| Stanford Counterpoint | |
| Origin: | Stanford, California, USA |
| Genre: | A cappella |
| Years Active: | 1979 - present |
Stanford Counterpoint (also known simply as Counterpoint) is an all-femme a cappella group from Stanford University. It is the second-oldest a cappella group from Stanford.[1] [2]
Counterpoint is a student-led group,[2] and typically comprises 15–17 singers, selected by audition each September.[1] [2] 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.[3]
The group was founded in 1979 by sophomores Linda Chin and Joyce Rogers, to provide a female-oriented alternative to the Stanford Mendicants, an all-male group and the only a cappella group on campus at the time.[2] [4] 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.[5] At first, the women of Counterpoint performed with an upright bass and occasional other instruments. The group's first performed song ("Java Jive") featured an upright bass and received a standing ovation at their first performance in the spring of 1979.[2]
That first year, the group won the Stanford Alumni Association's award for the "most innovative student project" of the year.[4]
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.[6] Also in 2019, Stanford Counterpoint celebrated their 40th anniversary with a reunion concert featuring generations of alumnae.[7]
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" was selected for the Recorded A Cappella Review Board's 2019 "Picks of the Year"[8] and their music video for has been nominated for an A Cappella Video Award.[9]
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.
As of 2020, Counterpoint has released fourteen studio albums:
|-| 1997| rowspan="10" | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards| Best Female Collegiate Album| Nomansland| | [1] [13] |-| rowspan="4" | 1999| Best Female Collegiate Album| Counterculture| | rowspan="4" | [14] [15] |-| 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" | [16] |-| Best Female Collegiate Song| "Good Enough"| |-| best Female Collegiate Arrangement| Katy Chow for "Crush"| |-| 2005| Best Female Collegiate Song| "Clocks" from Studio Confessions| | [17] |-| 2009| Best Female Collegiate Album| Belladona| style="background: #FADEDE" | | [18] |-| 2019| rowspan="2" | A Cappella Video Awards| Best Female Collegiate Video| "Don't Wake Me Up"| style="background: #F4F2B0" | | [19] |-| rowspan="2" | 2020| Best Female Collegiate Video| "God Is a Woman"| | [20] |-| Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards| Best Country Song| "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" from Close to Home| | [21]
Three songs released by Counterpoint have been selected for Varsity Vocals’ annual Best of College A Cappella album.
| Year | Song title | Originally performed by | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | “Don't Speak” | Bonnie Raitt | ||
| 2001 | “Good Enough” | Sarah McLachlan | ||
| 2007 | “Breathe (2 AM)” | Anna Nalick |