"Conceived in the fall of
1986 by
Harvard undergraduates Craig Hickman
and Morgan Innis, the
Callbacks originated as a mixed
a cappella group aiming
to diversify the spectrum of artistic performance at the
college. In its earliest
days, the group's participation in the
campus music scene was restricted to
opening for other performers. Soon, however, the group developed a musical presence
of its own, performing at paying venues, at other colleges, at charity concerts,
and eventually on the stage of
Sanders Theatre. A recording career followed
shortly afterwards.
As years went by, the
Callbacks have become more and more established in the
a cappella community. The group continues to garner
national awards for its
live performances; its arrangements, all of which are written by
Callbacks;
as well as its five studio recordings, of which
Don't Look Down, released fall
2000, is the latest. In April of 2000, the
Callbacks were the top-placing
coed
group in the
National Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, placing third overall.
Annual trips have been initiated, including a
Spring Break tour and a fall
New
York tour.
For the individual members , the evolution has manifested itself in even more
responsibility and participation. The ongoing
struggle to refine our performance
and remain at the top of the art has transformed this amazingly diverse collage
of faces into a legitimate family. Being in the
Callbacks shapes a significant
portion of each of our
college experiences. We each try our best to translate
the passion and the humor that this group provides us into a passionate, humorous
show for every audience and for each other."
Current Members:
Royd Chung '01
President
Erika Rhone '01
Music Director
Megan Gaffney '02
Alumni
Coordinator
Matt Thompson '02 Publicity
Manager /
Webmaster
Sasha Haines-Stiles '02 Stage Manager
Francis Crick '03 Co-Historian
Megan Guy '03
Business Manager
Ben Jackson '03
Assistant Music Director
Sarah Jessop '03
Liz Drummond '04
Marcel LaFlamme '04
Adam Lalley '04
Christina Vargas '04
Chris Shutzer '04
Tariq Yasin '04
Albums:
Off the Record (1991)
Kaleidoscope (1994)
Ninety Miles an Hour
Diving With the Mayans (1998)
Don't Look Down (2000)
These guys
kick some major ass...and I'm usually into
heavier stuff. I saw
their Friday, November 17th
Harvard/
Yale Weekend Minijam, and I was floored.
I was visiting my
ex-girlfriend, and her roommate (Sarah Jessop) is a
Callback,
so we went to see them. It was a small room; maybe 10-12 rows of chairs. I sat
on the floor way up front, and I was completely
speechless. It was cool because
it was such a small room; sort of that '
small club' atmosphere. They're just
a great
a cappella group. All in all, a very moving experience. The
Yale Alley
Cats also performed, and they were great too. I liked the
Callbacks more because
they were a coed group. If you ever have a chance to see them, I highly recommend
it; they've earned so much praise for a very
good reason.
for more info: http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~c-backs/ (source of quoted text)