“Still on the Line”: Have the Callbacks Held Up?

A distinct kind of magic reverberated through Sanders Theatre as four decades of the Harvard Callbacks’ legacy came to life for hundreds of audience members. Balancing a rich historical perspective with a vibrant showcase of their current lineup, the Callbacks delivered more than a standard college a cappella concert. Their show, “Still on the Line,” traced the evolution of college a cappella over the years while highlighting the Callbacks’ unwavering vocal harmony and unity as an ensemble.

To understand the weight of the Callbacks’ 40th anniversary, it helps to look back at how the group first formed in Holden Chapel. In the fall of 1986, a handful of exclusive groups like the Krokodiloes and the Opportunes dominated Harvard’s a cappella scene. Facing a massive talent bottleneck during auditions, many Harvard singers were rejected after reaching the final callbacks round.

“We found a group of singers who had also made callbacks but didn’t get selected. And we decided that we wanted to be a group, and we wanted to be an official group,” founding member Craig Hickman ’90 said to the “Harvard Independent.” “We had to fight the administration to have us officially recognized for the first four years before we could even get a concert in Sanders Theatre.”

In their recent performance, the bond forged through the Callbacks’ tumultuous early history shone through. “Trust me, we’re your typical family. We fight, and there’s drama, but we come together because we all love the music, and we all grow to love each other,” founding member Morgan London ’90 said. “We’ll have each other’s backs, and we still keep in contact with each other.”

The alums structured the evening into a retrospective of a cappella arrangement styles through the decades. The standout number of the night was “Evergreen” in the 2020s set. The arrangement featured a gradual, patient percussive backdrop, transitioning smoothly into soaring high notes from the soloist and rich, responsive harmonies that honored the emotional weight of the lyrics.

As the songs traveled backward into the 2010s and 2000s, the arrangements showcased more intricate syllabic textures and heavy rhythmic drives, such as the bluegrassy syncopation in “This Time Around.” In songs like “Woman,” intricate beatboxing laid a clean foundation, contrasting with floating soprano lines and mid-range harmony layers.

Meanwhile, the 1990s set embraced theatricality and pure community joy. “Like a Prayer” was a crowd favorite for the choreography, particularly when the male singers channeled their inner Madonna with hip circles. The dedication and laughter from the performers were infectious, with one of the most pronounced audience reactions of the night during this number.

“I was talking to one of the alumni, and they were talking about how they only ran through their practice one time, and yet they memorized this five-minute choreography,” audience member Uche Aguwa ’30 said. “Seeing them come together and make the audience all connect and come together was really magical.”

The dancing continued with an impromptu tap-dancing break during “Charleston, Flappers, and Razz-a-ma-tazz,” as the founding alumni showed they could still bring their trademark silly energy to the stage. But the lulling, choral-like Zulu chants of “Homeless” also showed how the Callbacks continue to push their artistic boundaries.

While the alums brought decades of polish, the current generation of Callbacks carried the torch in their opening and closing acts. The first piece of the night, “Suzanne,” featured standout soloist Ike Opayemi ’28, who showed great patience by holding back before delivering clean vocal acrobatics in the final build-up.

Pieces like “Headlock” highlighted the group’s appetite for complex arrangements. Although it was one of the evening’s trickier arrangements, the ensemble’s togetherness stood out. Audience members especially loved the build-up from overlapping melodic lines to the unified beat drop.

The night also introduced the group’s newest members, first-year students Noah Adeoye ’30 and Nina Galindez ’30. Tasked with the freshman feature on “See You Again,” the duo brought electric energy to their duet, making it my pick for the best of the current members’ pieces. Adeoye’s falsetto introduction and faster rap parts stood out as challenging, exposed solo moments that he fully embraced. Galindez also brought strong stage command alongside her warm melodic lines.

“The support from the crowd, stepping out in front, and then seeing everyone cheer helped me a lot,” Adeoye shared. Adeoye also noted that the group’s prevailing mindset was to lean into the pressure. “It was like, ‘Let’s just have fun here.’ Because it’s a fun song at the end of the day, that was the reason that we did it, you know. We wanted to have fun with it, so I’m glad that we brought the excitement and the energy,” he said.

The anniversary concert drew to a close with a Disney-like grand finale on “The Letter,” with all alumni and current members crammed on the stage. The bond between the performers was undeniable, as they cheered after each soloist sang their part and broke into a group dance for the final chorus.

For generations of members, the Callbacks have anchored their undergraduate years. “The one concept across all the different styles and evolutions of the singing is that this is the group that people have told me made their Harvard experience worth it,” Hickman reflected.

Aadit Shrivastava ’30 (aaditshrivastava@college.harvard.edu) thinks a cappella is cool now.