old members

Here we take a moment to commemorate those members who have passed on from OoC to bigger and better things. Or maybe we just salvage their old bios and pictures. It's the same thing, really.

Tina Hsu - Alto / Alumni (2001-2005) Former Director of Out of Context This year marks Tina's fourth year in the group and her second year as musical director. So far, it's been more fun than previously feared. OoC has been quite good and she hasn't had to bring her Stick of Justice (TM) to rehearsal too many times... Tina formally started singing her Senior year in high school, and is really glad she was convinced to audition for OoC her freshman year. When asked in a recent interview, she replied, "This cardboard is some of the best I've ever seen, but I've definitely tasted better watermelons." In her "copious amounts of free time," Tina likes to read short stories and bestsellers, sew stuffed animals, spend time outside, and compose music.

Cheryl "The Enforcer" Forest Alto (1997-2001) The Original Out of Context Director Cheryl made her musical debut at the age of four singing "Endless Love" at an aunt's wedding. Since then, the stage has proven an irresistable draw - she's appeared in countless performances as a pianist, vocalist, and bassist. The types of ensembles that she has performed with include jazz bands, classical choirs, show choirs, orchestras, Christian rock bands, musicals, and (of course) Out of Context. Currently, when she's not performing with OoC or St. Phillip's Life Teen band, Cheryl keeps busy by working towards her biology undergrad degree here at Tech. Cheryl has served as co-director and chief arranger for OoC since she founded the group three years ago. Cheryl usually takes on the formidable job of keeping us on task when rehearsals get a little too wacky - a thankless job, surely, but one we're the better for. She sends her love to her family (Mom, Dad and Lizabella) in Georgia and her old TJHSS&T buddies turned east coast college a cappella freaks. Cheryl went on leave from OoC last term because she severely overstressed her voice doing so many singing and yelling activities, and since we haven't heard hide nor hair from her since then, we're assuming she's alumni meat now.

Christopher "Evil" Kurtz - Bass / Percussion (1997-2001) Not to be Confused with David Hasselhoff's Older Brother Chris was the hopeless romantic of the group (and any other group he's in). Also a member of Ecphonema, Chris constantly denies using a cappella as a vehicle to meet girls, but we all know better. Between med school interviews, two a cappella groups, and guiding the wayward chemistry majors at Caltech, his schedule was a far busier one than any straight-thinking college senior should have. Music has always been Chris's one true love, but he didn't start singing until his sophomore year in high school when he was inspired by the abundance of vocal groups at Wayzata High. Since then, music has permeated his life in the various forms of a cappella, piano, guitar and reciting movie lines and soundtrack lyrics endlessly in the hallway. Chris is glad to have been around at the very beginning to help build up OoC from scratch. He misses OoC (or so he claims) now that he's in med school, and we tell him we miss his frequently tasteless but always funny impromptu stand-up routines : )

Jesse Escobedo - Alto / Tenor / Percussion / Alumni (2001-2005) You've never seen a kumquat look this scary. Jesse earned his nickname, Jesse Es Libido, at his audition due to the smooth song stylings he used to woo our women. In addition to OoC, he shares his mad music skillz in Caltech's Chamber singers and as trumpet player in Caltech's Jazz Band. Jesse is our sky-high tenor and alternate woman when we are running low on altos. He is also our uber-counter because his choral experience helps him blend with everyone and kick ass on those super high harmonies. In his spare time Jesse likes to build things and take things apart (basically anything that involves using tools). This should serve him well in his quest to earn a degree in Mechanical Engineering, if a cappella doesn't kill him first!

Caroline Li - Alto Quite Possibly the Best Ever Director of Out of Context Ingredients: 2 cups voice talent 1/2 oz spicy Szechuan flavor 1 gallon liquid fuckin' sunshine 1/2 tablespoon Hookslide compliments 1 cup sexiness, dry 3/8 stick awesomeness 1 pair red boots Instructions: Mix dry ingredients with blender, while slowly pouring in hot water. Appreciate. Gargle, rinse, and repeat as desired.

Ryan Witt - Tenor / Baritone / Percussion Oldest Guy in the Group ooc: Why did you audition for Out of Context? ryan: A Cappella seemed like a good idea at the time. ooc: But you had no idea that it would suck your life away, did you? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! HA! Ha. ryan: You're scary. When Ryan's not singing a cappella, studying, observing campus politics, eating, sleeping, walking around, watching tv, playing video games, brushing his teeth, clipping lambda's claws, removing lint from the dryer trap or reading the newspaper, he likes to sit down and compose music--he never knows what style, and indeed can't stick to one. So far he's ended up with rock, showtunes, ballads, electronica, funk and pop. He has yet to venture into a cappella.

