Freshman Ittai Juma was singing with his friend at their church conference recently, but the microphones started cutting out and the sound became bad. Yet it turned into a positive.
“After the event, we were having dinner at the conference,” Juma said. “There was this guy who was helping us practice this song. He brought us up to a producer, and the guy said, ‘I really liked your song. I know the microphones were bad, but I really want to record it in the studio,’ ” Juma said.
Juma and his friend are currently in the process of getting their song recorded in a studio.
Freshman Spencer Popp, meanwhile, has been part of Baldwin-Whitehall’s musicals since he auditioned for Xanadu Jr. in the sixth grade. Now he performs for both Baldwin and South Park Theatre outside of school.
The play that Popp is currently working on is Peter Pan for South Park Theatre.
“I was given Captain Hook. So I’m trying to give him character. I’m trying to make him funny,” Popp said.
The two freshmen, who both have been involved in music for years, are now members of the B-Side, Baldwin’s a capella group.
For Juma, music has always been a part of his life.
“My mom and my dad always tell me stories of how, from when they put me down to sleep until my dad had to leave for work, I would be crying the entire time,” Juma said. “In Kenya, we believe if your child is crying a lot and screaming a lot, that means they have a good voice.”
In Juma’s first musical, in eighth grade, he earned a lead role portraying Hans in Frozen Jr.
“It was really challenging because it was my first time doing the musical and memorizing all the lines and all the scenes,” Juma said.
Juma has been in Baldwin-Whitehall choirs since sixth grade. He acknowledged that he was intimidated by when it was time to audition for the B-Side.
“I was really scared because Spencer knows everybody in that group. They did not know me,” Juma said. “I was sitting in the back practicing by myself. It took a while to get comfortable with them because I was scared.”
With seniors graduating and the B-Side holding auditions, Popp decided that joining would be a good idea to get more experience in the music world.
Music teacher Kris Tranter “had me sing a pop song for like a short amount of time, probably like 30 seconds, and then you submitted it to Google Classroom, and then he emailed me a few weeks later,” Popp said.
He said the group has been welcoming.
“Everybody’s really supportive and inclusive. Everybody’s really nice,” Popp said.
B-Side slowly became a favourite singing ensemble for Popp because of how the a cappella group works together.
“I really like B-Side because I love doing a cappella,” Popp said. “It’s just from the voice, and there are always so many different parts, and it always sounds really nice.”
