A big name in a cappella

Port Washington High School’s Limited Edition a cappella group has gotten to the point where it can pick and choose its gigs.

The group won the Varsity Vocals International Championship of High School A Cappella Midwest semifinals at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee Saturday but will take a pass on competing for the championship in New York City next month.

Instead, Limited Edition will travel to Memphis to join some of the best vocal musical talent in the country at the National A Cappella Convention.

More immediately, however, the group is preparing to host its Acapocalypse concert at 7 p.m. Friday, March 29, in the Port Washington High School Performing Arts Center.

The concert, as well as a workshop the following day for participating groups, is an annual event, but this year’s show will be seen by a much larger audience than usual.

Acapocalypse will be filmed by Wisconsin Public Television for a documentary featuring high school a cappella music and Limited Edition, as well as groups from Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau High School in Galesville and Milwaukee High School of the Arts.

“The picture we’re trying to create is what is this new art form — contemporary a cappella — and who are the kids involved in it,” Wisconsin Public Television producer Colin Crowley said. “There’s something big going on in high school music, and the center of it is in Port Washington.”

The project started more than a year ago when the Wisconsin School Music Association suggested Wisconsin Public Television take a look at Limited Edition.

“They said there’s really something great going on in Port Washington that you should check out,” Crowley said. 

Producers scouted Limited Edition at last year’s Acapocalypse concert “to see if this group was ready for prime time,” he said.

“They came back and said, ‘Yeah, this is something special.’”

But instead of merely featuring the concert as part of its Young Performers Initiative, producers decided to dig deeper and create a documentary to tell the stories of the students behind the music.

“Our goal is to show some background so when you see the concert you know the students performing,” Crowley said. “We wanted to get to know the students involved in a cappella music and, more importantly, learn what they get out of it and how it helps them contribute to their communities.”

Port Washington High School Vocal Director Dennis Gephart, who introduced a cappella music to the school 18 years ago, recommended that the groups from Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau High School and the Milwaukee High School of the Arts, both of which will perform at Acapocalypse, be included in the documentary.

For the last several months, camera crews have been in the choir rooms at Port High filming Limited Edition members as they rehearse and interviewing them.

“It was really heartening to learn that before they were involved in Limited Edition, some of these kids were shy and reserved,” Crowley said. “Now you can see they’re confident, self-assured kids who have no problem performing on stage or talking to a camera crew.”

While a cappella music is new to some schools, its long history at Port High adds an interesting dynamic to the documentary, Crowley said.

“We talked to some of the Limited Edition members about why they got involved in a cappella music and they said, ‘When I was a kid, I saw Limited Edition perform and it really inspired me.’

“Now today’s Limited Edition members are going into the elementary and middle schools to inspire a whole new generation of a cappella performers.

“That really speaks to the rich tradition of a cappella in Port Washington.”

Crowley said the documentary is expected to air in fall.

As for the name of the program, he said, “That’s not my call, but if it were up to me I’d call it Acapocalypse because, come on, it’s a great name.”

Tickets for Friday’s concert may be purchased in advance for $10 at www.hometowntickets.com or at the high school. Tickets will also be sold at the door the night of the concert for $13. There is no admission fee for children ages 10 and younger.