Last year’s Red Knotes ended on a high note. The team placed third in the International Championship of High School A Cappella (ICHSA), and BSM alumni Bianca Mojica (‘23) received the soloist award. There is a lot of work that is put into performing a cappella and getting to the ICHSA competition. “We were selected out of a bunch of different applicants to go and perform which is really cool and we got kind of a taste of what a capella is like,” senior Red Knotes captain Betsy Brill said.
A cappella is different from other types of music. They build on a single note to make a chord, which is a set of three or more notes, to be able to harmonize together. “[Most music] is written… as what’s known as horizontally so the tune makes sense [for] one person singing through it, versus a capella is written vertically which means that it’s building on notes,” Brill said.
In a cappella, part of the fun for those involved is getting to perform songs that they enjoy and listen to. “When it is pop music and [we’re] picking the songs and stuff, [it is songs] I listen to [and] it is a lot of times songs that I really connect with [as well]. And so it is kind of just like a fun thing that I get to do,” Brill said.
BSM Red Knotes are passionate about their group and about the activity. The captains strive to make the program a safe and fun place to be. “I care a lot about this. So I hoped I was going to be one of the captains so that I can help support other people in this thing that I really enjoy,” Brill said.
So far, the Red Knotes have performed at the BSM Homecoming Barbeque and sent in their audition video for ICHSA. “Right now we have two songs. We have one [called] “Vienna” that the Red Knotes have been doing for a couple of years, and the second one is “I Ain’t Worried” by OneRepublic,” senior Sophia DeMars said.
In this new year, the BSM Red Knotes are hoping to return to the ICHSA competition, but also anticipating some new changes ahead. With new leadership, the Red Knotes may be looking at a few changes to their group. The new choir teacher Miriam Augsburger has a new vision for what the Red Knotes will look like. “This year [for] the Red Knotes in my head is really kind of a transition year. We’ve talked really early on about how we can merge our visions, so [we’re] still going to the competitions [but] probably not as many as they used to go to,” Augsberger said.
Miriam Augsberger is looking to have the Red Knotes share their passion with others in the community. “I’m adding a couple of things like we’re gonna go Christmas caroling in December and so that’ll be a cool way for us to serve the community,” Augsberger said.
Augsberger is looking to make the Red Knotes more than just a one-genre a cappella group, as she sees the potential to make it a strong college prep course for music beyond high school. “My main vision is that I want to broaden what they do, because right now Red Knotes is really only things in one genre of music, and I feel like especially as a college-prep school, that it’s important for me to prepare singers for all kinds of music that they could sing in college,” Augsburger said.
The future of the Red Knotes may look different but we will always have them in our school. “Red Knotes will always continue to exist,” Ms. Augsburger said.