Noteworthy News

Noteworthy 2009-10 and Kaity & I, both Alumni

Five years ago a BYU student named Esther Yoder decided to start a 9-girl a cappella group. She recruited 2 other students, Dave Brown and Dan Dunn, to help her found the group which would be called Noteworthy. As for me, I was too eager to dance to be interested in singing the semester the group was to hold auditions. But fate, or maybe it was my feet, had other plans. One snowboarding trip and a bunny hill later, my feet were fumbling and my knee-cap was dislocating. So much for dance that semester.

I needed another creative outlet. A friend and co-worker, Leora, found a flyer on campus announcing auditions for "Noteworthy," and urged Shannon and I to try out with her. Half interested in doing something creative, half being pulled along by my friend, I found myself in line to audition. And I made it! And Dan Dunn later became my husband. And if you thought that right about now is when I write, "And the point of Noteworty and why it means so much to me is because it brought Dan & I together," you'd only be partially right. Truth is, Noteworthy introduced me to two of my dearest friends, Esther Yoder and Rosa Parma, introduced me to my husband, provided me with wonderful college memories..... and only 5 years later has earned nothing short of an international reputation.

Our first year as "Noteworthy," us gals and our directors sat down and created a dream sheet -- things we hoped the group would amount to over the next 10-20 years. On that list we wrote that we'd like to produce albums, compete and someday win ICCA, tour internationally, etc. In just 5 short years the talented and motivated members, alumni, supporters, and directors have accomplished all of the above and more. Noteworthy, our little fun fling of a female singing group, recently competed on NBC's "The Sing Off," has been invited to compete internationally in Hong Kong, has placed first internationally at ICCA, and has gained the kind of fans that aren't at concerts because they are related to the singers, but because they are actual fans! At Noteworthy's most recent concert, the singers were actually selling autographed posters. And even more incredible was that people were paying to own them!

Dan and I sat in the audience so enamored with these girls who are special to us in a way they won't ever know. They have nurtured and grown Noteworthy from something we loved and helped begin into a lasting legacy, one which will include many other members over the years and provide them with the same meaningful memories, friendships, and experiences it provided us with. And as they continue to grow in status and success, the entity "Noteworthy" will continue to make us proud and connect past, present, and future members with the common thread of being a part of something that is special to all of us.