2019-20

Joining The Harmonics this year were Ella G, Cleopatra H, Parthiv K, Shawn M, Kaile M, Kevin T, and Tianna T. Ren was MD. The group released our twelfth album, Signal Lost. Our winter show, held in March 2020, would be our last show until March 2022!

2018-19

This year, The Harmonics welcomed Grayson A, Josh B, Suah C, Marvin C, Jade N, Ren R, Maia R. F., and Mitchell Z. Lily was MD.

2017-18

New members joining us this year were Almog A, Jonathon B, HannahZoe C-R, Kaan E, Amanda L, and Lily L. Jane and Joss served as co-MDs.

2016-17

Joining our group this year were Elena C, Kelly D, Paritosh K, Jane L, Annie N, Joss S, Elijah S, Joe S, and Bianca Y. Kaylee was Music Director. The group released Fault of Imagination, our eleventh album.

2015-16

Joining The Harmonics this year were Kaylee B, Dylan B, Benjamin S, Río P-S, Zack C, and Deepti K. Elise was Music Director.

2014-15

This year, we welcomed David A, Devon B, Yeji J, Preeti K, Lina K, Mark K, Elise M, James O, and Sam W to The Harmonics. Griffin served as Music Director. The group released its tenth album, The Messes of Men EP.

2013-14

New faces this year included Mia F, Julia L, Connor J, Jace C, Davin C, Griffin K, Abigail F, and Lillian M. Monica was Music Director.

2012-13

This year brought Daria L, Chris M, Claire T, Monica T, and Russell K into The Harmonics. Amy served as Music Director. The group released our ninth album, Midnight Hour.

2011-12

This year, The Harmonics welcomed Amy D, Arturo F, Leo M, and Chris G. David was Music Director for a second year.

2010-11

This year, The Harmonics welcomed Alejandra M, Alon D, Erin B, Katherine R, Lemiece D. Z., Luke K, Marcia L, Simon S, Sean T, and Josh E. David was Music Director.

2009-10

This year, we added Jackie O, Ellen L, David L, Katy S, Sarah R. K., Evan S, and Peter Z. Davey served as Music Director for part of the year, with Charlie completing the year.

2008-09

This year, we took Caleb J, Kali L, Matt R, Esther K. L., and Jenn K. Charlie served a second year as Music Director. The group released Escape Velocity, our eighth album.

2007-08

This year saw the addition of Elise M, Ben “Blau” L, Davey F, Robbie R, Sarah G, Erica L, Kevin H, and Lyn M to the group.

“Known for their complex arrangements and driving vocal percussion, you can always find the Harmonics rocking out in their signature black and silver. They sing on campus for everything from big concerts to house meetings; off campus for private parties, a cappella showcases, and charity events; and even all around the country on annual Spring Tours.”

2006-07

This year The Harmonics took Kate M. H., Charlie F, Brittney V. H., Ben C, Evan C, Cliff C, Andrew D, Frank L, and Dane S. Teresa was Music Director.

2005-06

This year the group welcomed Mattie S. F., Ryan H, and Carlyn S. Brian was Music Director.

“Known for their complex arrangements, strong vocal percussion, powerful performances, and striking black and silver wardrobe, the Harmonics have been rocking out and delighting audiences for nearly fifteen years. The 2005-2006 Harmonics, under the direction of Brian S, enjoyed a busy year full of on- and off-campus performances, stellar reviews, numerous awards, and of course, ridiculous amounts of fun! They continued to receive accolades for their most recent album, ‘Shadowplay’, and were awarded the A Cappella Community Award for Favorite Mixed Collegiate Group”

2004-05

This year we added Kay T, Jennifer A, Jessica J, and Egill J. Daniel was Music Director. The group released our seventh album, Shadowplay.

2003-04

The academic year 2003-04 proved a busy and eventful period for the Harmonics. Welcoming in 7 new members (Brat, Roon, Helena, Caleb, Bud, Ro and Laura) the Harmonics kicked off the year in grand style at the 2003 Reunion Homecoming Concert, rocking the audiences' collective socks off with a Blurry-Bridge Over Troubled Water combination, and earning them early but highly deserved praise from both the rest of the Stanford a cappella community and the student population at large.

