Spizzwinks: Singing For the Home Crowd

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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