The Stanford Mendicants | |
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Background information | |
Origin | Stanford, California, USA |
Genres | A Cappella |
Years active | 1963—present |
Website | www.StanfordMendicants.com |
The Stanford Mendicants are an all-male a cappella group at Stanford University. The group is Stanford University's first a cappella group. Since its founding in 1963, the group's size has varied from 6 to 19 members. Although they are strictly an a cappella group today, they have performed with instruments in previous generations. [1] [2] The group prides itself on singing a wide range of songs, from gospel to barbershop to pop tunes and original compositions. The Mendicants are known around Stanford's campus for their red blazers and romantic serenades.[ citation needed]
The Stanford Mendicants was founded in 1963 by Hank Adams, a transfer student from Yale University, with a group of 5 undergraduate men. The group originally rehearsed only a single song before breaking into the dining commons of Branner Hall, an all-women's dormitory at the time, and performing their song during lunch. Adams often recalled, himself tearing up, that during their performance, the women wept, and there was literally "not a dry eye in the house". Having only rehearsed the one song, they quickly fled through an open window and went immediately back to rehearsal. [3][ editorializing]
Their 1998 album Besides What You See received a 4.2 rating [4] from the Recorded A Cappella Review Board (rarb.org), which is the group's highest album score to date.
The group was Runner-Up in three categories in the inaugural Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (CARAs) in 1992. [5] As of 2020, they have been nominated for six more recording awards since then: in 1999, 2001, 2005, and 2019. [6] [7] [8] [9]
Mendicant songs were selected for Varsity Vocals' "Best of Collegiate A Cappella" compilation album in both 2001 and 2005. [10]
On February 2, 2019, The Stanford Mendicants finished in first place in the ICCA Northern California Quarter-Finals in Redwood City, CA. [11] The Mendicants also took home two individual awards, including Outstanding Soloist, for Austin Zambito-Valente, and Outstanding Choreography, for Khoi Le and Gabe Wieder. [11]
Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
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1992 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards [a] | Best Male Collegiate Album | Just Like That | Runner-up (tie)
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[5] |
Best Male Collegiate Song | "Long Train Runnin'" | Runner-up (tie)
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Best Male Collegiate Arrangement | "Brown Eyed Girl" | Runner-up
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1999 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Male Collegiate Album | Besides What You See | Runner-up
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[17] [18] |
Best Male Collegiate Song | "Drive" | Nominated | [6] | ||
Best Male Collegiate Soloist | Brandon Singleton | Nominated | |||
2001 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Male Collegiate Song | "Happy Together" | Nominated | [7] |
2005 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Male Collegiate Song | "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" from Mendication | Nominated | [8] |
2019 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Male Collegiate Song | "Control" from For the Long Haul | Nominated | [9] |
A Cappella Video Awards | Best Male Collegiate Video | "Kiss the Sky" | Runner-up
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[19] |
The International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) first judged live a cappella performance competitions in 1996.
Year | Level | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Points | Citation |
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1998 | West Region Quarterfinal #2 | Best Solo | Brandon Singleton for "Reach Out" | Runner‑up
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—
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2002 | West Region Quarterfinal #3 | Best Soloist | Eric Tanner | Won | —
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2017 | Northwest Quarterfinal #4 | Best Group | Mendicants | 2nd
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399
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Northwest Semifinal | Best Group | Mendicants | 3rd
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361
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2018 | West Quarterfinal #4 | Best Group | Mendicants | 3rd
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334
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2019 | West Quarterfinal #3 | Best Group | Mendicants | 1st
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389
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Outstanding Soloist | Austin Zambito-Valente for "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood/How Long" | Won | —
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Outstanding Choreography | Gabe Wieder and Khoi Le for the entire set | Won | —
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2020 | West Quarterfinal #5 | Best Group | Mendicants | 2nd
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343
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Outstanding Soloist | Austin Zambito-Valente for "Dig Down" | Won | —
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Outstanding Arrangement | Chris Kaya for the entire set | Won | —
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