Jessica Edwards - Soprano Out of Context Fundraisor Jessica comes from Richmond, VA where she began humming incessantly before she was born. She sang her first solo at the age of 5, playing the role of Snow White in her first grade class play. She still occasionally "whistles while she works" and hopes that "someday my prince will come." Since then, most of her time on stage has been spent acting, rather than singing, although there were some stints with various middle and high school choirs. Jessica sang in the Community Choir at Kenyon College where she pursued her B.A. in biochemical neuroscience (with a minor in anthropology). She also took some voice lessons, but is sad to say that she thinks she sounds better now that she's unlearned everything her voice teachers taught her. Now that she's starting her Ph.D. program at Caltech, she thought that she'd do exactly the same thing she did in college -- overload her schedule so that it procludes sleep almost entirely. To that end, she started singing with the Treble Makers and heard Out of Context sing for the first time at Love Sucks IV. After drooling over their beautiful sounds, she endeavored to get into the group... and seems to have accomplished that goal. As a side note, Jessica loves men who can sing.

Marlena Fecho - Alto / Tenor / Percussion Fecho 1985 Marlena Fecho has been known for its exceptional red wines that flow like an atonal symphony. The name "Marlena" means "bitter" in its Germanic roots. The deep reddish-purple color is followed by a rich, and slightly dingy nose. It has a complex, yet elegant flavor, hinting of blackberries, currants, vanilla and lemon rind. The 1985 Marlena was aged 20 years in a porcelain basin, meaning it is high in both acidity and alcohol, and finishes with a smooth, delicate chalky residue. Sure to be good for decades to come.

Warner Leedy - Tenor / Baritone / Percussion (2003-2005) Former OoC Secretary Frosh At age 10, Warner Leedy had a cache of comic books, and Batman made a big impression on him. When his mom remarried, to a Dr. Paul Flothow, she took Warner and his younger brother John to Seattle. At 14, Warner attended Lakeside School, then went to Whitman College where he got a degree in literature and psychology. His last year of college he also married 17-year-old Billie Lou Yeager. In 1956, he got a divorce, and married a beautiful girl originally from Tahiti, named Ngatokoruaimatauaia Frisbie Dawson. They had a daughter, Jonelle in 1957, and a son Hunter in 1958. In 1959, Warner came to Hollywood. He adopted the stage name "Adam West" which fit his roles, as he was in some Westerns. After 7 years in tinseltown, he achieved fame in 1966 in a wildly popular ABC TV series.

Emily Russell - Soprano Arwen the Many-Colored Here is Emily's 2003 U.S. Physics Team bio, courtesy of Google. Here it will remain until she, or some other benevolent soul, writes a new one. :) I guess you could call me the most colourful person who doesn't exist. All right, so the latter half of that statement needs immediate explanation. There's a certain pattern-recognition card game known as SET. Well, I happen to rather like this game, and through long practice, have become pretty good at it enough so that last summer I was proven not to exist based on the fact that it's impossible to be that good at SET. So I'm just a figment of your imagination... or maybe it's the other way around.... As for the colourful aspect of my personality, it's a well-accepted fact that I'm the most visibly recognisable figure at Choate Rosemary Hall, where I am now a senior mere weeks from graduation. The brightness of my clothes, from hair-scarf to socks, catches the eye from across campus. If that leaves any doubt as to who I am, I can be further identified by my tendency to go barefoot and sing all the time. My singing is the most important part of my life at Choate. This is my fourth year singing in the festival choir as a soprano, and my third in the smaller chamber choir. Rehearsals for both these groups are often the highlight of my week. I love nothing more than making music. I also claim the distinction of last year founding Adiloi, the only high school choir in North America which sings Georgian music. No, you didn't read that wrong, it's Georgian, not Gregorian. Didn't realise our sunny southern state had its own particular music? Don't be confused, we sing the traditional music of the Republic of Georgia, a small country just south of Russia. It's beautiful stuff, and a lot of fun to sing. Hmm, I suppose I'm supposed to say a little something about physics here... maybe it's time for my favourite childhood story. I independently discovered Newton's Law of Inertia when I was about two years old. One fine morning, I was riding happily along in my carseat, with a bagel on the tray in front of me. The car took a turn, and (predictably enough to any student of physics) the bagel flew off in the other direction. I reacted to this with much delight, laughing and shouting, The bagel wanted to keep on going! That was the first indication of what has now become a deep interest in physics, especially astronomy and the more exotic realms of cosmology and particle physics. Okay, that's enough about me for now; I'll let you read on about other people's fascinating lives. TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!

