The Trojan Men

The Trojan Men is an all-male a cappella group at the University of Southern California. Founded in 2005, the group has participated in and has earned numerous awards from competitions like the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella and USC's Absolut A Cappella contest. The group currently performs around USC and the Los Angeles area.

The Trojan Men
Background information
OriginUniversity of Southern California
GenresA Cappella
Years active2005 – present
Websitehttp://www.trojanmen.com
MembersAustin Karkowsky
Ben Shiff
Colin Petersdorf
Mikey Takla
Gerry Hartman
Luke Sobolevitch
Alex Oliva
Avery Streater
Nicholas Springer
Luke Sauer
Maxwell Pickenpaugh
Fred Chien
Joey Blundell
Spencer Davis
Stephen Jung

History

The Trojan Men was founded in January 2005[1] by then-freshman Evan Bregman. Nine people auditioned in the initial stages, and the group had its first performance on March 3, 2005 with five members. They sang three songs: "In the Still of the Night", "If I Ever Fall in Love", and Bregman's original arrangement of "California, Here I Come".

The group has grown steadily in number and popularity. In 2006, they competed in the ICCA for the first time, placing third in their quarterfinal behind BYU Noteworthy and that year's eventual International Champions, BYU Vocal Point. They were also honored with a Best Soloist award. That same year, they competed in USC's annual Absolut A Cappella contest, placing in first above ICCA finalist USC Reverse Osmosis. Again, they were honored with a Best Soloist award.

2006–2007

With momentum building around them on campus, The Trojan Men decided to spend the Fall 2006 semester preparing a specialty repertoire of multi-denominational Holiday music. This culminated in their first annual Holiday Concert on December 3, 2006. Eschewing the established campus format of concerts with multiple groups singing only four or five songs, the concert featured only The Trojan Men, singing a dozen songs. Many of these songs have since gained popularity through the group's YouTube Channel.

The following semester, the group competed in the ICCAs again, placing third in their quarterfinal[2] and again winning a Best Soloist award. In that year's Absolut A Cappella contest, they placed third as well.

2007–2008

In the final year of the group's founding members, focus turned to establishing the group as a sustainable entity on campus. The fall 2007 semester saw the group as strong as ever, with 45 auditionees. For the first time, new members had arrived at USC with knowledge of the group and intent to audition. One week later, the group was the featured performer and clinician at the second annual Las Vegas A Cappella Summit.

Continuing the trend of breaking with established USC a cappella tradition, the group scheduled their first concert of the semester one week after other campus groups, associating it with USC's Homecoming festivities and again performing a dozen songs. At the concert, the group announced that their second annual Holiday Concert would be the first by a USC a cappella group to be held in Bovard Auditorium with a small admission fee.

The second annual Holiday Concert was held on December 6, 2007. Nearly 500 people were in attendance as The Trojan Men performed 20 songs, a total of 90 minutes of music capped by two short videos. The concert was recorded for a future CD and DVD release. The group financed the entire show themselves using funds acquired from previous performances and private donations.

The spring semester of 2008 was focused on recording the group's debut album, Take Root. The album was released May 4, 2008, the night of the group's end of the year spring concert held again in Bovard Auditorium.

2016–2017

Flash forward roughly 10 years later, and the newest members of The Trojan Men are still actively performing all over the Los Angeles tri-state area. While they still hold onto classic songs including Etta James' "At Last" and Corinne Bailey Rae's "Put Your Records On", they are constantly cycling through new material to be performed for friends, family, and fans.

The group no longer competes in competitions.

2017–2018

That fall, The Men performed a 13th anniversary "Bar Mitzvah" concert – performing songs from the years of the group's birth. Highlights included Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles", Owl City's "Fireflies", and The Jonas Brothers' "Year 3000". While we performed a few of The Trojan Men Classics, new arrangements from Colin Petersdorf, Landon Fadel, and Austin Karkowsky brought a new energy to the group and its audience.

For the first time in the group's history, The Trojan Men performed their winter concert with The Sirens, USC's only all-female a cappella group.

2018–2019

In January, the group sang the National Anthem for a USC Basketball game and learned a record 21 arrangements in the semester. With Ben Shiff, Gerry Hartman, Joey Blundell, and Stephen Jung emerging as new arrangers, the growing group continued to explore their vibe and dynamic as well as repertoire.

Albums

The group recorded their first album at Asylum Studios, home of singer/songwriter/a cappella producer Gabriel Mann, engineered by Chris Harrison, former director of UCLA Awaken A Cappella.

Take Root (2008)

Take Root (2008)

  • Studio Album
  • Released: May 4, 2008
 Tracks
  1. Don't Stop Me Now (Queen)
  2. Bless the Broken Road (Rascal Flatts)
  3. I Wish (Stevie Wonder)
  4. The Blower's Daughter (Damien Rice)
  5. Insomniac (Billy Pilgrim)
  6. Because (The Beatles)
  7. Change in My Life (Rockapella)
  8. Rocksteady (Marc Broussard)
  9. Can't Take My Eyes Off You (Frankie Valli)
  10. I Didn't Understand (Elliott Smith)
  11. My Mistake (Evan Bregman)
  12. I Want You Back (Jackson 5)
  13. Somewhere Out There (Live) (from the movie An American Tail)
  14. Shout (The Isley Brothers)

Awards

2006

2007

2008
  • 2nd Place - Absolut A Cappella
    • Best Soloists: The Trojan Men on Justin Timberlake Medley

2009

References
  1. "SCing Along" Archived 2008-05-24 at the Wayback Machine, Daily Trojan, September 15, 2005
  2. "Vocal Artillery" Archived 2006-04-04 at the Wayback Machine, Daily Trojan, February 10, 2006
  3. ICCA 2006 Results Archived 2008-03-09 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ICCA 2007 Results Archived 2007-12-17 at the Wayback Machine
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