Pinewood’s a capella group, Take Note, was formed in 2015, making this the 10th year of their existence. The group’s name originated from one of the first group members, David Ness, wanting to pay homage to one of the great early a capella groups, Take 6.

   Take Note consists of seniors Mia Gustavson, Caroline Blotter, Josephine Tu, and Leo Gray,  junior Malaika Boros, and sophomores Ryan Gustavson and Ellis Matula.

   “We used to have a group of up to 14 kids, but over time it developed into an audition-based group,” Linza said. “Every year, I’m not looking for a certain number necessarily; I just want to find a group of voices that work together, so the group has actually gotten smaller over the years.”

   Linza also said that being so small puts more weight on each individual singer performance-wise.

“Musically, it’s a challenge for the singers, and I think that’s a very cool challenge,” Linza said. “You can’t hide in the music, everybody’s part is so vital and there’s sort of this clarity of sound.”

   On the community aspect of the group, Gustavson said that the close environment has led Take Note to become an incredibly tight-knit group.

   “All the rehearsals are just like friends joking around and having fun,” Gustavson said. “All of us genuinely enjoy it so much… It’s just so much fun, both because of the people in it and because all of us are so passionate about it. It’s such a cool environment and very special.”

   With this close bond, the group continues to grow as the years progress, delving deeper into more complex songs.

   “I love this year and the last few years we’ve been getting to sing some really complex and challenging arrangements,” Linza said. “The groups every year keep getting better and better. This group is doing some really sophisticated stuff and to kind of hear these kids, like Ryan and Ellis, they’re only 10th graders, they’re really young, to hear them nail this very adult, sophisticated harmony is very rewarding.”

   This month, Take Note will compete in the International Championship of High School Acapella. The competition begins on Feb. 7, where the group will start off at the quarterfinals.

   In addition to their competition plans, the group has just finished recording their latest extended play for this year after their sixth EP’s release last month.

   “We just got out of the studio,” Linza said. “We record four to five songs like an EP every year and we just did that last weekend, which hopefully will be released in May, and then the group is going to do the Santa Cruz Jazz Festival in March.” 

   Despite all of the performance-based checkpoints in the group’s yearly routine, the core value of the group remains elsewhere, deep in the members’ close connections with each other.

   “The main value is to have fun,” Gustavson said. “That’s pretty much all we do. The reason that we do it is just for fun. I mean, yes we compete, but we’re not really serious about that as much. It’s mostly just for fun, It’s mostly just the joy of singing and being together as friends and as a group that makes being a part of Take Note so special.”