2003-04 saw a slew of achievements and accolades for the Harmonics. Among other things, Ben and Daniel (once again) clinched the "Best Vocal Percussion" Award at the ICCA Quarterfinals at Berkeley (this time, Christine and Brat were both mentioned in the judges notes as standout soloists for Bring Me To Life and Blurry as well) and the Harmonics were honored as the Stanford's ASSU Voluntary Student Organization of the Year 2004. The awards for Rock Beats Scissors continued pouring in, as Sadder Day was selected to grace BOCA 2004 (joining Lady Marmalade on BOCA 2003) and the album was named one of RARB’s Picks of 2003, garnering two Honorable Mentions. In addition, Lady Marmalade was named Runner-up in the "Best Mixed Collegiate Song" category at the 2004 CARA Awards. In terms of recording achievements, 2003-04 saw Rock Beats Scissors firmly cementing the Harmonics' position as one of the top collegiate vocal groups in the country.

In between recording a national radio spot for Whole Food Markets and hitting up an absolutely unbelievable SIX different East Coast states for their Spring Tour (which was capped off by an amazing performance at Columbia University, a performance made possible only by an absolutely unbelievable display of driving skill from a crazed cabbie who saved five stranded Harmonics from a useless rental car and got them to Columbia in the first place), the Harmonics found time to sing at the California A Cappella Festival in L.A. and a variety of other concerts, including the ever-popular Stanford vs. Cal Big Sing.

2002-03

The 2002-2003 year promised to be a strong year for the Harmonics. Needing to welcome only three new members (Fiona, Mak and Austin), and with Julia back for her second year as director, the group had all of the experience it needed to set a standard for groups to come. The group put in a lot of work from the very beginning getting songs ready to record for the Harmonics' fifth full-length album, Rock Beats Scissors. With so many returning members, it took no time for the group to start singing well together and be ready for time in the studio.

Not content merely to produce one of the best collegiate a cappella CDs, the group also spent winter quarter competing in the ICCA quarterfinals at UC Berkeley, where Marcella White-Campbell's arrangement of Porcelain won the best arrangement award, and traveling to Los Angeles to sing in festivals at UCLA and USC where we earned further awards for arrangements and vocal percussion. At the beginning of March, the Harmonics hosted the ICCA semifinals at Stanford, and tried something new with PAC'n the House, a night of professional a cappella on campus right before the ICCAs. The amazing show featured the House Jacks, Boyz Nite Out, Kickshaw, and guests Brandeis VoiceMale.

2001-02

Not only did the 2001-2002 year herald the tenth anniversary of the Stanford Harmonics, it was also one of the best years for the group. Thanks to immensely successful auditions, the group took ten new members (Sheena, Vicki, Morgan, Eve, Ariel, Gautam, Dan, Kyle, Fez, and Myles). It was not long before the group "gelled" and was out performing on the streets and on campus. Throughout the year, returning members and alumni often commented on how close the current group was. Instead of The Real World, they had Family Matters. Or Step By Step. Or, you know, one of those sitcoms with a lot of people being happy with one another.

With the impetus of a Ten Year Reunion Show and a performance at the Cantor Center, the group (led by Director Julia Berkley) began its journey through an extremely ambitious and extraordinarily successful year, with numerous performances on campus and in the Bay Area.  February saw a trip to Provo, Utah (also known as Party Central) for the quarterfinals of the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, where the Harmonics performed a medley of American songs in tribute to the events of September 11th, Van Halen's "Right Now," and two funky Jon Pilat arrangements of "Lady Marmalade" and "Drive" by Incubus. While the Harmonics did not proceed to the semifinals,  the group did take home an award for Best Runner-Up Arrangement (Lady M.) and Best Runner-Up Soloist...

2000-01

This year we added six freshmen and one grad to the mix of returning Harmonics. Christine and Chiara brought their fabulous solo voice to the soprano section, and Brooke joined the Altos with her fun attitude and unique tone. Mike and Dan found very different roles in the tenor section -- one as an Alto, and one as a Baritone. Finally, Ben and Chris added a love of Rockapella and a love of Apple Computer (respectively) to the bass section.

Our 4th CD, Phonoshop, was a huge success at Spring Show. We really enjoyed the recording experience and can't wait to do more with our fabulous sound engineer and friend, Bill Hare.

We performed this year with many awesome a cappella groups: M-Pact, Hookslide, Wicki 6, and the USC Sirens!

1999-2000

This year saw the addition of a terrific group of freshmen. Alyson Barham rounded out the soprano section with her cool rockin' tone. A whole new alto section was born with the addition of Julia B, Maia M, and Meg A, and quickly gained the signature alto attitude that defined previous generations of Harmonics. The tenor section gained freshman Wei Jiang H and sophomore Alan D. L. M.. Scott S brought much needed vocal percussion to the bass section, and Mike B added a element of humor, while Nick H boomed with the loudest lows in Harmonics history.

