Crimson
For the uninitiated, it can be difficult to understand why people love a cappella. Heck, even for those of us who do actively enjoy it, it can be difficult to put into words why we enjoy this art form so. While we’ll never have a truly comprehensive list of everything cool about a cappella, 200 Reasons to Love A Cappella is our best attempt at assembling a list of what makes it great.
Reason #180: Crimson
The past seven years have seen an explosion in the number and quality of a cappella groups—professional, amateur, college, and high school. Based on this rapid expansion, it can be too easy to overlook the pioneering work of groups that came before television deals and major motion pictures. One such group is Cheyenne Mountain High School Crimson.
I covered my first ICHSA shows when the Finals were still merged with ICCA Finals in one big show, and one of the positive outcomes was the opportunity to first see Crimson grace the stage in New York in 2007. The all-female group immediately stood out for, despite its small size, achieving an excellent sound and putting on a tremendous stage show. I’ve had the opportunity to see the group now and again over the decade to follow, and have been consistently pleased to see them continue to evolve while retaining these core principles of producing a clean sound and putting on a great show, not to mention evolving with the times and even releasing fully produced music videos.
Continuity of excellence is particularly difficult for scholastic groups, for which there tends to be a ton of turn over at least once every few years. Crimson has remained a group to watch out for.
I love it!