Alumni Stories
Clark Moore ’09
Clark Moore ’09 (fourth from the left) is a member of the Dartmouth Aires, an A Capella group who are starring on the “The Sing Off” on Monday nights on NBC. Here is an interview with Clark about his experience on the show and how Paideia helped pave the way to his success.
- How long have you been singing with The Dartmouth Aires?
I joined The Aires as a first-year so now I'm in my third year with the group. - Is this the first time you have competed as a group?
This is the first time we have competed on this level. We usually don't do competitions because we prefer to just get joy out of entertaining our audiences but we took a chance on The Sing Off and it's been an amazing experience. - How/when did you apply for the show?
We auditioned in the spring of last year. We drove down to Boston and sang a couple of songs in front of a camera wearing our wacky clothes and just having a great time. - How are you handling your school work with all the pressures of the show?
Fortunately, the show has not gotten in the way of our schoolwork. - Where do you tape the show?
The show is filmed in LA. - What is the best experience you have had on the show so far?
The best experience from doing the show is definitely meeting the other groups. What's so amazing about the sing off is that the talent is just through the roof. Everyone is so inspiring and I've learned so much from all of the other groups. - Is Ben Folds really that nice?
Ben Folds is great! He's so nice and really helpful with his criticism. Honestly, though, he's the judge that scares me the most because I never know what he's going to say! - What are your plans after the show?
After the show I hope I can get the opportunity to bring The Aires down to Paideia. I was originally inspired to do A Capella in college because of the numerous A Cappella groups that came through when I was there. We have our New England winter tour scheduled for the beginning of holiday break and we are looking for places to travel and perform for our spring tour in mid-march. We also just released our new album "Fresh Aire" and we have started working on our next one. - Did Paideia have any influence over your path to this experience?
Who was influential (teacher, counselor, etc)? Paideia was extremely influential in my development as a performer. Thanks to the tremendous support from Georgia Ekonomou and Kate Murray who worked with me musically, I had the confidence to audition for a Cappella when I first got to Dartmouth. Through my experiences with musical theatre and drama at Paideia, Jane Harmon and Jesse Evans helped me develop a high level of comfort on stage. I thank all of them for making me into the performer I am today. Paideia is my family and I am grateful for everyone who taught me, formally or informally, and for the overwhelming amount of support I received growing up there and am now receiving as the show is airing.