The Harmonics were tremendously successful this year as Melissa "Meals" W led the group to the NCCA Semi-finals, and through a fabulously fun tour of Los Angeles.

Spring Show was tremendously well received, with a medieval fairy tale theme, aptly called Y1K

Overall, this group had tones of fun and sang a very eclectic repertoire with lots of spirit and musicality.

We were all sad to see the exit of Meals, Andrew, Allegra, Mike, and Gene at the end of the year, but wished them luck in their various activities!

1998-99

'98-'99 auditions brought Kim and Allegra to our soprano section, Alicia and Melissa Rapp to our alto section, Andrew and Ken on tenor, and Gene, and former director/group founder Bob on bass.

This was an eventful year, the highlights being our fabulous Spring tour, and (of course), recording our third album, Insanity Laughs!

1997-98

'97-'98 brought many new faces to the group. An all new soprano section featured Holly G, Melissa W, and Hannah G. Sarah M joined as a mezzo-soprano. Zareen returned from overseas to join Shannon and a new alto, Marcella White. Joining Matthew and Greg on tenor were George H and Raj D. Ben and Jon were back on bass for the third year, and joining them were Khar Liang C., and a Harmonics alumni from the distant past, Damon S (whose voice was as elastic as ever).

More than the new faces, the biggest change in the Harmonics this year was repertoire. For the last several years, the Harmonics had focused on eighties and seventies pop music. This year, however, in addition to much more complicated arrangements, the focus shifted to 90s rock and roll. Songs like Criminal, Push, Hurt, 32 Flavors, and Strong Enough debuted this year, making the group sound decidedly different. The trend of using vocal percussion, which started in '95-'96 continued to expand, with three members providing percussion on 2/3 of the repetoire.

This year, the Harmonics started what is hoped will become the Harmonics' signature concert: ShamROCK, which took place at the end of Winter quarter. This concert featured the Harmonics and the Tufts Beelzebubs, who put on a fantastic high energy set. A packed parents weekend show with Everyday People rounded out winter quarter. The Harmonics also hosted Yale's senior women's group, Whim 'N Rhythm to close the year. Spring Show this year was themed and plotted around a mafia theme, featuring Shannon as the Godfather and Raj as the prodigal son and heir to the family legacy. They were of course our poster models this year.

1996-97

The Harmonics of '96-'97 was one of the most talented collection of singers in Harmonics history. Not only were they fantastic singers individually, with so many returning members, this was a group that knew how to sing together well. Joining Kristin, Katy and Christine on soprano was the blues-y, rich voice of Thaila S. There were three new altos this year, Shannon P and Cynthia S on alto I, and Jossie M, who joined Fez on alto II. The Harmonics also welcomed Greg C, who joined Pat, Matthew, and Will on tenor. The bass section was augmented briefly by Mark E, who left during fall quarter, leaving Bob, Jon, and Ben as the group's foundation.

The Harmonics hosted the North Carolina State Grains of Time, in a show with Mixed Company around St. Patrick's Day, a show later considered to be the zeroeth ShamROCK show. The Harmonics also hosted Artists in Resonance from Cal at a show in Toyon Hall, both of which were great successes. Spring tour led this group to Southern California again, where they sang with the Pomona Ladies' Blue and White at an arch sing, and featured the other infamous trip to Tijuana. This visit was wilder, more raucous, and took four times as long to recover from as the first trip in '95. However, everyone did remember their ID this time.

The biggest project of this year was the cd, which started production in January under the working title 'Flaming Avocados in Purgatory.' This was the first cd to be recorded with a professional recording engineer, Bill Hare, the guardian angel of Stanford A Cappella recordings. This cd featured the arrangements from the last two years, such as Gone, Rhythm of Love, and Down Under, plus old Harmonics favorites Walking on Broken Glass and December 1963, that were recorded by the previous year's group. After long discussion, the title Escalator Music was chosen and a tracklist was agreed upon. This CD went on to great fame and fortune, including a CARA nomination for best co-ed CD, a track, Four Brothers, on the BOCA '98 compilation CD, and a (mostly) positive RARB review, perhaps the biggest surprise of all.

Spring show, this year in Annenberg Auditorium, put an entirely new spin on Harmonics Spring Shows. In addition to the wildly popular spy theme, it had an at least mostly developed plot, complete with our poster model, Will Budreau, as the dashing James Bond, who thwarted the devlish plan of Dr. Evil, director Matthew K.

