# 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 and have developed a live performance style that includes the use of electronic distortion and sound effects.

## 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.
In 2009, their landmark studio album, Escape Velocity, won three Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards, including Best Mixed Collegiate Album, and was selected by the Recorded A Cappella Review Board as one of their Picks of the Decade.
In 2010, the Harmonics won the A Cappella Community Awards for Favorite Mixed Collegiate Group and Favorite Scholastic Album.
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 |
| 1998 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Album | Escalator Music | Nominated |
| 2000 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Album | Insanity Laughs | Nominated |
| 2000 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Arrangement | Jonathan Pilat | Nominated |
| 2002 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Album | Phonoshop | Nominated |
| 2002 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Arrangement | Jonathan Pilat for "We Are In Love" | Runner-up |
| 2004 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Song | "Lady Marmalade" from Rock Beats Scissors | Runner-up |
| 2006 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Album | Shadowplay | Nominated |
| 2006 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Solo | Bryan Tan for "The Memory Remains" | Nominated |
| 2009 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Album | Escape Velocity | Won |
| 2009 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Song | "The Sound of Silence" | Won |
| 2009 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Arrangement | Charlie Forkish for "The Sound of Silence" | Won |
| 2009 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Arrangement | 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 |
| 2014 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Album | Midnight Hour | Nominated |
| 2014 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Song | "Somebody to Love" | Nominated |
| 2014 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | 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 |
| 2020 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Rock Album | Signal Lost | Won |
| 2020 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Rock Song | "Zombie" from Signal Lost | Nominated |
| 2020 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | 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 |
| 2022 | Best of College A Cappella | Featured Single ‘Bad Liar’ | Single | Won |
* ↑ 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 |
| 1996 | West Region Semifinal | Best Solo | Zareen Poonen for "Change in My Life' | Runner-up | N/A |
| 2000 | West Region Quarterfinal #1 | Best Group | Harmonics | 2nd | — |
| 2002 | West Region Quarterfinal #2 | Best Soloist | Morgan Reed | Runner-up (tie) | N/A |
| 2002 | West Region Quarterfinal #2 | Best Arrangement | Jon Pilat for "Lady Marmalade" | Runner-up (tie) | N/A |
| 2003 | West Region Quarterfinal #3 | Best Group | Harmonics | 3rd | — |
| 2003 | West Region Quarterfinal #3 | 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 |
| 2021 | West Region Quarterfinal #3 | Best Group | Harmonics | 3rd | 312 |

## 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