California Golden Overtones facts for kids
The California Golden Overtones are a cool all-female singing group at the University of California, Berkeley. They started way back in 1962! For a while, they were called the deciBelles in the 1970s, but since 1984, they've been known as the Golden Overtones, or sometimes just the Tones.
This group usually has between six and thirteen members. They sing a cappella, which means they sing without any musical instruments – just their voices!
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What Kind of Music Do They Sing?
The Golden Overtones sing all sorts of music! They have a huge collection of songs, and they add new ones every year. They take popular songs and old favorites and make them sound amazing with their strong female voices. Imagine hearing rap, doo-wop (that classic 50s style), or even country songs sung a cappella – they do it all!
Achievements and Awards
The Overtones have recorded many albums. Their most recent one, called Out of Line, came out in 2020.
They've also won some big awards:
- In 2001, they placed second in a major singing contest called the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA). That's a really big deal for college singing groups!
- In 2016, College Magazine named them one of "The 10 Female Groups Running the A Cappella World."
- In 2019, they were even mentioned in an article by College Aca for their awesome version of "The National Manthem" by Little Mix.
Where Can You See Them Perform?
The Golden Overtones perform often around the Bay Area, which is the region around San Francisco. They sing for university alumni (people who used to go to UC Berkeley) and for the local community.
If you're a student at UC Berkeley, you can often find them performing every Friday during the school year at 1:00 PM. They usually sing right next to the famous Sather Gate on Berkeley's Sproul Plaza.
Annual Concerts and Special Shows
The group puts on several big concerts each year:
- West Coast A Cappella Showcase: In the Fall, they host this special concert. They invite other fantastic a cappella groups from all over the country to perform with them.
- Past guest groups have included Noteworthy and Vocal Point from Brigham Young University, who are former ICCA Champions!
- Other guests have come from colleges like Stanford, UCLA, USC, Mount San Antonio College, and the University of Oregon.
- Overtones Spring Show: They also have their own big concert in the Spring.
- They often make guest appearances at the UC Men's Octet Spring Show, too.
Online Videos
Want to see them in action? The Golden Overtones have a YouTube channel with lots of videos of their past performances. You can watch their shows going all the way back to 2008!
Music Albums (Discography)
Here are some of the albums the California Golden Overtones have released:
- California Street, 1988
- Bar Nine, 1990
- Ridin' the Wave, 1993
- Pipe Dreams, 1995
- Bear All, 2000
- No Boys Allowed, 2002
- Out of Line, 2020