At the end of the year, Matthew passed the pitchpipe off to Shannon Pierce, the seventh director of the Harmonics. However, Shannon was the only woman returning, and the Harmonics needed a large incoming class to fill out the group the next year. In addition, the Harmonics bid farewell to 6-year member and founder Bob L. While this is not as drastic as the division between '93-'94 and '94-'95, due to changes in personnel and repetoire, auditions '97 may have started the third era in Harmonics history.

1995-96

The fifth year of the group saw it grow to its largest size ever, 17 members. Auditions brought Katy H and Kristin S to join Ryan and Radhika on soprano, the incredibly powerful voice of Fez A and soulful stylings of Natalie H joining Zareen and Emma on alto, Loren C on high tenor, Will B on second tenor, and Ben L, the deepest bass in Harmonics history to join Bob. Shortly afterwards, Jonathan P joined as bass/baritone. After fall quarter, Zach F came back from Eastern Europe to sing bass, and Christine N rejoined as well, moving up to mezzo-soprano.

Spring Tour this year was to the east coast, where we sang with the Penn Pennyloafers, the Princeton Wildcats (who we have since sung with again), Brandeis Spur of the Moment, the Tufts Amalgamates, Boston University Terpsichore, the Wheaton Gentleman Callers, and with Bob's first group, the Dartmouth Dodecaphonics. It was a homecoming of sorts for him. The Harmonics also spent a night on the cold and miserable floor of one (too) small room somewhere in Philadelphia, which has gone down in group folklore as hell night. Folklore is too kind. However, all told Spring Tour was a fabulous success, and exposed the Harmonics to many other styles of a cappella and provided a powerful bonding experience (which led to the extremely popular 'Don't Touch Unless Otherwise Instructed' signs).

The Harmonics also sang with two professional a cappella groups this year. They did a show the House Jacks at CSU Hayward, and sang with M-PACT! in a joint show with Counterpoint in Kresge Auditorium, the day after M-PACT won the 1996 Harmony Sweepstakes.

This year Matthew became the primary arranger for the group, turning out four new scores. Mainstays in the group's repertoire were Heat of the Moment, Mack the Knife, Walking on Broken Glass, and December 1963. The Harmonics continued to achieve firsts this year, making their first appearance in the National Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, where Zareen P won runner-up for best soloist on Change. The Harmonics also did their first shows with groups from other schools, welcoming the Duke Pitchforks and the Williams Ephlats to Stanford. Also, this year was the first that the Harmonics rented out one of the major auditoriums, Annenberg, for our Muppet themed spring show. The poster model this year was Pat Hurley.

The Harmonics from this year were so close that most decided to return, including six of the seven freshmen. Matthew was elected director in his senior year, and was already gearing up for the Harmonics next cd, tentatively titled 'Flaming Avocados in Purgatory.'

1994-95

'94-'95 was a year of many firsts for the Harmonics. First tour, first cd (tentatively titled 'Flaming Avocados in Purgatory'), first all-campus show, first major league performance (for a Giants game at Candlestick Park). Joining Ryan H and Lara S on soprano was Radhika D (who single-handedly possesses the longest name in Harmonics history). The all new alto section consisted of Emma P, Christine N, and Zareen P, whose incredibly rich tone defined Change in my Life, which she soloed all the years she was in the group. Into the mix of Brian, Matthew, and Jody blended sophomore Pat H. Joining Bob on bass were Kevan L and Zach F. Damon S, Lusan C, and Charlotte S all sang for part of the year.

The main event of the year (at least to hear the alumni tell it), was the Harmonics spring tour to Southern California, where the Harmonics sang with Chevy Chase, as well as several other wandering lunatics on Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. This tour also included the first infamous trip to Tijuana, which concluded with a besotted rendition of Moondance to the US Border guards. This was necessary because Ryan had cleverly forgotten her ID, and therefore needed to get through customs without being looked at too carefully. This inspired less scrupulous group members to consider setting up an immigration racket on the side. However, this was vetoed.

By the end of this year, the Harmonics were members of the Stanford A Cappella nation by any standards. We were invited, for the first time, to the Amnesty International Show, the largest charity show on campus, and performed our first all-campus show (outside of spring show) with Counterpoint in Toyon Hall. The Harmonics by this point focused entirely on pop and doo-wop music from the past four decades, with an emphasis on the eighties. This spring show was the last in Toyon, titled "Start the Insanity", and themed on Cheez Whiz. This show also started another Harmonics spring show tradition: choosing a poster model from within the group. For this first poster, who could be a more fitting inspiration than herr direktor, Brian.

