Stanford Talisman is a student

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

group at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, dedicated to sharing stories through music. Started in 1990 by Stanford student Joseph Pigato, their roots are in music from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and the

African diaspora The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from List of ethnic groups of Africa, people from Africa. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the native West Africa, West and Central Africans who were ...

, but they have since broadened their horizons to include music from all over the world. They perform not only locally in the greater

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

but also around the world. Their most recent tour was to Mumbai and Udaipur, India, in spring of 2019. The group has also traveled to South Africa (2016) and Hawai'i (2018). The group won the 1997 ICCA competition and notable performances include the 1996 Olympic Games, the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

, with 10-time Grammy award winner

Bobby McFerrin Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, and conductor (music), conductor. His Vocal pedagogy, vocal techniques include singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in Pitch (music), pitch—fo ...

in 2005 and 2019, with

Seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

in 2009, with

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...

in 2019, annually at Stanford Graduation Baccalaureate, and their sold-out 25th Anniversary Show in Bing Concert Hall in 2015. Their musical repertoire includes their arrangements of " One by One" by Lebo M., " Lift Ev'ry Voice" (the Black national anthem), " Baba Yetu" by Talisman alumni Christopher Tin (a song featured in the video game ''

Civilization IV ''Civilization IV'' (also known as ''Sid Meier's Civilization IV'') is a 2005 4X turn-based strategy video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K. It is the fourth installment of the ''Civilization'' series and was designed by S ...

''), Sweet Honey in the Rock's "Wanting Memories," a compilation of the two songs "Hawai'i '78" and "E Ala E"] performed by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, and the traditional spiritual "

Amazing Grace "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn written in 1772 and published in 1779 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is possibly the most sung and most recorded hymn in the world, and especially popular in the Unit ...

." Talisman has released eight full-length albums as well as a 10-year anniversary compilation entitled "Shine," and a 20-year compilation, "Twenty," and two five-song EPs. The group was featured on the 1997 Best of Collegiate A Cappella compilation, and has received recognition from CARA, most recently in 2004, winning "Mixed-Group Album of the Year" for ''Watch Me Fly''.

History

From founder Joe Pigato at Talisman's 25th Anniversary Show:

"October 1989 - I was a sophomore here at Stanford and I had just started my second year and was not singing again, though I'd been singing most of my life. A good friend came up from my hometown and was lamenting the fact that I wouldn't be singing again. He said, 'Well, why don't you start your own group?' And I thought, 'Well, bit of work, my friend Ben sa super excitable guy - it's going to take a bit of work to do.'

I went home from that breakfast and my ideas was that I wanted to do world music because that's what's I grew up listening to and that's what I love, and as wonderful as college a cappella is, it wasn't the style or what I wanted to sing. So I went home, I jotted down a few songs - I wasn't going to ''start'' the group, I just jotted down a few songs, what I thought we might sing, what our name might be, maybe where we'd practice, maybe ''when'' we'd practice, and uh, pretty soon I realized I was on my way to doing this. I sat back and I thought, 'World music - it's not the thing that brings in the audience, I don't know if anyone's going to want to sing this.' But I decided on January 15th, 1990 at Braun room 105, I was going to have my first auditions.

I put 2,000 fliers up around campus talking about singing music with stories from around the world. I was sure no one was going to come to our audition. I woke up with an awful, awful migraine. My accompanist couldn't come and play scales. I thought, "Maybe this isn't meant to be." I went over to Braun 105, there was a big crowd outside the room, and I had already messed up scheduling a couple times. I thought maybe the Ram's Head Musical had got the room for auditions, and now I'm just a wreck. I walk up, there's a crowd, I'm like, 'So what is this for?' Someone looks and says 'It's for Talisman?' And I panicked, and I said, 'Um, great. Well, good luck with that.' I walked away to the Tresidder Parking Lot and was justing thinking, 'Okay, here.' I was humming this song, N'kayalamakawa, this African song that I loved. I was thinking about the music that I wanted to sing, the stories and music from around the world. I thought, 'I know this music can exist on campus. If I can just find people who would sing this, we could do something big.' I looked back at Braun and I thought, 'There are those people.'

So I walked back, I said 'Did you say ''Talisman''?' and he said 'Talisman!', and they were there. From that group, we found 15 fantastic singers. For the next 25 years, every year we have 5 or 10 new singers who have wonderful heart, wonderful vision, who want to bring the stories of the world to express them, and we've now been able to bring those people together for 25 years."

Discography

* ''No Murmur, No Zealots'' (1992) * ''Tonic Rhythms'' (1994) * ''After Silence'' (1996) * ''Anthem'' (1996), greatest hits album * ''Held in Shining'' (1998) * ''Shine'' (2000), 10-year anniversary album * ''Passage'' (2001) * ''Watch Me Fly'' (2003) * ''The Quick Day is Done'' (2006) * ''Twenty'' (2010), 20-year anniversary album * ''Going Home'' (2011) * ''New Crossroads'' (2012), a joint recording with Peace Africa Children's Ensemble * ''Stanford Talisman Live'' (2020), a compilation of live Talisman performances from 2018-2019 * ''Your Voice, Above the Storm'' (2020)

EPs and other appearances

* Featured in " Calling All Dawns", debut Christopher Tin album (2009) * ''The Knoll Sessions'' (2017), a five-song collection recorded at CCRMA at

in the summer of 2017 * ''Muliwai'' (2018), a five-song collection recorded at CCRMA at

in the summer of 2018

Awards and nominations

, - , 1995 , Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards , Best Mixed Collegiate Soloist , Elena Melendez , style="background: #F4F2B0" , , , - , rowspan="2" , 1997 , rowspan="2" , Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards , Best Mixed Collegiate Album , ''After Silence'' , , , - , Best Mixed Collegiate Song , "The Rainmaker" , style="background: #AFFBA3" , , , - , 1999 , Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards , Best Mixed Collegiate Album , ''Held in Shining'' , , , - , rowspan="2" , 2004 , rowspan="2" , Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards , Best Mixed Collegiate Album , ''Watch Me Fly'' , , rowspan="2" , , - , Best Mixed Collegiate Arrangement , Ron Ragin for "Swing Low" , style="background: #F4F2B0" ,

ICCA results

The International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) first judged live a cappella performance competitions in 1996.

Notable alumni

Former members include composer Christopher Tin, class of '98; filmmaker Jeff Orlowski, class of '06; Sameer Gadhia, frontman of the band

Young the Giant Young the Giant is an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Irvine, California, in 2004. The band's line-up consists of Sameer Gadhia (lead vocals), Jacob Tilley (guitar), Eric Cannata (guitar), Payam Doostzadeh (bass guitar), and Franc ...

class of '11; and author Yaa Gyasi, class of '11.

References

External links

*
Youtube ChannelFacebook
{{Authority control Collegiate a cappella groups

Talisman A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...

Musical groups established in 1990