Shir Appeal - History

History

The group was founded in 1995 by Liz Perlman, Jenn Madan, Zach Blocker, and Jessica Cooper. It is formally a student group at Tufts University Hillel, and the presidency of the group is a position on the Hillel student board. In the same year it was founded, Shir Appeal hosted a Jewish A Cappella festival at Tufts University. Shir Appeal was the first group to have an album produced by John Clark, himself a graduate of the Tufts Amalgamates. Many of Shir Appeal’s early arrangements were composed by John Clark ("Laila Tov Europa", "Yamei Hatom"), as well as members of the Tufts Beelzebubs. Being at Tufts, a “fertile crescent” of a cappella, Shir Appeal quickly gained expertise in all aspects of a cappella. Tufts’ University president, Lawrence Bacow (2001–2011) also hosted the group on numerous occasions at the president’s house (Gifford House) on the Tufts Campus. Shir Appeal also is a regular participant at an annual Jewish A Cappella festival at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City, held in February. The group does not participate in competitions, but has received praise from the Recorded A Cappella Review Board (RARB) for its CDs.