Stanford Counterpoint

The group was founded in 1979 by sophomores Linda Chin and Joyce Rogers, to provide a female-oriented alternative to the Stanford Mendicants, an all-male group and the only a cappella group on campus at the time.{{cite news |last=Duderstadt |first=Hank |title=The new Counterpoint |date=25 May 1979 |newspaper=The Stanford Daily |volume=175 |issue=69 |page=3 |url=https://archives.stanforddaily.com/1979/05/25?page=3§ion=MODSMD_ARTICLE16#article |access-date=8 February 2020}} The group was named "Counterpoint" because Rogers played the Harpsichord in high school and the concept of musical counterpoint is essential to the Baroque music she enjoyed playing.{{Cite book|title=Stanford Counterpoint 40th Anniversary Reunion Concert|year=2019|url=https://ccrma.stanford.edu/~egeorgie/documents/ctp_program.pdf}} At first, the women of Counterpoint performed with an upright bass and occasional other instruments.{{Citation needed|date=February 2020}} The group's first performed song ("Java Jive") featured an upright bass and received a standing ovation at their first performance in the spring of 1979.

That first year, the group won the Stanford Alumni Association's award for the "most innovative student project" of the year.

In 1980, Counterpoint took The Mendicants on a tour to perform for Stanford alumni in Southern California; as of 2019, that tradition continues—as does the lasting relationship between the groups. In 1982, Counterpoint released a self-titled vinyl record, recorded in Stanford's Memorial Church.

In the 1990s, the group ceased using instruments and became all-vocal. Counterpoint recorded a studio album every other year, touring the United States during the years they didn't record. In 2019, the women of Counterpoint went on their first international tour to Paris, France.{{Cite web|url=http://www.collegeaca.com/content/stanfords-counterpoint-showcases-glorious-vocals-in-scenic-god-is-a-woman-music-video|title=Stanford's Counterpoint Showcases Glorious Vocals In Scenic "God Is A Woman" Music Video|website=College A Cappella|language=en|access-date=2020-02-09}} Also in 2019, Stanford Counterpoint celebrated their 40th anniversary with a reunion concert featuring generations of alumnae.{{cite web |author= |title=Stanford Counterpoint 40th Anniversary Reunion Concert |date=26 October 2019 |url=https://reunion.stanford.edu/stanford-counterpoint-40th-anniversary-reunion-concert |publisher=Stanford University Reunion Homecoming |access-date=16 February 2020}}

In 2019, Stanford Counterpoint released their 14th studio album (Close to Home) and an accompanying music video for the track "God is a Woman". Both works are entirely performed/recorded/produced by women. The track "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" was selected for the Recorded A Cappella Review Board's 2019 "Picks of the Year"{{Cite web|url=http://www.rarb.org/picks/2019/|title=RARB Picks of 2019|website=www.rarb.org|language=en|access-date=2020-02-09}} and their music video for has been nominated for an A Cappella Video Award.{{Cite web|url=https://carawards.org/video-nominees-2020|title=Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards|website=carawards.org|access-date=2020-02-09}}

As of 2020, Counterpoint has been nominated for 14 a cappella recording-related awards and honors including Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award (CARA) award nominations and Best Of College A Cappella (BOCA) compilation album features. Many of these nominations were thanks to the work of Counterpoint's long-time audio engineer Bill Hare.{{Citation needed|date=February 2020}}

As of 2020, Counterpoint has released fourteen studio albums:

• Counterpoint (1981)
• Run With It (1989)
• Sing It, Baby! (1992)
• Nomansland (1996)
• Counterculture (1998)
• Ticket to Anywhere (2000){{cite news |last=Skolnick |first=Deena |title=Counterpoint celebrates 21st birthday in concert |date=16 May 2000 |newspaper=The Stanford Daily |volume=217 |issue=60 |pages=1–6 |url=https://archives.stanforddaily.com/2000/05/16?page=1§ion=MODSMD_ARTICLE4#article |access-date=8 February 2020}}
• Cover Charge (2002)
• Studio Confessions (2004)
• Lights in the Rearview (2006)
• Belladonna (2008){{cite web |last1=Landau |first1=Elie |last2=Whitley |first2=Guang Ming |last3=Colton |first3=John |title=Reviews: Belladonna (2008) |date=10 October 2008 |publisher=The Recorded A Cappella Review Board |url=https://www.rarb.org/reviews/albums/864-belladonna/ |access-date=8 February 2020}}
• Dancing Til Dawn (2010)
• No Turning Back (2015)
• A Woman Like That (2016) - EP
• Close to Home (2019){{cite web |last1=Lewis |first1=Catherine |last2=Alexander |first2=Brian |last3=Foster |first3=Leigh Holmes |title=Reviews: Close to Home (2019) |date=25 December 2019 |publisher=The Recorded A Cappella Review Board |url=https://www.rarb.org/reviews/albums/1775-close-to-home/ |access-date=8 February 2020}}

