From the Top Acapella sings their hearts out every day. They compete around the Midwest and seek a repeat championship after winning the acapella championship in 2020.
From the Top is an Acapella Group that sings a variety of vocal arrangements without any musical accompaniment. They first started the group in 2019, won the International Championship of High School Acapella (ICHSA) in 2020 and are back at it again. The choir consists of 17 vocalists, led by composer Jack Philipson. They competed in the ICHSA Quarterfinal Championship on Friday, February 21st in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They received an outstanding score of 396 out of 465 winning first place. Each group is evaluated on sound, choreography, selected dynamics and tone. The choir sang “Somebody I Used to Know” by Gautier, “Barton Hollow” by the Civil, a mashup of “Snow Angel” by Renne Rap and “Favorite Crime” by Olivia Rodrigo.
Phillipson began teaching high school choir and From the Top at Northview eight years ago. Phillipson possesses a love of teaching that has grown over the years. The passion began when he was in middle school and furthered into his life today.
“It was the people I met through music that made me the person I am today,” Philipson said. “I got to see the world, meet amazing people, challenge myself, and the empathy I have for other people’s experiences made me a better person being involved in music.”
With eight seniors in From the Top, high desires and dreams are expected heading forward. Senior Skylar Denyes who holds a solo in “Favorite Crime” is looking forward to experiencing it with the group and going through the exhilarating process of the Semi-finals.
“I’m just excited to hang out with the group, we might get a charter bus and I would say one thing that sets us off from the others is our tight-knit group,” Deynes said.
Deynes had an inspiring role model growing up, her older sister Morgan Everingham. Seeing Everingham’s passion for choir inspired Denyes.
“I grew up watching her sing and being involved in the theatre department and it kind of inspired me to try out,” Deynes said. “I ended up doing singing lessons and tried all throughout elementary and high school and I just loved it.”
Fellow senior Dustin Schmidt has a solo in “Barton Hollow.” It’s his fourth year in From the Top. He’s experienced being a soloist, a percussionist, and a part of background choreography. There are some differences in what you have to do when singing which part.
“[The Background choreography is] a little bit different than the soloists, they’re kind of in their own world where they have to interact with the lyrics,” Schmidt said. “In Background choreography, they want to interact with each other and support the soloist to make them look better.”
Philipson has high hopes for the group heading into the semifinals in Columbus, Ohio on March 21st. He hopes to qualify to perform in the final round.
“If they get first place in the Semifinals they go to Finals in New York City and perform on Broadway, against the top 10 groups in the world,” Philipson said. “It’s crazy if you get there. I’ve never been there, I haven’t even competed at that level in college but it’d be awesome.”
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