Stanford Fleet Street Singers

The Stanford Fleet Street Singers
The Stanford Fleet Street Singers at Stanford's Main Quad
Background information
Origin Stanford, California, United States
Genres
Years active 1981—present
Website www.fleetstreet.com

The Stanford Fleet Street Singers ("Fleet Street") is a comedy a cappella group from Stanford University. The group is known for their original songs, sketch comedy, and uniform of black vests and red bow ties.[1][2] Fleet Street has released 13 full-length albums and has received several national awards.

History

Fleet Street was founded in 1981 when students Timothy Biglow, Kyle Kashima, and Chris Tucci were rejected after auditioning for the Stanford Mendicants, Stanford's only a cappella group at the time.[3] The fledgling group drew inspiration from the Stanford Band and Big Game "Gaieties": existing Stanford University groups known for their iconoclasm and musical originality. Fleet Street has since expanded their repertoire beyond barbershop music to include many genres, and is now best known for their original and often humorous songs.[4]

The name "Fleet Street" is a reference to the famous musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, which alludes to the group's musical roots in barbershop music.[5][6] The group typically comprises 12 to 16 members, selected by audition.

Awards

Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (CARAs), Contemporary A Cappella Society:[7][8][9]

  • Best Male Collegiate Album
  • Best Original Collegiate Song
  • Best Male Collegiate Song
  • Best Male College Soloist
  • Best Male Collegiate Arrangement

International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella:[10]

  • Best Overall Group Performance

Notable Performances

In 1996, World Champion figure skater Rudy Galindo skated to Fleet Street's recording of "Ave Maria" for the World Figure Skating Championships.[11] In the spring of that year, Fleet Street won Best Overall Group Performance on the West Coast in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA).[10] This saw the group invited to perform at the championship finals at David Geffen Hall (Avery Fisher Hall at the time) in New York City's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.[12]

The Stanford Fleet Street Singers in 2017.

In 2004, Fleet Street released the eponymous album Fleet Street, the first collegiate a cappella album ever to be composed entirely of all-original songs.[13]

In 2010, Fleet Street was invited to New York to participate in the second round of America's Got Talent.[14]

In 2018, Fleet Street was twice invited to perform on National Public Radio.[15][16]

Notable Alumni

  • Winter Wright '86, Vice President, Content Strategy, Huawei.[17]
  • Chad Dyer '93, Chief Information Officer, Sequoia Capital.[18] [19]
  • Greg Chun '93, voice actor, composer, and music producer whose work has featured by The Lonely Island, at the Emmy Awards, on Saturday Night Live, and in campaigns by Blue Shield, State Farm, and Honda, among others.[20] [21]
  • Michael K. Lee '94, theater actor and singer with credits on Broadway productions of Miss Saigon (Thuy), Jesus Christ Superstar (Simon Zealotes), and Rent. In a 2002 interview, he described Fleet Street as "one of the pivotal points of my life."[22]
  • Nirav Tolia '95, Co-Founder and CEO of Nextdoor.[23] [24]
  • Kevin Bleyer '96, multiple Emmy, Peabody, and Writers Guild Award-winning television writer/producer, a former writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, a contributor to President Barack Obama's speeches, and #1 New York Times Bestselling Author. For his award-winning solo on "Black Coffee" in 1996, the Contemporary A Cappella Society praised him: "Kevin [has] a future on Broadway with a voice this warm and effortless."[25]
  • Jeremy Henrickson '96, Chief Product Officer, Coinbase.[26]
  • David Wiesen '99, Co-Founder and Director of Engineering, Nextdoor.[27]
  • Ed Sylvanus Iskandar '04, Drama Desk Award-winning conceiver-director. Multi-time New York Times Critics' Pick and TONY's Critics' Pick winner.[28][29]
  • Adam Cole '10, creator/producer of NPR's Skunk Bear series.[30]
  • Arjun Sheth '19, Broadway singer and actor

References

  1. ↑ "Guide to the Stanford Fleet Street Singers Collection ARS.0091". www.oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2015-09-26.
  2. ↑ "The Stanford Fleet Street Singers Website". www.fleetstreet.com. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  3. ↑ "The Stanford Daily 9 January 1990 — The Stanford Daily". stanforddailyarchive.com. Retrieved 2015-09-26.
  4. ↑ Evans, Ben. Liner Notes of Greatest Hits & Skits: Volumes 1 & 2, Stanford Fleet Street Singers, Stanford, 1995.
  5. ↑ "Stanford Magazine - Article". alumni.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2015-09-26.
  6. ↑ "About Fleet Street". Fleet Street Singers Website. September 2011. Retrieved 2015-09-26.
  7. ↑ "1993 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award Winners". The Contemporary A Cappella Society. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  8. ↑ "1995 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award Winners". The Contemporary A Cappella Society. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
  9. ↑ "1999 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award Winners". The Contemporary A Cappella Society. Retrieved 2018-08-28.
  10. 1 2 "Official Results for the ICCA, 1996". Retrieved 2017-05-26.
  11. ↑ Rudy Galindo (USA) - 1996 World Figure Skating Championships, Exhibition Performances. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
  12. ↑ Bobby Chen (1996-02-14). "A cappella accolades: Groups sweep contest". The Stanford Daily. p. 2. Retrieved 2018-01-24.
  13. ↑ "The Recorded A Cappella Review Board: Fleet Street (2004)". Retrieved 2017-05-26.
  14. ↑ Agarwal, Avantika. "Bowties and ballads". The Stanford Daily. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
  15. ↑ Paul, Lenny. "This Week On Says You!". Says You Radio. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  16. ↑ Paul, Lenny. "Listen in with special host Dave Zobel". Says You Radio. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  17. ↑ "Huawei: the phone giant you probably don't know that plans to rule the world". 15 October 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  18. ↑ "Sequoia Capital People: Chad Dyer". Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  19. ↑ "The Boys are Back in Town: Fleet Street's 25th Reunion". May/June 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2018. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ↑ "Greg Chun: Voice Actor, Music Producer". Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  21. ↑ "OSCAR SONG DEMO - "Why Not Me?"". 5 March 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  22. ↑ Shin, Laura (February 15, 2002). "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Graduation". Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  23. ↑ "Authors: Nirav Tolia". NextDoor Blog. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  24. ↑ "Nirav Tolia". Crunchbase. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  25. ↑ "1995 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award Winners". The Contemporary A Cappella Society. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  26. ↑ Popper, Nathaniel (December 6, 2017). "Coinbase: The Heart of the Bitcoin Frenzy". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  27. ↑ Dreshfield, Anne. "Meet the Team: David Wiesen, Co-Founder and Director of Engineering". NextDoor Blog. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  28. ↑ "Guest Artist: Ed Sylvanus Iskandar". Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  29. ↑ Ed, Iskandar. "Biography". Ed Sylvanus Iskandar. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  30. ↑ "We Have A Science Tumblr, And Its Name Is 'Skunk Bear' : NPR". NPR. NPR. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
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