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Rowland High's pop choir flirts with fame
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
HOWLAND
Howland High School’s pop a capella choir almost got famous.
The choir, which is called Another Way, performs pop songs in the fun and lively style that was popularized in the “Pitch Perfect” movies.
Another Way auditioned to be on the Lifetime reality docu-series “Pitch Slapped,” which followed high school pop a capella choirs as they performed. The show also went behind the scenes to delve into the lives of the young singers.
In January, the 10-person Howland choir was selected to appear on “Pitch Slapped” but its elation was quickly dashed when the network canceled the show shortly thereafter.
To let Valley residents hear what they could have been seeing on the tube, Another Way will release a CD on Monday. Titled “Almost Pitch Slapped,” the CD will cost $14 and can be purchased at a record-release party at 7 p.m. in the school cafeteria.
Anjanette Depoy, a teacher at Howland High, is the director of the choir. The members are Reilly Berk, Sydney Dicenso, Connor Hurst, Cross Scarpaci, Caleb Shaw, Alexis Cunningham, Kody Elsayed, Gesse Matlock, Michael Schaefer and Lauren Walls.
The lively songs the group sings — by Meghan Trainor, Bruno Mars and Queen, to name a few — are done a capella, or without instrumental accompaniment, but it does use two beat boxers (Shaw and Matlock) to keep the rhythm. A beat boxer makes percussion sounds vocally.
Another Way was founded in 2005 and is the only pop a capella group in the Mahoning Valley. Its members practice three or four hours a week after school.
The groups have been popular on college campuses, but have been forming at high schools in recent years, said Depoy.
In an interview last week, Depoy relived her ensemble’s excitement and disappointment as it went through the audition process.
“We auditioned for it last year for season one,” she said. “We sent in a video but never heard back.
“Then in November, a casting agent called me about season two. She said ‘we liked you from last year.’ So we auditioned in the first week of December [again, by Internet].”
Five rounds of audition uploads followed in a two-week span: first, a song, then a 15-minute video with the group going through its warmups and introducing itself, then interview question-and-answers, then a Skype interview and performance that took four hours.
Each student also had to reveal interesting background information about themselves; for example one singer plays African drums and another is a triplet.
“They loved it,” said Depoy, of the production company.
Just as the excitement reached its pinnacle, the choir’s hopes were dashed.
“In the last week of January we got the green light and then ... the show didn’t get picked up for a second season because the ratings weren’t high enough,” she said.
“It was disappointing, but a cool experience. We got to work with an agent and had to make deadlines. It was the real world.
“But that’s why we made the CD. The kids worked so hard.”
The CD can also be purchased by emailing Anjanette.DePoy@Neomin.Org.