Fermata is Cherry Hill West’s most esteemed acapella group!

They have spent the last couple of months working hard to prepare for their upcoming competition, ICHSA Mid-Atlantic Quarterfinal, on January 29th. There, they will be competing against other high schools in the region. The competition will take place at Northern Highlands Regional High school. This will be their first time competing in this event. The top two finishing groups at the competition will advance to the ICHSA Mid-Atlantic Semifinal.

The group rehearses every week and even sometimes on the weekends. Jill Saperstein and King Melody are the student directors of the group–with their assistant student director Gaby Creighton. They all work extremely hard to make sure everyone is focused and on track. Jill helps the group with choreography and she does an amazing job doing so. Upon viewing a rehearsal, it was astounding to see how quickly she taught the group the choreography to “Valerie” by Amy Winehouse. They also have an addition to their group– Tyler Mcgrath, who beatboxes for them. They all constantly work together to make sure their voices blend. Mr. Dalio provides corrections and they make adjustments accordingly. They go over each song and take notes to make each performance better. 

Each group member takes rehearsal seriously and is focused on the end goal of hopefully winning their big competition. While being serious, they also know how to have fun with each other and they spend time together building up the relationships within the group to make them stronger. Each student is dedicated to Fermata and they all sound incredible together. Their voices fill up the entire room and the vocals and riffs could give anyone chills. It takes a lot of time, patience, and dedication to do what they do each week. Rehearsals can be long but they all have fun and enjoy doing so. Good luck and break a leg Fermata!