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Amazin' Blue is a student-run mixed-voice a cappella vocal ensemble affiliated with University of Michigan - Ann Arbor and the only a cappella group affiliated with the University Activities Center. Of the eighteen a cappella groups at UMich, it is the oldest of the mixed-voice groups and the third oldest overall. The group has entertained audiences in twenty-five states and provinces within the United States and Canada. It competes frequently in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, has been featured on ten Best of Collegiate A Cappella Albums, and has recorded fourteen albums of its own, earning seven Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards. These awards make Amazin' Blue the most decorated a cappella group at UMich. Amazin' Blue is the only a cappella group at UMich whose outstanding members are awarded the Lawrence E. Quinn Memorial Scholarship. The other groups whose members are so awarded are the Men's Glee Club, and the Women's Glee Club, curricular choirs. ==History== Amazin' Blue was founded on Thursday 22 January 1987 by Mike Wang. Wang had received his bachelor's degree from Yale University and had sung with Mixed Company while he was there. Observing that there were no mixed-voice groups at UMich, he posted flyers around campus for "The Amazin' Blue" (the "The" was dropped from the name almost immediately), and, after holding auditions, accepted twenty men and women into the group besides himself. The school colors of UMich are maize and blue. "Amazin' Blue" is a pun on these colors. This pun is not unique to the a cappella ensemble. There was a show choir at UMich in the 1970s called "The Amaizin Blues." In the early 1990s, members of the UMich basketball team recorded a single under the group name "The Amazin' Blue." The pun has also been used by sportscasters to describe various athletic teams or their fans. As the popularity of the a cappella ensemble has increased, other uses of the pun "Amazin' Blue" have decreased to an extent, but not completely. Amazin' Blue initially performed a repertoire consisting primarily of jazz standards and 1950's doo-wop but, in a few years, embraced a repertoire consisting primarily of contemporary pop. Amazin' Blue took the initiative in 1991 of founding, along with The Friars and The Harmonettes (the only two a cappella groups at UMich older than Amazin' Blue), the Monsters of A Cappella concert, the first annual concert featuring multiple UMich a cappella groups as well as guest groups. This event continued until 2001, by which time the number of groups at UMich had increased to the point of considering a retooling of the event to feature more of the UMich a cappella talent than just the three oldest groups. Over the course of its existence, Amazin' Blue has shared a stage with such groups as The Chieftains (1990, 1992, 1994), Straight No Chaser(1998,1999), Ivri Lider (2006), Michael Buble (2007) Diane Birch (2010), and m-pact (late 1990's). The total number of members of Amazin' Blue, past and present, is two hundred six. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Amazin' Blue」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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