Wolf PACappella Scores, Singing Along to Finals

By MAGNOLIA LAFLEUR | Reporter

Pacifica Christian High School’s Wolf PACapella has celebrated a number of “huge wins” this past month: First, advancing to the national semi-finals of the Varsity Vocals International Championship of High School A Cappella on February 25, then placing first in the West Semifinal on March 25 at the Elsinore Theater in Salem, Oregon.

Now, the group is gearing up for the ICHSA National Finals this April in New York City.

The group is composed of ten high school singers all hailing from West Los Angeles, including Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica. Led by their director and Grammy nominee, Tehilla Allphonso, the group of students were reunited in-person for the first time since the pandemic in preparation for this competition.

“This is our first full year back in person, and it’s made all the difference—not only for our rehearsal and musical efficiency, but also for the friendships that have been formed this year,” Allphonso told the Palisadian-Post. “Because of my past history with this competition, my standard of great a cappella is quite high. That being said, I set a high bar for this year’s group, but they’ve both met and exceeded my expectations. These students have been working tirelessly to create and perform a set that they feel proud of.”

Having performed at the college version of this competition with the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, Allphonso held a very high standard that she felt the students were able to meet. The team’s first official year as a cohesive group began between 2019 and 2020, with the second year being spent online.

“This competition was actually the first non-Pacifica performance they’ve performed in as a group so it was a huge deal,”  Allphonso explained.  “Additionally, though they won second place in last year’s national competition, it was completely virtual. It’s easy to make a group look and sound good when you have the right video and audio editing tools. But performing live is a completely different ballgame. What you see and what you hear is what you get.

“The fact that they received first place in their first live competition is an incredible accomplishment, and it goes to show that these kids truly have the talent and the work ethic to make it happen.”

Founded in 2019, Wolf PACappella welcomed Allphonso as lead director to the team that same year, aiding her in establishing close-knit relationships, guiding them through their two performances this school year: the Winter Dance and Music Concert in December 2021, and the performance of the National Anthem at the school’s homecoming basketball game in January 2022.

The pinnacle of this year’s competition was the ICHSA —where every group in their quarterfinal, according to Allphonso, had something to offer.

“I’m sure I can speak for the whole group when I say the remaining groups in the top four—Neo Chromatics, Critical Mass and OC Voices—were all incredible,” Allphonso shared. “Everyone in our group could take something away from their performances, whether it was a choreographed moment, an impressive musical performance, or even how facial expressions can dictate the tone of a song. The group—myself included—is always learning and looking for ways to improve.”

Noting the difficulty of a musical competition, Allphonso shared how “nerve-wracking” yet “adrenaline” inducing and “exhilarating” of an experience it is, as performers are solely being judged on their voices with no prior knowledge of how other performing groups are doing.

“The hard work you’ve been putting in for months prior all boils down to how you perform in these ten minutes,” Allphonso said. “Sometimes, you can remember every single detail of the performance. Sometimes, you completely black out from the starting pitch to the last bow … Regardless, it is an amazing and truly life-changing experience.”