Pitch Please, Northwood’s a cappella group, won four awards, including first place, at NCASA High School A Cappella Competition May 6. Along with first place, the group won awards for “Best Male Soloist,” “Best Female Soloist” and “Best Choreography.” The winning soloists were freshman Andrew Bonomolo and junior Carmyn Johnson.
“It felt amazing; it felt great,” sophomore Connor Lewis said. “We were so excited; we felt like all of our hard work had finally come into use.”
Bonomolo tells the story of when Pitch Please won their award.
“The other group was announced before us,” Bonomolo said “When they were announced, we knew that we won first, because it came down to us two. When we knew it, we all just looked at each other, and were kind of just smiling, and we knew who it was, and it was us…. It was a good moment,”
At the competition, Pitch Please sang “Sleep” by Allen Stone, “I Was Here” by Beyoncé and “Ain’t It Fun” by Paramore. Singing in the competition was different than the group expected.
“It wasn’t as intimidating as we thought it would be,” Lewis said “We got there [and] we were welcomed by the committee and such. We walked in, we got up there and it happened faster than I thought. We got in, we performed, then we got out. It seemed like a big blur.”
The members of Pitch Please are very close to each other, sharing a strong bond.
“We are like a family, all really close,” Johnson said. “[We] talk about issues that we have. I love each and everyone of them; that’s why we’re called the a cappella family. They’re like the other family we can go to.”
The group always focuses on improvement and works together
“Usually it’s just drilling, laughing, getting off topic, laughing about something on Twitter, drilling and drilling,” Lewis said. “And then we finally all have a big talk together about what we are gonna expect from the group in the next competition, and then we probably perform our best right after that.”
Bonomolo is a freshman with past experience in singing and expressed his excitement of being named “Best Male Soloist.”
“I was really surprised, because it’s my first year; it’s been awesome,” Bonomolo said. “Since I’m a freshman, I was just really surprised that I was able to even get a solo in the first place, because usually solos are given to people who have more experience in a cappella groups, and this is my first time being in one so, I’m just extremely happy that I was able to sing. I was really surprised,”
Bonomolo described his feelings when on stage in the midst of competition.
“It’s like an out of body experience; that’s the only way I can describe it; when I’m singing, it kind of transports me to another place,” Bonomolo said. “It’s kind of like my outlet for emotions and feelings and stuff… and really where I get my drive to live is from singing, so being on stage is an out of body experience, and then being on stage with a group with members of a cappella is just great, because you get to share it with someone.”
Johnson is involved in many other singing activities outside of Pitch Please. She believes singing has a strong impact on others and feels invincible when on stage.
“I feel good when I’m singing,” Johnson said. “I believe that people are given certain talents, and singing is one of them, and you don’t take that for granted. When I’m on stage, I just feel like I can change the world and just sing because media has such a big impact on our society.”
Johnson expressed how the team felt after the competition.
“I think we’re realizing that we’re a little better than we thought we were,” Johnson said.
– By Natalie Fragnito