Anne "The Original" Rajala - Soprano Despite a lack of choral/vocal training in any form, Anne's always loved singing and somehow conned her way into the group. Once there, she has sneakily made herself indispensable to OoC. Though her cuteness and lovability exist at high enough concentrations for her to easily gain mastery at manipulating the others, she somehow always finds her forehead magically embossed with the words "I WILL EASILY REARRANGE MY SCHEDULE TO DO ANYTHING YOU NEED!" That being said, Anne loves OoC and the musical outlet it's provided for her three (and some fraction) years here. Though tech is too ridiculous to let her continue with her vast array of musical instruments, she has (reluctantly but happily) narrowed her gaze to just chamber music and a cappella. In her copious amounts of free time, she studies Astrophysics.

Xiao Xu - Bass Bassus Maximus Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me.

Arthur Fitzmaurice - Baritone The Veritable OoC Copy Monkey In addition to being the Out of Context Copy Monkey and a confoundingly aberrant graduate student and RA in Caltech's Lloyd House, in his off hours, Arthur Fitzmaurice frequents nearby McDonald's as a hobby. He doesn't order anything, mysteriously; he merely stands near the soda fountain for hours on end. Since he usually recognizes none of the restaurant's patrons, he seldom speaks, and since he eats a big meal before his visit, he doesn't even bother to sit down. He usually looks curiously at the Mountain Dew label, craning his neck a bit forward, yet still with a bright smile, mouth closed. On occasion he has been known to flash a big, white-toothed smile without warning to nearby children, giving them a small fright. Kids react variously to him, some smiling and waving, some cringing, some even taking pictures with him. He likes to keep his clothes glossy and bright, and has a habit of waxing his yellow shoes before he goes. No one really knows why he likes going to McDonald's so much. Maybe he just likes the ambiance or the aroma of Chicken McNuggets. Maybe he gets some spending money on the side for his frequent visits. Maybe he sadistically likes to scare children. Maybe he spends his time there in pensive thought. Maybe he just has nothing better to do with his time. The world may never know - but this is sure; while he's there, he's lovin' it.

Andrew Lai - Tenor Nth Person Whose Name Starts With A I look so cool. Check out my awesome sunglasses and my star-power smile. I feel like I should be in Hollywood. Then I would get more admirers than, like, Johnny Depp. I bet I could take him in a coolness competition. He would be like, 'I can't even compete with this guy, he's just too cool.' Is my hair perfect? Let me get my comb and water spritzer - wait, I can't reach it. I knew I should've put those around my neck for one-touch access. I'll tell my agent to make it happen for me. Wow, this sand is comfortable. It doesn't feel at all like what that guy in that bad science fantasy movie said about sand being coarse and rough and irritating. It feels like a full-body massage. Much better than the one I got last week at Beverly Hills. Those theraputic mats were too soft. Hmm, wait a minute. Are those mine down there? When'd I get those? Oh well, I might as well learn to live with them. Oh shoot. I forgot to wear undrwear again. I hope the paparazzi aren't around to see me when I get out of this sand massage session. There are already enough scandalous pictures of me online on Facebook.

Matthew Feldman - Baritone Funny Man Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me. Write me.

Chuck Yee - Tenor / Percussion (2003-2004) Formerly and Still Currently Awesome As a new member to OOC, Chuck was not only constantly amazed at the talent, but also at the general awesomeness of those who surrounded him in biweekly merry-singing-ment. In the group, Chuck enjoys vocal percussing, procuring large amounts of spittle while vocal percussing, singing tenor, and hoping the group does not discover he is truly a soprano. Perhaps his most vital realization of this whole acappella business can by summarized by the following inequality: OOC > FOOD To prevent Chuck from writing any more rubbish as evidenced by the previous lines, he would like to close by thanking his fellow singers in crime for providing this superly-d-duperly-cool opportunity.

Ryan "Hampster" Olf - Tenor (2001-2003) Ooc-casionally Less Than Dressed Ryan astounded OoC right from the start. He auditioned with Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" sung entirely in falsetto, and he even busted a little Louis Armstrong impression. Since then Ryan has become known in our group for his non-stop antics and crazy sense of humor. He has a lot of random impulses and never fights the urge to share them with the group. He has a tendency to take off his clothes when we don't duct tape them to his body, but he is overall one of the most amazing soloists and performers that OoC has seen.

