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GFS A Cappella: Voices Joining in Community

A Cappella Fest Marks its 30th Year!

2025 marks the 30-year anniversary for A Cappella Fest at GFS. The occasion means the 20-member Upper School student ensemble, which just released a new album, “Enlighten,” and is now gearing up for the A Cappella Fest in February, is also the subject of a new documentary helmed by GFS A Cappella alum, Eli Eisenstein ’18. 

"I loved A Cappella [at GFS] so much,” said Eisenstein, a filmmaker based in Philadelphia. “I never saw myself as theatrical but I had a lot of pent up energy and I found this amazing group of people with shared interests who were excited to get onstage and perform. It was such a creative outlet and so fundamental to my high school experience that I want to give some of that back.”

He hopes the documentary will pay tribute to the amazing community a cappella fosters, a community that extends beyond high school. Today, Allen Drew, the longtime director of the group, continues as a mentor for Eisenstein, his fellow student performers remain close friends, and he’s made new friends in the larger a cappella world. 

A Cappella Fest 2025—Celebrating Our 30th Anniversary

Friday, February 7 & Saturday, February 8, 2025

7 p.m. (both nights) at the Barbara & David Loeb Performing Arts Center

Buy tickets

Both Eisenstein and current A Cappella students credit Drew with creating an atmosphere that’s both welcoming and challenging. 

"Allen makes the music very accessible and he puts himself out there,” said Eisenstein. "He chooses songs you might not have ever heard before, or puts a fun twist on a popular song, which helps kids explore different aspects of themselves."

For Lani Okewole ’25, Drew’s college-level expectations push the group to keep going bigger and getting better, and to embrace their inner performers. Rather than striving to sing a song perfectly, performing is about feeling the music and inviting the audience into that experience. 

Lani Okewole ’25

 

“That’s what A Cappella is about and it’s one of the things I love about Fest,” said Okewole. “You’re actually part of the phenomenon of connecting people with songs. I want to feel that the audience is responding to me, and feeling what I’m feeling; and to know that I’m making them happy, and that they’re being touched by music.”

Drew took over A Cappella in 2002 and Mary Ann Case, a singer and parent of four GFS alumni, has been assisting with the Fest since 2011. GFS is unique in first offering A Cappella as an activity, and now class, with a dedicated teacher who is experienced in the field. Middle School also offers A Cappella.

Like all of GFS’ renowned music programs, A Cappella embraces the evolution of technology and technique, keeping in step with the progression of the art form overall. The program now consistently utilizes bass, beatbox, and solo mics for smaller gigs, and features the industry standard of all singers on wireless handhelds at major events. Their more recent albums, including “Enlighten,” can be found on all major streaming platforms. While they are always tweaking and learning, Drew says that GFS A Cappella has stayed true to its core–exploring a range of genres and techniques, developing student leadership, growing together as musicians and friends, and having a ton of fun.

Allen Drew, longtime director of GFS A Cappella

 

As a singer himself, Drew discovered a cappella in college. His approach to teaching it reflects GFS’ educational foundation in learning in community. While A Cappella is a class, it operates like a group, which fosters learning as a team. The annual repertoire is curated by Drew in collaboration with the students—he makes sure to include as many musical genres as possible, including R&B, pop, jazz, funk, rock, and hip hop, to help students find a love for all kinds of music. He also urges them to explore a range of different vocal techniques and roles within the group, growing together as musicians and friends. 

Students hold leadership positions in the ensemble, serving as musical directors and student presidents, and they arrange music. As a team, they vote on the songs they record in the spring, and collaborate to choose the theme and selections for their annual Fest medley tradition. In this way, they develop a real ownership of the group, which is great preparation for college where a cappella groups are consistently student-run.

 

"Singing close harmonies in a small group is a deep bonding experience and that’s a huge focus of mine,” said Drew. “Because the students think of themselves as a team, solos aren’t about individuals, but rather, ‘which voice sounds best for our collective in this situation?’ People who love each other sing better together.” 

Like Eisenstein, who had been singing for a long time prior to joining A Cappella, both Lani Okewole and Coralie Lyford, members of the class of 2025, came to the group with musical performance backgrounds. For Lyford, it was tap dancing and group singing with accompaniment; for Okewole, it was performing in the Philadelphia Girls Youth Choir. 

Okewole appreciated how super welcoming everyone in A Cappella was, especially as a younger person (she joined in tenth grade). 

"It’s such a nice space to be in—it’s my safe space,” she said. 

After attending summer theatre camp and learning how to beatbox from their dad, a former beatboxer at Vassar, Lyford joined A Cappella in eleventh grade. 

Coralie Lyford ’25

 

“I love that we’re all using the same instrument—our voice—and forming a very unique sound,” said Lyford. “A Cappella is also a very unique communal space. We’re on a team for a full year and we trust each other.” 

Okewole and Lyford both see a cappella in their future. Okewole vows to start a group if one doesn’t already exist at the college she chooses, and Lyford plans to audition for their college’s competitive group. But like Eisenstein, their experience at GFS has illustrated that the a cappella community will be there for them, no matter where their paths lead.