CASA - The Contemporary A Capella Society

Season two of The Sing-Off saw the rise of a unique a cappella supergroup—a collection of talent culled from alumni of Cherry Hill High School West’s Men of Note. The high school group had racked up three consecutive International Championship of High School A Cappella crowns in the late 2000s. But how would the cream of that crop do on national TV?

The good news was that the guys delivered. Their performance of Billy Joel’s “The Longest Time” used old school charm to win over a national audience. The bad news was, in a show steeped with sensational talent, Men of Note had to make an early exit from the season.

“The experience was a very exciting one,” Men of Note member Jason Nop recalled. “It was almost as if you were a celebrity.”

“We went from throwing together new arrangements the week before the audition to boarding a plane to Los Angeles, California,” another member, Rajeer Alford said. “Aside from performing on live television, the most exciting part for me was probably listening to the other groups rehearse when we weren't filming. I recall listening to Street Corner Symphony practice parts of Train's “Hey, Soul Sister” and I was in complete shock at how in sync they were with each other. I've never seen a rehearsal be so productive and run so smoothly at the same time. It's a little ridiculous how talented all the groups were. To this day it still surprises me how much of a family that season of The Sing-Off grew to be. You would have never guessed it was a competition by watching the groups interact.”

Members of the Men of Note super group persevered in the a cappella world. Alford and Richard Crandle carried their a cappella dream into the collegiate ranks, forming a brand new group at Rider University known as Vocalmotion. After just three months together, the co-ed group placed second in its International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) quarterfinal. With two months to hone their sound and revise their set, the group came to play at the Mid-Atlantic Semifinals, and finished just one place shy of going all the way to the ICCA Finals.