Mick Garvey - Tenor (2000-2004) Communist Propagandist and Applied Bubble-Blower Having recently retired from his highly affluent career as a mob henchman specializing in the extortion of large sums of money from socks, Mick finally realized his lifelong dream of finding his long-lost genetic twin and fellow Vulcan, Paymer of Schlock. Upon Mick's auditioning for Out of Context, it was discovered that he had actually never had any Vulcan ears, and yet he had still managed to convince the U.S. Supreme court that the American people had no voting rights in years with three zeroes in them. Mick was accepted into the group immediately. Hailed as "Paymer, Jr." and "that warty guy with the really big tumor", members of the group poked him incessantly. When doctors informed Out of Context that the gargantuan tumor was in fact another head, it was nicknamed "Boopsie" and OoC began renting Mick out to the local sideshow, thus resulting in the now infamous, multi-million dollar debacle that was first term, 2000.

Craig Chu - Bass (2000-2004) Owner of the Original Team Craig Car Craig hails from Arlington, TX, a city itself twice the size of Pasadena, CA, but virtually unknown because it resides between Dallas and Fort Worth. He has been singing since the age of 12 when he joined his junior high school choir (go eagles!) and hasn't looked back since. Through junior high and high school, he has been a member of three show choirs and the Martin High School Chamber Singers, whose England/Scotland tour Craig rates as his most memorable high school experience (go warriors!). Now in the class of 2004 at Caltech, Craig is a member of the Chamber Singers and Glee Club in addition to Out of Context. He says he wishes he had auditioned for Ecphonema, the men's a cappella group on campus, if only to crowd his schedule a bit more. He plans to study and, time and mood permitting, find a career after graduation. Time not permitting, please spare Craig a quarter should he choose to ask the next time you meet him.

David Kurtz - Baritone (2001-2003) Not to be Confused with David Hasselhoff David hails from Idaho Falls, ID. Please, don't laugh. While he came to OoC from the great potato state, he considers his home in Midland, MI. Or possibly Plymouth, MN. While he's majoring in chemistry, his heart has always been in music. Whether it be piano, cello, vocals, or guitar, (which he picked up when he learned that chicks dig that stuff), music has been a constant in David's life. It's said the sequel to a great movie is never as good as the original. But then how do they explain great movies like Rocky II-V? David is the brother of Chris Kurtz, a former member of OoC turned med school student. Sometimes people get confused with another Kurtz around, in OoC, and majoring in chemistry, but then they realize that David is vastly better looking than Chris, and the world makes sense again.

Elizabeth Marie MacWilliams-Brooks - Alto (2000-2003) Ultra-Mega-Crack-Whoring and Hooters Technology Elizabeth was born on January 22, 1981 in Albuquerque, NM at which point she immediately abandoned her full name for a much shorter version. Now known to friends as Lisa, she comes to Caltech from Colorado Springs, CO with high hopes of actually choosing a career path! She tends to enjoy pretty much everything she encounters and maintains a reasonable to slightly excessive level of energy as long as she gets her four hours of sleep a night. Her fascination with music has been a lifelong experience, so it is not surprising that she has excellent taste in music and musicians. Her favorite composers are Bach and Nate Paymer, her favorite song is the Barber Adagio for Strings, and her least favorite song is "I've Been Working on the Railroad." Lisa started her own music career with her church's children's choir when she was six years old and has been singing in choral groups ever since. She has been ringing English Handbells for six years and has played the violin for eleven. The Colo. Springs Youth Symphony tour of Australia and New Zealand (including a performance in the Sydney Opera House) was one of the highlights of her high school years. She also very much enjoyed organizing a semi-professional string quartet, although it is doubtful whether she will ever be able to listen to the Canon in D again without laughing and crying at the same time! Lisa comes from a family full of great singers - all three of her little sisters are lovely sopranos and her mom is currently acting in a musical production in the role of a German opera star! She never thought of herself as one of the real singers in the family until she was enlightened by the experience of OoC. She loves a cappella because it is creative and beautiful, and she loves singing with Out of Context because it's challenging and relaxed at the same time. She looks forward to singing, arranging, and composing?! with OoC for the rest of her years at Caltech.

Nathaniel Austin - Tenor / Percussion (1998-2003) Whose Last Name is Better than Your First Name Nate loves to sing. He's extended a couple years of choral training with the vastly superior experience which comes from constantly singing along with the radio. Perhaps our most irrepressible member (at least when percussing on stage), Nate enjoys being expressive with music and "singing with a group of talented individuals"... how he flatters us : ) . This is his third year in OoC, and in his words, "it's only getting better". Nate is from Newbury Park, CA, and is also involved in lots of other crazy stuff here at Caltech.

