Awards

Counterparts has won many accolades including distinction in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, national Contempory A Cappella Recording Awards, multiple spots on the Best of Collegiate A Cappella Album, and tremendous reviews from the Recorded A Cappella Review Board:

i.c.c.a.

(Intl. Championship of Collegiate A Cappella)

    2005

  • Quarterfinals Champions
  • Eugene Lee awarded Outstanding Arrangement for "Tu Vo Fa L'Americano"
  • Kyle Beltran awarded Outstanding Soloist for "Chariot"

    • 2004

  • Placed 2nd in Quarterfinals
  • Placed 2nd in Semifinals
  • Eugene Lee awarded Outstanding Soloist for "Have You Met Ms. Jones?" in Semifinals
  • Eugene Lee awarded Outstanding Arrangement for "Have You Met Ms. Jones?" in Semifinals

    • 2002

  • Crystal Chuckwuma awarded Best Soloist for "Waiting in Vain" in Quarterfinals
  • Joshua Duchan & Jenny Hurwitz runners up for best arrangement for "Waiting in Vain"
  • Counterparts awarded "Best Dressed"

    • 2001

  • Quarterfinals Champions
  • Soneela Nankani awarded Best Soloist in Quarterfinals
  • Placed 2nd in Semifinals
  • Soneela awarded Best Soloist in Semifinals

    • 1997

  • Quarterfinal Champions
  • John Stephens awarded Best Soloist in Quarterfinals
  • Dennis La runner up for best arrangement for "One of Us"
  • Semifinal Champions
  • John Stevens runner up for Best Soloist

Report from 97 Finals, Carnegie Hall:

"The last competitors of the evening were the University of Pennsylvania Counterparts. The Counterparts were wearing their usual full formal black, and what a wonderful picture they made on the stage. Not that I was seriously thinking of violating the strict 'No Photography Without the Express Written Consent of the Carnegie Hall Management and We Really Mean It - We'd sick the Canine Patrol on Your Ass in a Hot Second, Mr. Photo-Journalist, So Don't Make Us Say It Again' rule. But I digress.

"The Counterparts acknowledged their cheering section, led the audience in a seventh-inning stretch, then served up a mixed set of jazz and modern rock. A mixed group, they have a strong bass sound (augmented further by a mic back amongst the basses) from the men balancing the high, clear sopranos among the ladies. The combination worked well on the jazz standard in the middle of the set as well as in the up-tempo rock ballads on either side. The Counterparts also enjoy several strong lead singers, and even the folks who hadn't suffered the reportedly hellacious commute from Pennsylvania applauded loud and long as they took their leave."

c.a.r.a.

(Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards)

  • Best Soloist, 2002: Soneela Nonkani, "Wade in the Water" from Ten
  • Best Arranger, 2000: John R. Stephens for Afterglow
  • Best Soloist, runner up 2000: Denise Sandole
  • Best Album, nominated 99: Afterglow
  • Best Song, nominated 99: "I Can't Make You Love Me"
  • Best Arrangement, nominated 1999: Dennis La
  • Best Soloist, nominated 1999: John Stephens
  • Best Soloist, nominated 1999: Denise Sandole
  • Best Album, runner up 1998: Housekeeping
  • Best Song (tied), 1998: "One of Us"
  • Best Arrangement, nominated 1998: Dennis La for "If it Makes You Happy"
  • Best Soloist, runner up 1998: John Stephens for "One of Us""
  • Best Album, nominated 1996: Progression

b.o.c.a.

Counterparts has appeared three times on Varsity Vocals' Best of College A Cappella albums:



r.a.r.b.

Words from the recorded a cappella review board:

"What they do they do VERY well…"
-Anonymous, on Straight Ahead

"The Counterparts, a mixed group from the University of Pennsylvania, have a history of jazzy interpretations and tight harmony, and their new disc comes from the same mold"
-Benjamin Stevens, on Free Ride

"Couldn't ask more from a college group. I think the thing that I like the most about this album is the fact that, for the most part, this is how the group would sound live… Counterparts aren't trying to fool you, and yet it's still done well. This kind of musical honesty is refreshing to hear. "
-Chris Saulnier, on Afterglow

"There is something so intrinsically beautiful about a recording that strives to present so many different styles of music from such varied time pieces. "
-Ben Tritle, on High Dive

"The arrangements are stellar, and I challenge you to find another album with such a high quality of arranging across the board. There is a wonderful jazz influence on the arrangements that imparts lush chords, syncopations and intricacy without falling into the pop a cappella trap of clashing vowel sounds and over-complexity that just sound busy. "
-Guang Ming Easlon, on Ten

"Unlike many collegiate groups they maintain a consistent, personal sound from album to album, a normally superb blend remarkable for its jazz and balance… One question: if this is the afterglow, what must the act itself have been like? "
-Benjamin Stevens, on Afterglow

"Once again, the Counterparts have produced an album so smooth the songs are in danger of sliding off the CD."
-Matt Cohen, on High Dive

"The Penn Counterparts have done something with this CD that I have been yearning for with most of the other CDs I've reviewed: they made me feel like they meant and believed what they were singing."
-Ben Tritle, on Housekeeping

"a good album from a talented group"
-Dave Trendler, on Free Ride

"On the whole, these are intelligent and passionate performances. The song choices often bravely wander off the beaten path of overdone songs in search of fresh alternative material."
-Matt Cohen, on Afterglow

"The tracks that stick out in my mind from this album are the groovy and funky tunes, such as "Rock With You" and "Damn (I Wish I Was Your Lover)" - this genre is a strength of the Counterparts."
Alison Berube Sullivan, on Housekeeping

"The soloists are strong across the board. Many of them show impressive range: basses sing songs that would normally go to tenors, and some sopranos could easily pass as tenors."
-Matt Cohen, on Ten

"It's nice to hear a college-level student-run jazz group that actually sings jazz with a bit of jazz style and decently in tune. Most groups fall flat on their faces when they try a jazz song."
-Anonymous, on Straight Ahead

"I really like the way their women have much richer voices than the current thin pop trend… "
-Rebecca Christie, on High Dive

"I liked the fact that the group was brave enough to try some original arrangements of jazz tunes."
-Mike Connelly, on Explicit Groove

"The Counterparts again offer up their very jazzy, highly consistent sound on a brand new range of songs. Part of the appeal of this group lies precisely in their characteristic sound: a lush, smooth quality which lets blend come to the fore and soloists strut their stuff."
-Benjamin Stevens, on High Dive

"The Counterparts have a fantastic jazzy repertoire…"
-Randi Sherman, on Housekeeping

"The Counterparts are one of the too few college groups that really have a distinct sound. They perform jazz and pop with equal skill. The pop is sung with a brisk precision and the jazz has some real spirit behind it."
-Matt Cohen, on Explicit Groove

"The UPenn Counterparts have upheld a tradition of excellence despite being at a school where you would think the talent pool would be unfairly distributed given the other fine groups they share the campus with. To all other groups struggling with the basics of blend, harmony, and BEAT, buy this CD...use it as a lesson, make it part of the syllabus if necessary. As for the soloists, I haven't sat back and relaxed to such easy listening solos in a long time...each solo performance is as close to breathing as I can imagine. ...don't take their outstanding production as commonplace; it isn't. The trend runs throughout so many of their tracks that it would be easy to just sit back and let their music wash over you. Remember, this is something to treasure. "
-Ben Tritle, on Afterglow