Kevin Meyer, Tempo Editor
Pictured above: Harmonic Uprising has been very successful this school year.
Lewis’ a cappella group, Harmonic Uprising, has been very busy these past few months. They recently hosted Acappellooza here at Lewis, and they are currently in the recoding studio working on an EP.
In addition to that, the group has been practicing for their end of the year showcase coming up later this month.
Brian Schmidt, director of Harmonic Uprising, recently spoke with “The Flyer” about the group’s busy schedule and their upcoming plans for next year.
Harmonic Uprising hosted the second annual Acappellooza concert April 11 in Lewis’ Student Union.
The University of Illinois at Chicago started this event as an a cappella showcase last year. Harmonic Uprising shared the stage with the other co-founding groups, UIC Downtown Voices and UIC Lake Affects.
Each group has their own unique style of music; UIC Downtown Voices is a more contemporary a cappella group, while UIC Lake Affects is more of a vocal jazz based group.
“Fans from both schools were in attendance and witnessed a wide variety of styles of a cappella including a beat boxing piece by Lewis’ Christopher Biscardi,” said Schmidt.
Proceeds raised from this event also supported a good cause. They were donated to Merit School of Music’s Tuition Free Conservatory.
The school has music programs for kids in Chicago who cannot afford, or do not have, music programs at their own schools.
Overall the event was very successful, and for those who were unable to attend, there are photos and videos from the event on Harmonic Uprising’s website, harmonicuprising.weebly.com.
Schmidt also talked about the progress being made toward completing the group’s new EP.
“Tentatively titled ‘Inner Pulse,’ the album will be the culmination of the group’s first two years,” Schmidt said. “The EP will include several of Harmonic’s more popular renditions as well as [our rendition] of the Flyer fight song.”
The group plans to finish the album this summer and release it this coming fall.
As far as the group’s upcoming plans, they are optimistic about the next school year. “Next year, Harmonic Uprising is really looking forward to getting out and performing more frequently and also giving back,” said Schmidt. “We’re excited for our fall auditions. We’ll have quite a few seniors next year, including myself, and we’re looking for people we can teach to carry on the group’s legacy.”
The group is also planning on having a CD release party next fall to celebrate the completion of their EP. In the spring next year, Harmonic Uprising is working on creating a new event with other groups from around Illinois. It will be based around Valentine’s Day and will raise money for The American Heart Association.
This year, however, the group has only one more concert this semester. The Big Spring Sing Thing will take place April 26 in the chapel at 7:30 p.m. The event is also worth 10 Culture and Civilization points.
For more information about Harmonic Uprising, visit their previously mentioned website or check out their videos on YouTube.
Photo provided by Kevin Meyer.
Jenny Prokop, Assistant Opinions Editor
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