PT teacher advances vocal cause
McMURRAY – Peters Township High School choral director Ryan Perrotte hopes to raise awareness and appreciation of a cappella singing throughout Pennsylvania during the next two years.
He is the newly appointed state representative to the A Cappella Education Association, a national nonprofit with the mission of educating people about singing without musical accompaniment.
“Basically, I am going to help educators involved in contemporary singing,” he said. “I will be the contact person.”
He also will have access to and be working with established and professional arrangers and musicians, which will enable Peters Township students with an interest in singing to have exposure to nationally known artists.
In March, Perrotte took his Rowdy Rhythm group, the high school’s barbershop choir, to Carnegie Hall in New York City to perform with the Total Vocal Show, at the invitation of Deke Sharon, producer of the “Pitch Perfect” musical comedy films.
Perrotte also will be teaching A Cappella Adrenaline when school begins in September. The course, offered for the first time, is designed to teach students to sing without music and how to vocally mimic musical instruments.
“I am in the process of pulling together resources, because I am starting from scratch, but the class will be similar to choir and barbershop,” Perrotte said. “It is like taking a rock band and turning it into a vocal rock band. Everything has to be produced by the human voice.”
About 25 students – a mixture of seniors, juniors and sophomores – will be in the class when it begins in the fall. Each student auditioned in the spring to be selected for the class.
Perrotte said the a cappella community is tightly knit, which will help him with both his new state position and A Cappella Adrenaline.
“The scary thing is, here is me, a music teacher in Pittsburgh, and people like Deke Sharon are available,” he said.