Crimson 7 Earns First Place at A Cappella Competition

On April 27, Crimson 7 traveled to Millbrook School for the fifth “Golden Lips” A Cappella Competition. Groups at the concert included the Millbrook Singers, Cheshire Academy’s 1794’s, and Kent School’s Kentettes.

Crimson 7 performed two songs at the competition, including “Sail Away” by the Jonas Brothers, featuring solos by Jacob Mapp ’24 and Leo Kollen ’26, and “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone (in the style of Michael Buble), featuring soloist Zaire Ramiz ’25. Riley Mapp ’26 and Jason Chen ’26 did vocal percussion on the two songs, respectively. Over the past two months, the group worked to choreograph and polish both of these songs, entertaining the audience and the three judges, senior members of Northeastern University’s award-winning a cappella group Pitch, Please. 

All of Pitch, Please performed a seven-song set following the high school group performances, inspiring the high school groups with their talented close harmonies and engaging solos while the scores were tallied.

At the end of the night, the 2024 “Golden Lips” winners were named with Crimson 7 taking the top prize! According to “Golden Lips” tradition, Crimson 7 and Kingswood Oxford School will hold onto the Golden Lips Trophy for the 2024-2025 school year until next spring’s competition.

To make this evening possible, Director of Choral Music Steve Mitchell and Crimson 7 director David Baker ’04, along with Crimson 7 families, coordinated transfers from spring sports events to school toaster buses to arrive in time. Even senior member Bassil Chughtai ’24 went from competing in the triple jump and hurdles down in Greenwich, CT, to singing at Millbrook, all within a matter of a couple of hours.

A really big thank you goes to Steve Mitchell for driving and leading most of the group to Millbrook, as David Baker came straight from our track meet to get to the competition. Also, thanks to Todd Millen for connecting Millbrook’s arts department with KO and to our Crimson 7 parents and families for helping to coordinate and cheer on the group.