Niky Morgan - Sopralto (2000-2003) Dancing Queen, Young and Sweet, Only Seventeen This photo captures GoGo Niky in one of her more demure states, but normally she is one lean, mean gogo-dancing machine. Never one for traditional routes, Niky does not showcase her mad gogo skills in the typical settings (TV shows such as Soul Train or Solid Gold); she saves her mojo moves for OoC alone. Being a practical woman, Niky realizes that there is not much of a job market for gogo dancers these days, so she has broadened her resume with such other activities as contortionism and two years of belly dance training. Niky has also prepared a fallback career in the event that her plan to become a professional gogo dancer fails: lounge singing. Niky would happily follow in the path of her idol, the Sex Bomb himself, Mr. Tom Jones. Niky's dance grooves are inspired by dancers such as Britney Spears, the USC Sirens and the Bombshell dancers from the TV show Happy Hour. Her sweet singing style is inspired by singers such as Lea Salonga, Toni Braxton and her high school choral director, Mrs.

Evan Dorn - Bass / Percussion (1999-2001) A Cappella Maestro Evan Dorn has been singing and performing a cappella since 1992, singing bass and vocal percussion as a member of six different bands. When he first came to Caltech in 1997 he co-founded Ecphonema and the first incarnation of Out of Context to bring men's and mixed groups to the school, which previously had only a women's ensemble. He took a hiatus from OoC in 1998 and Ecphonema in 1999 to focus on other projects, including the LA professional band Primitive Soul. During that time, he also had a lead singing role in the February 2000 a cappella musical film "My Chorus", directed by Richard Doherty. This year he's returned to OoC to jam with a fantastic group that he believes has matured and strengthed greatly in the last two years.

Jared Updike - Bass / Percussion (1999-2001, 2005) I Can't Believe It's Not Jared Jared began his musical career at around the age of 5 or 6, when he would bother his older brother immensly by making weird sound effects. This would later prove invaluable for vocal percussion--which to this day he completely fakes. He started piano lessons in second grade, and ended his piano career the same year. Looking back, Jared remarked, "That was the dumbest thing I ever did, besides gluing my thumb to my index finger." In fourth and fifth grade, he played viola very poorly and called it quits in sixth grade. Was this to be the end for our (musical?) hero? No! For around the same time he bought his first guitar, he also discovered the hymnbook. And once he began to sing that bottom line in church, it spelled certain D-O-O-M for Out of Context, if but years later. Jared lives happily with his three guitars in Pasadena, CA.

Nathan Paymer - Tenor / Percussion (1999-2001) Making Math Look Easy Primarily a jazz and rock drummer, Nate began singing in spring 2000 as another method of annoying his friends and co-workers, who had gotten used to his incessant tapping and clicking. Nate also enjoys arranging music such as "Girl From Ipanema - Limp Bizkit Style" and "A Cappella Porn Soundtrack in 7/4". In his free time, Nate likes to bang on things and gamble for Snickers Bars.

Joe Cook - Tenor / Percussion (1999-2001) From Normal, IL Back around the beginning of time, God created Singers. He bestowed upon them many great talents, including blending, tuning, and harmonizing. It was a day of joy and celebration, and He said, "Let us jam!" And they did, and it was good. But afterwards, God discovered He had some sound left over, and this he called Noise, and he gave it to this random dude named Joe who had missed the whole Singing shebang, with instructions that he should keep the Noise hidden from everyone, because it sucked. God then went over to Elvis's place, ate some fried peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches, and forgot about the whole thing. So Joe did take the Noise, and said to himself, "Ah, who needs training?" And lo, he did sing in many many musicals in high school, kicked much ass as Pontius Pilate in JCS, and got the shaft instead of getting the role of The Plant in Little Shop. And then as a senior he joined a so-called jazz-dance group and bitched with the director for sucking worse than he did, and at the first performance of the group they did foolishly choreograph him to be directly in front of the one microphone that was working, so that the audience did think unto themselves, "Good God, what is this Noise?!?" And lo, Joe quit the group the next day, saying, I shall go to Caltech and form a group based on my Noise, and name it after some far-out Greek-sounding nonsense word like Ecphonoronovich. And he did. But then did this black and evil nasty thing called Math come and shove much pain up Joe's behind, and he ran from the darkness and did become a liberal arts student at a technical institute. And lo, the Holy Thesis was just as much a pain in the ass as was Math, so Joe dropped Ecphonewhatsit until his advisor did say, aw, screw it, just do it over the summer. Thus, with the truly exalted experience called Free Time did Joe decide to take his Noise to the unsuspecting groove kings and queens of OoC, and he inhaled helium right before auditions so they might think he was a tenor, and they did bite it, hook, line, and sinkereth. Amen.