Holyoke audience crazy about Face

    The human voice is the purest method of creating music. Before there were instruments like the guitar, piano or violin and even before humans were beating on hollowed out logs to create rhythm, the human voice was already communicating through musical sounds.
    Everyone carries their voice around with them. No need for lugging heavy cases filled with guitars or keyboards. Your voice is always with you. The term a capella is derived from the Italian for “in chapel or choir style.” Much of the church music written before the 1600s was performed a capella, and today the phrase describes purely unaccompanied vocal performance.
    Although the sounds of voices singing in various styles of solo and harmony have been around for centuries, the past several decades have seen an increase in the a cappella style of group singing. Today, a capella music has become much more than simple four-part harmonies. The addition of vocalizations of rhythmic and instrumental sounds have added a whole new palette to the singer’s art.
    This modern version of a cappella group singing was on display this past Sunday afternoon as The Face Vocal Band from Boulder performed a scintillating performance for an enthusiastic crowd of 155 local residents and out-of-towners in attendance for the fourth concert of the Phillips County Arts Council’s 2017-2018 concert season.
    Tenors Ryan Driver and Cody Qualls, baritone/countertenor Stephen Ross, bass Forest Kelly and “vocal drummer” Mark Megibow took the audience on a whirlwind musical tour of past and current hit songs.

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