The Harmonics first cd, The Greatest Hits of Pitchpipe was recorded at Stanford's CCRMA, and was engineered, produced, and mastered by founder, member, and all around great guy Bob. This CD included traditional Harmonics favorites like Change and Seven Bridges Road, as well as new songs like Heat of the Moment and Moondance. A track from Pitchpipe is featured on the BOCA Humor compilation cd: Matthew's startling solo rendition of Basketcase by Green Day, played entirely on dented pitchpipes.

The end of the year saw the graduation of two founding members, Brian and Jody (who was, along with Bob, the first 4 year member of the group). The pitchpipe (by this point dented from having saved Brian's life) was passed to Emma P, making her the fifth musical director.

1993-94

The Harmonics of '93-'94 admitted only four new members, the smallest Harmonics entering class ever. Lara S joined on soprano, Matthew K and Jeff S were new voices on tenor, and the remarkably elastic voice of Damon S joined Bob, Frank and Marcus on bass (though in reality he floated across all parts).

This year proved rocky for the Harmonics. Despite several new arrangements, among them Kyrie by Frank, and Everlasting Love by Matthew, the personalities of the group never entirely jelled. Jody resigned as director halfway through the year, handing leadership to Jeff, and there are notes from a discussion where the dissolution of Harmonics was suggested.

However, this year was not all bad by any means. Highlights included the first time Harmonics were invited to sing at the Orientation Show at the beginning of the school year, and a stellar performance at Big Sing featuring the debut of Berkelian Rhapsody, our anti-Weenie parody of Bohemian Rhapsody. The most important debut of that year, however, was Change in My Life, arranged by Jody. This song a perennial audience favorite, and has become our group song, which we sing at the end of each Spring Show with all Harmonics alumni present.

Brian was elected director in absentia at the end of the year, and the dramatic change in personnel at the end of the year marked a clear end of the first era in Harmonics history.

1992-93

The '92-'93 school year saw the Harmonics expand from the Octet format they had the year before. Joining returning members Bob, Brian, Jody, Miranda, and Renee were two new sopranos, Ryan H and Joanna S, three altos, Amy W, Audrey L, and Jeanie K, a new high tenor, Brian W, and two new Basses, Frank T and Marcus J. For part of the year, Blake S also sang bass. Bob was the musical director for the first two years of the group.

The Harmonics of this year started to concentrate more on campus shows including dorm shows, and starting the process of joining the Stanford A Cappella Nation. Harmonics sang in their first on-campus charity show, the Rape Awareness concert, their first Cal/Stanford Big Sing, which featured the performance of a parody of Longest Time (to great appreciation of the audience), and they held the first Spring Show extravaganza in Toyon Lounge. This year's Harmonics concentrated less on jazz standards, and more on the pop covers that were to become the foundation of the Harmonics sound. In particular, Walking on Broken Glass and Seven Bridges Road were featured in the concert sets of that year.

In fact, the year was so successful that twelve of thirteen members decided to remain in the group, only Brian not returning, as he was heading overseas to Stanford-in-Oxford. This was also the first passing of the pitchpipe, as Bob decided he no longer wanted to direct the group (though he would remain as an anchor in the bass section for several more years). He handed leadership of the group to Jody.

1991-92

In the fall of 1991, the Harmonics were but a gleam in the eye of a man. His name was Bob. He was a first year grad student at Stanford who had sung in the Dartmouth Dodecaphonics as an undergraduate. He was also, importantly, a bass. He joined University Singers, where he sent around a sign-up list for the Yet-To-Be-Named A Cappella group of Stanford University. Bob wanted to fashion an a cappella Goliath in his own image. However, he was willing to compromise, and therefore was able to attract several singers to his new group.

Membership fluctuated during the first year of the group, but eventually settled to eight. Bob was alone on bass, Brian K and Jody S, both freshmen, sang tenor, Miranda L, Leslie D, and Vivian L on alto, and Charlotte S, Renee H, and Karyn E on soprano. Other people who sang with the group for part of that year were Lyle "Van" P, Rob D, and Bijoy G. The '91-'92 Harmonics concentrated mainly on off-campus and community service concerts. The repertoire this year consisted of jazz standards, such as Someone to Watch Over Me and My Romance, traditional A Cappella pieces, like Longest Time by Billy Joel and Under the Boardwalk, and 80s pop covers like Bad Connection by Yaz and Cecilia by Simon and Garfunkel.

However, many of the group's members were leaving campus for fame and fortune (or Chile), and so a high priority of the founding members was holding auditions so that singing with the Harmonics could continue for those remaining next year.