{{Awards table|5}}

|-

| 1997

| rowspan="10" | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards

| Best Female Collegiate Album

| Nomansland

| {{nom}}

| {{cite web |title=1997 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award Nominees |url=http://www.casa.org/cara1997n |publisher=The Contemporary A Cappella Society |access-date=8 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618125404/http://www.casa.org/cara1997n |archive-date=18 June 2019 |url-status=unfit}}

|-

| rowspan="4" | 1999

| Best Female Collegiate Album

| Counterculture

| {{nom}}

| rowspan="4" | {{cite web |title=1999 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award Nominees |url=http://www.casa.org/cara1999n |publisher=The Contemporary A Cappella Society |access-date=8 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190615002438/http://www.casa.org/cara1999n |archive-date=15 June 2019 |url-status=unfit}}{{cite news |last=Yang |first=Virginia |title=A cappella up for awards: Campus groups win 14 nominations |date=2 February 1999 |newspaper=The Stanford Daily |type=Print |volume=215 |issue=2 |page=1 |url=https://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-bin/stanford?a=d&d=stanford19990202-01.2.2 |access-date=20 January 2020}}

|-

| Best Female Collegiate Song

| "Don't Speak"

| {{nom}}

|-

| Best Female Collegiate Arrangement

| Katy Chow

| {{nom}}

|-

| Best Female Collegiate Soloist

| Sasha Polonsky

| {{nom}}

|-

| rowspan="3" | 2001

| Best Female Collegiate Album

| Ticket to Anywhere

| {{nom}}

| rowspan="3" | {{cite web |title=2001 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award Nominees |url=http://www.casa.org/cara2001n |publisher=The Contemporary A Cappella Society |access-date=8 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608011524/http://www.casa.org/cara2001n |archive-date=8 June 2019 |url-status=unfit}}

|-

| Best Female Collegiate Song

| "Good Enough"

| {{nom}}

|-

| best Female Collegiate Arrangement

| Katy Chow for "Crush"

| {{nom}}

|-

| 2005

| Best Female Collegiate Song

| "Clocks" from Studio Confessions

| {{nom}}

| {{cite web |title=2005 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award Nominees |url=http://www.casa.org/cara2001n |publisher=The Contemporary A Cappella Society |access-date=8 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027074609/https://www.casa.org/cara2005n |archive-date=27 October 2019 |url-status=unfit}}

|-

| 2009

| Best Female Collegiate Album

| Belladona

| style="background: #FADEDE" | {{Center|Shortlisted}}

| {{cite web |last=Hoffman |first=Julia |title=2009 Collegiate A Cappella Shortlists |url=http://www.casa.org/cara2009sl |publisher=The Contemporary A Cappella Society |access-date=8 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929090026/http://www.casa.org/cara2009sl |archive-date=29 September 2018 |url-status=unfit}}

|-

| 2019

| rowspan="2" | A Cappella Video Awards

| Best Female Collegiate Video

| "Don't Wake Me Up"

| style="background: #F4F2B0" | {{Center|Runner Up}}

| {{cite web |last=Ardell |first=Shane |title=2019 A Cappella Video Award Results |date=10 February 2019 |url=https://casa.org/2019-a-cappella-video-award-results/ |publisher=The Contemporary A Cappella Society |access-date=8 February 2020}}

|-

| rowspan="2" | 2020

| Best Female Collegiate Video

| "God Is a Woman"

| {{nom}}

| {{cite web |author= |title=2020 A Cappella Video Awards Nominees |date=26 November 2019 |url=https://casa.org/2020-a-cappella-video-awards-nominees/ |publisher=The Contemporary A Cappella Society |access-date=8 February 2020}}

|-

| Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards

| Best Country Song

| "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" from Close to Home

| {{Nom}}

| {{cite web |last=Chen |first=Jessica |title=2020 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards Nominees |date=17 February 2020 |url=https://casa.org/2020-contemporary-a-cappella-recording-awards-nominees/ |website=The Contemporary A Cappella Society |publisher=Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards |access-date=17 February 2020}}

{{end}}

Three songs released by Counterpoint have been selected for Varsity Vocals’ annual Best of College A Cappella album.

• List of Stanford University a cappella groups

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.stanfordcounterpoint.com Official Counterpoint website]
• [https://www.youtube.com/user/StanfordCPT Official Counterpoint YouTube channel]

{{Stanford University}}

{{authority control}}

Counterpoint

Counterpoint

Counterpoint

Category:History of women in California