Notes from a wide vocal range combined beautifully as the Voctave a cappella group singers harmoniously sang their hearts out for an audience who was on their feet by the end of the concert.
Voctave’s immersive execution of various Disney, Broadway and jazz standard tunes captivated the Brooks Center auditorium from start to finish on Oct. 2.
Before the singers took the stage, Clemson’s very own a cappella organizations, TigerRoar and TakeNote, opened for the titular performance with one song each.
Voctave then welcomed the concertgoers with the opening number “There’s No Business Like Show Business” along with its own rendition of the theme song from “The Muppet Show,” rewriting one of the lyrics to be “This is what we call the Voctave show.”
The 11-person a cappella vocal ensemble noted that the Clemson show was the first of their 10-year anniversary tour.
Jamey Ray, the producer of Voctave, provided contextual background on the a cappella assemblage, highlighting the recordings of three different Disney albums as a segue into singing the most popular song from their discography, “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.”
Ray then hinted at Voctave’s future Disney recording by beginning to spell out what would be the next song on their upcoming album, transitioning into the introductory notes of “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” from “Mary Poppins.”
The group even ventured into singing the long-winded word backwards.
After a continuation of the “Mary Poppins” segment with “Feed the Birds,” Ray introduced the five women of Voctave through their Disney princess counterparts as they matched the tone of each of their voices with the coordinating princess song.
Ray took a moment to mention tables of merchandise outside the auditorium with assistance from Karl Hudson to pique the audience’s engagement. Many attendees recognized his voice from advertisements.
The performers then prepared to sing “You Can Fly” from “Peter Pan” before taking an intermission break.
The only hint of the intermission coming to an end was the opening notes of “One Short Day” from the Broadway musical “Wicked,” when the lights went dim and faded into pigments of green.
In continuation of the musical expedition, Ray inquired with the spectators regarding what musical had three different movie versions, with each film’s title and story varying.
The answer to this riddle was revealed through the choral display of “Pure Imagination” from “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.”
To keep the theater interaction momentum going, Voctave sang the theme songs of two TV shows, “The Jetsons” and “Friends,” encouraging the listeners to sing along and clap at the viewer-friendly parts.
The vocalists sang a smooth jazz rendition of “Moon River” before converting to a Disney Cinderella medley, which then formally introduced the group’s male members.
The men took turns singing themes from each of the main Cinderella movies that have been released, not limited to cartoon versions.
Ray also mentioned two new faces joining the cast for the night — John Hannigan sang in his first performance as a full-time contributor and John Gibson’s Voctave debut filled in for a member who was unable to attend.
As a change in pace from Ray doing a majority of the speaking, singer Sarah Whittemore chimed in and asked the onlookers to recognize Ray for his leadership of Voctave and the concert as a whole.
Voctave ended the extravaganza with a few hopeful melodies that encouraged the audience to follow their dreams in consideration of the importance of art’s contribution to the world’s development.
After ending the main set with “Over the Rainbow” and “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” the a cappella chorale returned for an encore of “What a Wonderful World” as the assembled audience delivered a standing ovation.
