The Oxford Alternotives
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The Oxford Altenotives is a 17 member a cappella group from Oxford University singing their own harmony arrangements of a range of popular music. They sing at a range of events in and around Oxford including their own gigs, private bookings and college balls.
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[edit] History
The Oxford Alternative Singing Society was formed in Michaelmas 1993 by Tony Patman, Caroline Snashall and Mark Lindridge. All three had previous experience of singing in and directing choral groups, but wanted to try something new and exciting beyond the existing Oxford musical scene, which was dominated by Chapel Choirs and other formal groups. Soon afterwards, they recruited David Wienir, whose experience of the college A Cappella phenomenon in the USA helped to give the newly formed group a direction, towards singing contemporary pop and rock music, mostly arranged by themselves. After recruiting eight more singers via Fresher's Fair and a poster campaign, the Oxford Alternotives were born!
The group has since had many members and musical directors come and go, but the focus has always been the same - to entertain audiences with familiar songs sung in an unfamiliar way, to encourage others to sing who might otherwise be intimidated by the thought of joining a formal choir.
[edit] Members
There are currently 17 members in The Oxford Alternotives
Sopranos: Hannah, Kat, Laura, Michelle
Altos: Becky, Casey, Holly, Rachel
Tenors: Arden, Josh, Michael, Nath, Steve
Basses: Andy, Dan, Rich, Tim
[edit] Albums
Every year The Alternotives record a CD that is sold at concerts. The most recent is "Good Cake" recorded in 2006. Previous CDs in recent years include "On a Different Note" - 2005, "Benchmark" -2004, "Off the Record" - 2003. To hear a sample of these recordings, please click on the myspace link.
