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Spizzwinks: Singing For the Home Crowd

Carlmont alum Mark Fedronic and his merry band of a capella singers from Yale University wowed the hometown crowd Thursday night with a mix of Ivy League humor and a lively set list of contemporary and classic tunes.

From Leonard Bernstein and Tennessee Ernie Ford, to the Counting Crows and Queen, the pitch perfect crew of young a capella singers from Yale University, known as the Spizzwinks, brought their unique blend of sweet harmonies and biting banter to the Carlmont High School Performing Arts Center Thursday night.

Of course, Belmont wouldn't normally be a stop on the tour by America’s oldest a cappella group for underclassmen, but when one of your members calls Belmont home, you'd better believe the bus is stopping at the old stomping grounds.

CHS alumnus and Spizzwink tenor, Mark Fedronic, is a Yale sophomore and was happy to bring his singing buddies to his old high school. And what a hometown welcome it was. There wasn't an empty seat in the house, and those in attendance ranged from toddlers to grandparents, and of course, many of Mark's high school friends and family members.

"As a group, we make a promise to our members that each person will eventually get to take the group back to his hometown- this is my chance!  Most of the guys in the group hail from the East Coast so I'm on a little mission to help them understand why the Bay is ultimately the coolest," said Fedronic on the group's Facebook page.

Carlmont's music director John DeBaldo kicked off the evening by telling the audience he had taght Mark as a music student for seven years--three at Ralston Middle School and four at CHS, where Mark was a member of the school's jazz ensemble.

"It's great that he's kept music in his life," said DeBaldo.

Were you at the Spizzwinks' performance last night? Tell us what you thought of the show in our comment section below.

 



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Terri Cook January 4, 2013 at 01:34 pm
It was tons of fun. I loved the diversity of the crowd and the diversity of the musical genre. I was pleased as punch that it was a sellout. As a choral singer, I appreciate hearing a group like this. The young men were very friendly and gracious and were genuine in their appreciation to the audience.
Joan S. Dentler (Editor) January 4, 2013 at 02:17 pm
Great wrap-up Terri----it really was a lot of fun and showed how supportive the Carlmont/Belmont/San Carlos community is of the arts. What a great way to wrap up the holiday season. Thanks to Mark for bringing the Spizzwinks back to the 'hood (and the whole Fedronic family who helped house and feed all those singers!).
Stacie Chan (Editor) January 4, 2013 at 07:54 pm
This was fantastic! Couldn't help but tap my foot as soon as they young men started clapping. What a great show it must have been.

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Michele Moyer June 16, 2013 at 09:17 am
Thanks Joan - there is one in the sub-head of the blog I posted on School-Force Voices today; wouldRead More love if it could be corrected. Been scratching my head til I saw this post :)
Joan S. Dentler (Editor) June 16, 2013 at 11:20 am
Sorry about that! There's nothing I can do on my end----it's system-wide bug, which I believe isRead More fixed now. :)
Belmont96 June 13, 2013 at 09:40 am
I also preferred the 'old' Patch - this format makes it difficult to find articles that are aren'tRead More that old. One example was the informative article on who was running for city Council. I was having problems finding it and finally had to query on a candidate's name to find. I don't recall having that issue with the original format. Also our neighborhood had a water break line and we were without water for some hours a few Sundays ago. I tried to find out the reason for the break (because of construction or old pipes?) and could not find anything on the Patch regarding this. Not sure if they just didn't report or I just couldn't find.
Judi June 14, 2013 at 07:28 am
Not crazy about the new Patch either. Also, I want to post-for sale, and this section is crowdedRead More with announcements, etc.
Pearl June 14, 2013 at 04:15 pm
Another thing that needs to be fixed: When you go to leave a comment, it takes you over to whereRead More you have to sign in, you sign in expecting to be returned to the article on which you are commenting, but it, instead, takes you back to some different article. PLEASE FIX THIS!!!! Also, please reinstate the feature where we can sign up to be notified if/when more comments are made concerning the article(s) we've commented on so we can follow the conversation. Thank you.
Christa Bigue (Editor) June 10, 2013 at 01:50 pm
Thanks Sam! You should also post this Half Moon Bay (halfmoonbay.patch.com) and Pacifica PatchRead More (pacifica.patch.com)! I'm sure our readers would appreciate the great tip!
Michael Williams June 9, 2013 at 04:12 pm
Strongly suggest Patch readers check all the YELP reviews of this business. Very uneven experiencesRead More reported.
don torre June 4, 2013 at 06:55 am
what do the local Belmont restaurants think of this? do these people pay a license to the city?
Joan S. Dentler (Editor) June 4, 2013 at 07:15 am
Hi Don....thanks for your question. Yes, Off the Grid does pay a licensing fee to the city, and soRead More far, we haven't heard any concerns by local restaurants. The food trucks provide an option to a traditional restaurant---pick up and go----and they are only around 4-5 hours per week (on Mondays, typically not a big restaurant night anyway). Have you tried the food yet?