| Type of group: | A cappella |
|---|---|
| Selective? | Yes |
| Membership: | 12 |
| Office: | Dodd Circle/Greylock Quad |
| Contact: | Michael Girouard |
| Established: | 1940 |
| Website: | Here |
The all-male Williams Octet is the oldest a cappella group at Williams College, founded in 1940 by the illustrious Warren Hunke. Here's to you, our jovial friend.
The Fall concert 2005 featured song, dance, nerf warfare, two recorders played simultaneously, apocalyptic language, and the now-famous Kang hug.
Here are the YouTube links to the Spring 2008 end-of-year concert video, Planet Octet: PART1 PART2
In February 2010, the Octet shared the stage with Motion City Soundtrack. The band saw the Octet's version of "Fell In Love Without You" on YouTube and invited them to perform it at MCS' Irving Plaza, NYC concert. Solo and arrangement both by Lucas Bruton '11.
In the spring of 2010, the Octet sang a medley of Taylor Swift songs, which resulted in an invite to meet Ms. Swift herself backstage at her Madison Square Garden concert in late fall of 2011. Every member received a Taylor Swift hug, several Taylor Swift band guitar picks, and the group formed a fast friendship with Ms. Swift's parents.
The Octet has a history of integrating skits into their concerts. Famous recent skits include "The Octet Adopts a Child" (spring 2009) and "The Octet Goes to Rehab" (spring 2010).
Octet videos from fall 2009 to the present can be found here. The same channel has a chronological playlist of all Octet videos dating back to 2001.
You may think all a cappella is the same, however...
Helpful distinguishing features of the Octet:
--We don't sing at our parties. (debatable...)
--We don't wear dresses (on stage).
The Williams Octet:
-Sing some, drink some, get some.
-A cappella with balls.
-Making girls scream since 1940. (did Williams have girls then? they were screaming in spirit.)
-TMFWRBS
-Formerly known as "The Ocho".
See our website for procrastinatory material, schedules and information, pictures of good times past, and member and alumni profiles. Auditions are held each year in early September.
Current Members:
Will Speer '13 (Music Director)
Colton Growney '13 (Viceroy of Transposability)
Paul Kiernan '13
Michael Girouard '13 (President)
Scott Pelton-Stroud '14 (On-leave Fall 2012)
Sam Austin '14
John Weinheimer '14
Sam Devine '15 (Co-Business Manager)
James Hitchcock '15 (Co-Business Manager)
Kelso Stevens '15
Jace Forbes-Cockell '16
Steven-Louis Dreyfus '16
Brian Astrachan '16
Famous recent alums include:
Polo Black Golde '08
Tommy Gill '08
Daniel Yudkin '08
Eric Kang '09
Alex Kopynec '09
Rich McDowell '09
Aroop Mukharji '09
Harris Paseltiner '09
Eric Beam '10
James Trotta '10
Abiy Hailemichael '10.5
Andrei Baiu '11
Lucas Bruton '11
Matthew Cranshaw '11
Rob Pasternak '11
Alex Puskas '14