History: 2001-2006
2001-2002
Recording of One Light On. Mixed Company's latest album continues the group's history of producing innovative a cappella music. It features daring alternative rock song choices and a trademark busy, textured arranging style, and shows a willingness to expand in new musical directions after the group's considerable accomplishments in recent years. Under the direction of Alissa Barnett, Mixed Company continues to wow audiences at Stanford, at the annual Love Sucks show and on numerous other occasions. Justin Kitzes and Chris Lin demonstrate their mastery of the art of vocal percussion.
Spring show theme: Clue - Stanford Ski Trip Edition
2002-2003
Michelle Suhendra, one of Mixed Company's few four-year members, directs this year with the help of Assistant Director Eva Patil. To some, this seems like the "year of the newbies," with nine new members joining existing veterans for a year of busy performing and touring. One newbie to note: Tommy Leep, a freshman tenor, would later go on to become the Tree, Stanford's beloved mascot.
Highlights include a winter performance on National Public Radio, a fully choreographed Teenie Bopper medley at Love Sucks, and "The Maiden Voyage" spring show, involving a cast of odd characters on a cruise ship...that never actually leaves port.
Mixed Company travels to Oahu on a spring break tour to promote music from "One Light On." The group literally sings for its supper, earning free stays at the Royal Hawaiian and Sheraton Waikiki hotels, and getting free meals by singing for delighted tourists. One gig was broadcast on Hawaiian radio, while another gig at a local Waikiki bar resulted in a run-in with a guy we think was the actual "Gilligan" on "Gilligan's Island." It wasn't all work though - MixedCo was able to relax on the beach and go snorkeling with sea turtles; some even went parasailing and surfing.
Director Michelle Suhendra and tenor Ben Albright are currently married and living in Houston with their first baby.
Finally, "Best I Ever Had" from One Light On was selected to appear on BOCA 2003.
2003-2004
Under the leadership of sophomore director Natasha Chen, a young MixedCo group consisting mostly of freshmen and sophomores embraces a varied repertoire of top 40 pop and rock with the occasional less familiar gem thrown in.
The group heads into the studio to record Tree Museum. Mixed Company's ninth album, it features powerful vocal percussion and soloists, an accessible, contemporary sound, and impeccable production by studio wizard Bill Hare. Alumni contribute several fascinating arrangements to newer members' already strong efforts. "A Sorta Fairytale" breaks new ground in the use of whispers, popping and an "808" bass effect. "Run" is chosen to feature on BOCA 2005, while "When I Grow Up" is featured on the first edition of Voices Only. This will be the last Mixed Company album to be recorded in Bill Hare's studio.
This is the only year in MixedCo history in which two siblings sing together: Maggie and Celinda Sandoval. Maggie, a soprano, concludes her MixedCo run as a four-year member just as freshman Celinda enters as an alto. For spring show, "MixedCo Presents The News" entertains family, friends and fans in the Roble Theater. Skits include appearances by a fake Arnold Shwarzenegger and a sports anchor who's far from the sharpest crayon in the box.
Truong loses boxing match.
2004-2005
"Tree Museum" is released in early September. With former members studying abroad around the world, and director Matt Truong at the helm, Mixed Company recruits nine new singers. Highlights of this year:
MixedCo hosts visiting collegiate groups: Princeton Tigerlilies, Yale's Mixed Company, Oberlin Obertones.
New, creative arrangements diversify the group's repertoire and sound, while MixedCo 04-05 breathes new life into old favorites "Come On Eileen" and "Holding Out For A Hero."
"Run" from "Tree Museum" selected for BOCA 2005.
Love Sucks yields, as always, both highly successful and less successful forays into sophomoric humor.
Spring break tour to Boston, New Haven, New York City and Philadelphia. Lots of street singing. Outdoor 10:30 p.m. rehearsal in Harvard Yard. Weather ranges from cold, to colder with rain and sleet. Boston tourists prove friendly, NYC subway security guards less friendly. MixedCo women hit on by middle-aged men in bars. Celinda is Princess Sparkle. Incredible hospitality all week from friends, alums, Yale's very own Mixed Company, and Drew's parents. A good time is had by all. MixedCo, collectively, comes down with a bad case of the common cold to top off an action-packed tour.
Spring show theme: Lost in Time.
MixedCo keeps up with the times with the inauguration of "Mixed Companions" group on facebook.com.
2005-2006
Conor Mayo-Wilson, a senior tenor, guides Mixed Company to new heights with his solid guitar skills, and calm and effective leadership style. He is supported by an incredible team of singers, including Assistant Director Daniel Herriges, and the unusual return of two former directors, Matt Truong and Natasha Chen.
A group with even representation across all class years, this year's Mixed Company benefits from a balance of amazing fresh talent and voices of experience. This dynamic perfectly embodies what Mixed Co is all about, as the group celebrates its 20th anniversary with a concert and party of epic proportions during reunion homecoming weekend. With the help of caring alumni, the group releases an album of former and current members' favorite songs from years past, called "A Helluva Lot More Fun" - a title gleaned from MixedCo's traditionally irreverent song, "Leland's Island."
Mixed Company works harder in technique and vocals than in the recent past, with extra hours on sectionals and members who emphasize form and sound. The work pays off in incredible gigs, like a Samsung holiday ball and big alumni functions.
Most of all, the effort can be seen in "Shades of Red," the group's 10th album in which songs by Imogen Heap, Vertical Horizon, Pink, Postal Service, Indigo Girls and even some Disco queens get covered in inventive ways. Singers battle bouts of claustrophobia, however, in recording music for the first time in a tiny practice room in the basement of Dinkelspiel...a place where Companions had a lot of fun while delivering powerful vocal stylings. Directors Conor Mayo-Wilson and Daniel Herriges contribute many of the intricate and symphonic arrangements.
Spring show 2006 happens in Cubberly Auditorium, where fictional characters like Glinda the Good Witch, Robin Hood, and the White Rabbit cross paths in "A MixedCo Fairytale."
