Deep Treble

Deep Treble is the premier co-ed a cappella group at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. The group was founded in September, 1998 by Hanna Schwartz, a then-sophomore in Rutgers College and Jordan Ullman, a then-graduate student at the Rutgers University Graduate School of Education. It was the first co-ed A Cappella group on campus and since its inception, has been entirely student-run. The group travels across the eastern seaboard, and has participated in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella several times, making it to the finals twice and picking up several awards along the way. They recently celebrated their 16th Anniversary Season.
History.
Conception and early beginnings (1998-2001).
In 1998, Deep Treble was founded as the first secular a cappella group at Rutgers. The 2000-2001 school year was a big one for Deep Treble. December's concert in Trayes Hall proved the biggest yet, with over 350 music lovers showing up. In January, Deep Treble began work on its first album, "All Kinds of Treble," set to be released in the Fall of 2001. April marked the first time Deep Treble performed in Nicholas Music Center at the Mason Gross School of the Arts.
2000-2001 was also the first year Deep Treble was accepted into the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCAs). After placing second in the Northeast Quarterfinals at Tufts University in Boston, Deep Treble won the Northeast Semifinals at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut. This win sent Deep Treble to Avery Fischer Hall in Lincoln Center in New York City for the International Finals. Along the way, Deep Treble picked up many awards, including two to Jordan Ullman for his arrangements, a vocal percussion award to Brian Chambers, a vocal percussion award to Jeremy Schafer, and best vocalist awards for the sisters Rabie and Rachel Wohl.
In the Fall of 2001 Deep Treble released its self-produced debut album, "All Kinds of Treble." In the Spring of 2002, Deep Treble took first place in the ICCA Mid-Atlantic Quarterfinals. Brian Chambers picked up an arrangement award for "Regulate/I Keep Forgettin'," while Minna Urrey won the Outstanding Soloist Award for "Jersey Girl." At the Semifinals, Deep Treble took third place and multi-talented Brian took home the award for best percussionist.
Another go at international acclaim (2007-present).
After a few years off the competition circuit, Deep Treble decided to compete again in the ICCAs in 2007. Under the musical direction of Viraj Lal, DT placed second in the Mid Atlantic Regional at Drexel winning the award for Best Choreography. Rutgers hosted the Semifinals and won first place, in addition to a Best Soloist Award for Yaa Acheampong’s rendition of “Janie’s Got a Gun” and Best Vocal Percussion by Jessica Totaro. This win marked the second time Deep Treble reached a berth at the Finals in Lincoln Center. DT starred in a television segment on NJN for its tremendous success. That summer, Deep Treble recorded its third album. Take the Cake, launched in Spring 2008 with a huge Cake-celebration, earned accolades, rave reviews, and proved to be the most successful album for the group yet.
On December 13, 2008, Deep Treble celebrated its 10th anniversary in style. First, there was a reunion providing a great chance for current members to connect with alumni and a great opportunity for alumni to reconnect with old friends. At the reunion, the Deep Trebles of past and present relived old songs under the guidance and leadership of the original arrangers, past musical directors, and many of the original soloists. Subsequently, the 10th Anniversary Concert featured the alumni clad in black with a splash of red singing “Beautiful,” “Janie’s Got a Gun,” with Candice Helfand, “Let Go,” with Melanie Kim, “Under the Bridge,” with Kenny Karnas, “Always Be My Baby,” with Gia Wright, “The Whole World Together,” with Jason Troost, Matt LaFargue, Uton Onyejekwe, and Travis Nilan, and “The Remedy,” featuring Travis Nilan. The alumni even sang a song by themselves: “If You Could Only See” with Uton Onyejekwe. As a result of the event, Deep Treble established the position of Historian to maintain contact with the alumni and to preserve documentation of the concerts.
The competition season of Spring 2009 proved to be one of Deep Treble’s hardest and triumphant. The competition set included two new songs, and DT’s membership included seven new members. Under the musical direction of Julia Fendler, DT overcame these difficult odds and placed second in the Mid Atlantic Quarterfinals at RPI, picking up an award for Best Arrangement by Alexandra Bancroft for her mash-up, “Unapologize.” Rutgers, once again, hosted Semifinals, and Christofer Peckhardt earned the award for Best Soloist of “Beautiful Child.”
In 2011 and 2012, Deep Treble returned to the ICCAs and although they did make it to the Semi-Finals, they took home Best Soloist awards both years for "Rock Medley" Arranged by Galdriel Sevener '12 and sung by Tyler Picone '14, and a return of "Beautiful Child" arranged by Kenneth Feibush and also sung by Tyler Picone. The group also took home the award for best vocal percussion in 2011 awarded to Charles Salamone '12.
In May 2013, Deep Treble celebrated their 15th anniversary in style where it all began, at Kirkpatrick Chapel where the first Deep Treble concert was performed. The group had a small get together beforehand to meet and socialize with alumni and performed several songs with alumni such as: "All These Things" "The Remedy" "Your Ex-Lover is Dead" "The Sign" and Unfaithful Apology".
In such a short time, Deep Treble has established solid reputation at Rutgers and in the a cappella world. DT frequently performs at benefits, concerts, and events around campus and elsewhere. Its alumni have gone on to become lawyers, doctors, professional musicians and arrangers, and teachers, and still have time to appear at concerts to join for the encore. While the future is unknown, the prospects look bright with new members, invigorating songs, victorious competitions, and rocking albums.