Apr 12, 2018 4 min read

The series of “Pitch Perfect” movies has brought contemporary a cappella into focus as a musical form and shown the spotlight on Deke Sharon, who has served as musical director for all three of the films so far.

“When I started out in this crazy career path of a cappella maybe 25 years ago, it was really a niche thing in the college a cappella world,” he said onstage recently at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, noting that the number of collegiate practitioners of the contemporary style has grown exponentially since.

“And the thing that’s even more exciting is that it’s become a big deal in the high school a cappella world,” Sharon continued. “There are probably tens of thousands of different groups out there that sing at least a little bit of contemporary a cappella, and some of them really focus on it and feature it.”

With that, he introduced one such group, Peters Township High School’s Room 100, as a featured ensemble in Total Vocal, a concert celebrating the 10th anniversary of Distinguished Concerts International New York.

The members of Room 100 proceeded to wow the substantial crowd with an energetic rendition of Norah Jones’ “Don’t Know Why,” which happens to be the first song they learned when the a cappella unit, named after the room where they meet, formed in 2016.

“Room 100 had their own half an hour with Deke, and he enjoyed what we did,” high school choral director Ryan Perrotte said about preparation for the March 25 concert. “He said, ‘Really, I wouldn’t change anything.’ So it was encouraging to hear from him that we’re on the right track.”

Only three high school groups were featured as performers, joining collegians and professionals from around the world. Members of two other groups directed by Perrotte – the high school’s Rowdy Rhythm choral ensemble and Vocal Confluence, a men’s chorus outside of the school – were part of the Distinguished Concerts Singers International, the multitude of singers who provided backing voices throughout the two-hour show.

As a relatively new entity, Rowdy Rhythm performed at the Distinguished Concerts International New York in 2016 and was invited again this year. Perrotte wasn’t so sure about accepting.

“It’s kind of like, we’ve done it already, so we look at other things,” he said.

But some of his students who had made the previous trip, including senior Chloe Mesogitis, helped persuade him to DCINY up on the offer.

“When we went to Total Vocal with Deke Sharon, it kind of inspired us to make an a cappella group,” Chloe said about what became Room 100, which is a specialized unit within Rowdy Rhythm.

“Getting to work with him was so cool because it was just a completely different animal. We’re so used to working with musical theater and regular pop, using keyboards” and other accompanying instruments, she explained.

Garrett Langley, another Peters Township senior, is in his first year with Room 100 and performed in front of his first large audience in November at the Kettering National A Cappella Festival in Dayton, Ohio

“It was really nerve-racking, but I’m starting to grow more accustomed to it,” he said, noting about the Lincoln Center gig: “It was such a thrill. All the people in the audience really push you to do better. You feed off their energy just as much as they feed off yours.”

Participating with Rowdy Rhythm was senior Adam Chaplin.

“While rehearsing, you learn that everyone shares the same passion for this music and these songs. Deke shares it, too,” Adam reported, “and you see that when Deke is teaching us the songs, he’s just one of us, basically.”

To see Total Vocal, visit www.facebook.com/DistinguishedConcertsInternationalNewYork/videos/10156217750196948/.