Wick Choral Festival – next week

Above: Guest student performers at last year’s Wick Choral Festival exercised their pipes a capella style (photos from St. Mark’s School’s smugmug site)

The public is invited to St. Mark’s celebration of pitch perfect music. It’s the 28th anniversary of the school’s annual a capella festival.

The festival, established in 1992 through the generosity of the Wick family and friends, is offered annually in memory of Myron A. Wick, St. Mark’s class of 1933, in honor of his lifelong enjoyment of singing.

The two night concert brings together groups from area high schools (including Algonquin). Each night features St. Mark’s students and one college ensemble.

This year, the festival is Friday, January 31st and Saturday, February 1st at 7:30 pm both nights. It takes place in the Class of 1945 Hall, Putnam Family Arts Center. 

More details are in the rest of the announcement below:

A cappella singing has become a hallmark of college and high school campuses across the country. It is singing without instruments incorporating close harmony, beatboxing (“mouth percussion”) and voices-only arrangements of popular music, often with choreography.

On Friday, Jan. 31, participating high schools will include Algonquin Regional High School, Northfield, Mount Hermon School and Wheeler School. The college group will be the Buffers (men) of Hamilton College, Clinton, New York.

On Saturday, Feb. 1, the high school groups will include Roxbury Latin, Middlesex School, Noble and Greenough School, and a first time performance at the festival by Cushing Academy. The college group will be Tumbling After (women) from Hamilton College.

The Hamilton College groups are invited in keeping with a tradition of the festival. Invitations are extended to college groups that include recent graduates of St. Mark’s School within driving distance of Southborough. The Hamilton groups include 2018 St. Mark’s graduates Kaela Dunne and Jonathan Shakespeare, both of Southborough.

Admission is free. Parking is in the arts lot where handicapped spaces are available. On Marlboro Road, look for the blue sign that reads “arts and athletics parking”. When that lot is full, concertgoers will be directed to the Southborough Public Library lot where shuttle buses will be waiting to bring them up to the Putnam Family Arts Center. In case of inclement weather, the concerts will be postponed and new performance dates announced. In case of bad weather, please check the St. Mark’s School website (www.stmarksschool.org) for information.