to submit an arrangement.

The International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) is hosted by Varsity Vocals, a global a cappella organization that hosts college and high school competitions. The Hot Notes’ most recent appearance at ICCA was very successful.

“The top two groups from each quarterfinal advance to the semifinal,” said Caulfield. Since the Hot Notes placed second overall in the quarterfinal, they were able to advance to the semifinal round, an impressive feat given that the competition covered the whole Mid-Atlantic region. For semifinals, they got to compete among the collegiate a cappella’s best in Philadelphia.

Now that the Hot Notes are back at Fordham and have finished competing for the season, they will continue performing around campus. Their upcoming concert, Star Wars: A New Note, is this Sunday, April 24, at 7:30 p.m. in Collins Auditorium.