Green Street, JFK’s a cappella group, just debuted at the Highlands A Cappella Festival this past weekend. On Friday and Saturday, May 5 and May 6, Green Street traveled to Highlands Regional High School, where they heard the University of Hartford’s a cappella group, L’Shir, performed their spring set of pop music and attended workshops by members of the professional a cappella group, Backtrack Vocals.

Green Street was chosen to perform on Friday for a selective showcase, determined by audition, alongside other high school a cappella groups. Day one of the festival was met with the guest stars from the University of Hartford and a vibrant crowd of singers enjoying and performing classic 2000s songs, choreographed movements and the trending song, “All For Us,” from Euphoria. 

Day 2 of the festival consisted of various workshops, ranging from classes on choreography to riff-off competitions. Members freely moved between workshops while making friends with other a capella groups along the way. Also incorporated into the schedule was a Master Class taught by Xander Teplansky,  the bass singer of Backtrack Vocals. Green Street spent 50 minutes working alongside Teplansky to perfect their performance of “Water Under the Bridge,” by Adele. As a treat, Backtrack Vocals performed an hour long set for all the festival participants before it was time for student a cappella groups to take the stage. Green Street A Cappella manager, senior Tejaswi Jeyanthinathan, described the festival as a great success and a valuable learning experience for the debut group.

“Being able to interact with and see a cappella choirs that were more experienced than us was really cool,” Jeyanthinathan said. “The University of Hartford’s a cappella choir in particular, L’Shir, was insane.”