Stanford Harmonics

The Stanford Harmonics are a co-ed a cappella group from Stanford University. Known for their alternative rock repertoire and award-winning recordings, the Harmonics have garnered international recognition for their performances and have been featured on BOCA, Sing, and Voices Only a cappella compilations. The Harmonics are one of the few collegiate a cappella groups that own their own wireless microphone equipment^{[citation needed]} and have developed a live performance style that includes the use of electronic distortion and sound effects.

Stanford Harmonics
Stanford Harmonics, January 2025
Background information
Origin	Stanford, California, USA
Genres	A cappella
Years active	1991–present
Website	www.stanfordharmonics.com

History

The group's third release, Insanity Laughs (1999), was received as a "breakthrough album" for the unprecedented mixing of its drum-like vocal percussion.^[1]

In 2009, their landmark studio album, Escape Velocity, won three Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards, including Best Mixed Collegiate Album,^[2] and was selected by the Recorded A Cappella Review Board as one of their Picks of the Decade.^[3]

In 2010, the Harmonics won the A Cappella Community Awards for Favorite Mixed Collegiate Group and Favorite Scholastic Album.^[4]

In 2020, the album Signal Lost by the Harmonics won Best Rock Album from the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards.

As of 2024, they are recording their newest album, titled Event Horizon, a concept album centered around grief, to be released in 2025.

Recordings

The Stanford Harmonics have released ten full-length albums, one "greatest hits" album, and one extended play, alongside numerous singles.

• The Greatest Hits of Pitchpipe (1995)
• Escalator Music (1997)
• Insanity Laughs (1999)
• Phonoshop (2001)
• evolut10n (2002) - 10 Year Anniversary "Greatest Hits" Album
• Rock Beats Scissors (2003)
• Shadowplay (2005)
• Escape Velocity (2008)
• Midnight Hour (2013)
• The Messes of Men (2015) - EP
• Fault of Imagination (2017)
• Signal Lost (2019)
• Event Horizon (upcoming 2025 release)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
1998	Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards	Best Mixed Collegiate Album	Escalator Music	Nominated	[5]
2000	Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards	Best Mixed Collegiate Album	Insanity Laughs	Nominated	[6]
		Best Mixed Collegiate Arrangement	Jonathan Pilat	Nominated
2002	Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards	Best Mixed Collegiate Album	Phonoshop	Nominated	[7]
		Best Mixed Collegiate Arrangement	Jonathan Pilat for "We Are In Love"	Runner-up	[8]
2004	Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards	Best Mixed Collegiate Song	"Lady Marmalade" from Rock Beats Scissors	Runner-up	[9]
2006	Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards	Best Mixed Collegiate Album	Shadowplay	Nominated	[10]
		Best Mixed Collegiate Solo	Bryan Tan for "The Memory Remains"	Nominated
2009	Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards	Best Mixed Collegiate Album	Escape Velocity	Won	[2]
		Best Mixed Collegiate Song	"The Sound of Silence"	Won
		Best Mixed Collegiate Arrangement[a]	Charlie Forkish for "The Sound of Silence"	Won
			Charlie Forkish for "Imagination"	Runner-up
2010	Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards	Best Mixed Collegiate Song	"Spiel Met Mir" from Sing Six: Sunny Side Up	Nominated	[11]
2014	Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards	Best Mixed Collegiate Album	Midnight Hour	Nominated	[12]
		Best Mixed Collegiate Song	"Somebody to Love"	Nominated
		Best Mixed Collegiate Arrangement	Evan Smith for "Somebody to Love"	Nominated
2018	Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards	Best Electronic / Experimental Album	Fault of Imagination	Nominated	[13]
2020	Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards	Best Rock Album	Signal Lost	Won	[14]
		Best Rock Song	"Zombie" from Signal Lost	Nominated	[15]
		Best Mixed Collegiate Album	Signal Lost	Nominated
2022	Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards	Best Mixed Voices Collegiate Solo	Mitchell Zimmerman for "Ever After" (Single)	Nominated	[16]
2022	Best of College A Cappella	Featured Single ‘Bad Liar’	Single	Won	[17]

1. Charlie Forkish was named both the winner and the runner-up (against himself) for these two arrangements on Escape Velocity.

ICCA results

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
1996	West Region Semifinal	Best Solo	Zareen Poonen for "Change in My Life'	Runner-up	N/A	[18]
2000	West Region Quarterfinal #1	Best Group	Harmonics	2nd	—	[19]
2002	West Region Quarterfinal #2	Best Soloist	Morgan Reed	Runner-up (tie)	N/A	[20]
		Best Arrangement	Jon Pilat for "Lady Marmalade"	Runner-up (tie)	N/A
2003	West Region Quarterfinal #3	Best Group	Harmonics	3rd	—	[21]
		Best Arrangement	Marcella White Campbell for "Porcelain"	Won	N/A
2004	West Region Quarterfinal #1	Outstanding Vocal Percussion	Ben D'Angelo and Daniel Hobert	won	N/A	[22]
2021	West Region Quarterfinal #3	Best Group	Harmonics	3rd	312	[23]

Notable members

• Singer/songwriter Vienna Teng
• Contemporary A Cappella Society of America (CASA) President Julia Hoffman and Board Member Ariel Glassman
• Hookslide singers Jon Pilat and George Hoffman
• Former Skritch lead Bryan Tan
• Icon Parthiv Krishna
• Gautam Raghavan, Deputy Director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office
• Composer Joss Paxton Saltzman
• Jade Nguyen

See also

• List of Stanford University a cappella groups