theordquiz.com

By Kate Wolf
  On Monday evening, Aug. 4, The Golden Husk in downtown Ord lent its famous acoustics to host an A cappella Concert featuring the Ord High School (OHS) 18th Street Singers, directed by Jerilyn Tonniges, and the New World Singers from Columbus High School, directed by Jacob Ritter.
  A cappella refers to music performed by a vocal group or solo singer without any instrumental accompaniment, although Karen Wieskamp was also on hand to share her musical expertise. The term “a cappella” is Italian in origin meaning “chapel style” or to signify music written for voice only with deep roots in religion, particularly during the Renaissance. It relies heavily on vocalists who can create all aspects of the music including melody, harmony, rhythm and percussion. Some groups use their voices to emulate various instruments while more traditional groups focus on harmony.
  Barbershop Quartets and “Doo Wop” are modern examples of a cappella. Barbershop is a uniquely American musical art form. Some of the earliest examples were from African Americans who first sang in actual barbershops. A cappella music attained renewed prominence through the success of Top 40 recording artists such as Manhattan Transfer, Huey Lewis & the News, Backstreet Boys, Boyz II Men and NSYNC.
  Starting off the evening’s entertainment were OHS singers, Tenley Ramm and Paige Petska who sang a beautiful, soulful duet. These two were well-matched in vocal tone and quality and their harmony was spot on. Victor Negrete wowed the audience with his rich bass voice in a wonderfully executed solo performance.
  But it was KristyAna Linden who stole the show with her solo “Slipping Through My Fingers” accompanied by Karen Wieskamp. Sheer perfection. Linder’s performance was poignant with a wistful quality to her voice that had some audience members reaching for their tissues….the one song guaranteed to elicit tears from parents sending kids off to college for the very first time.
  Ord’s complete group of 18th Street Singers sang next with Jaxon Sanders providing box percussion to enhance the rhythm in “Put Your Records On” followed by “We Can Feel It All Over” in true doo-wop a cappella style.
  Members of the OHS 18th Street Singers for 2025-2026 include: First Soprano’s KristyAna Linder, Kaci Proskocil and Elizabeth Skibinski; Second Soprano’s Josie Breitkreutz, Macy Sitz, Kinley Proskocil and Emerson Yantzie; First Alto’s Paige Petska, Ella Deden and Daisy Shafer; Second Alto’s Tenley Ramm and Skylar Kokes; Tenor’s Sediah Stethem and James Piskorski; Baritone’s Jaxon Sanders and Dustin Smith; and Bass singers Victor Negrete and Zavian Pike.
  The Columbus High School New World Singers, directed by Jacob Ritter, also wowed the audience, looked very sharp, well-practiced and professional. All of the songs performed by this group were exceptional but it was their rendition of “Africa,” with their beautiful harmonies, strong male back-up and rich voices blending effortlessly that had the audience enthusiastically clapping in approval. They host the A cappella Championship competition in Columbus each year. Both groups will appear at the Nebraska State Fair this year and travel elsewhere to various other competitions and venues throughout the year.
  Members of the Columbus New World Singers include: Soprano’s Mia Bridges, Kaylee Foster, Nijiko Thiele, Sally Donoghue and Makayla Bishop; Alto’s Macy Carlson, Natalie Navarrete, Bronwyn Prokopec, Brylee Thoms and Janie Lenser; Tenor’s Yazhir Chavez, Lorenzo Orozco-Hernandez, Gabe Sepulveda, Gama Tellez and Alex Gomez; as well as Bass singers Azael Baro, Joaquin Herrera, Alan Sandoval, Julian Magdaleno and Andrew Quail.
  At the end of the individual group performances, the two elite singing groups joined together to perform several rousing songs that clearly demonstrated the true richness and depth of a cappella style. It was an amazing performance and one that will hopefully be repeated in the future.