SUNY Fredonia alumnus Chris Celiz (far right), with fellow Beatbox House members (from left): Amit Bhowmick, Neil “NaPom” Meadows and Gene Shinozaki, deliver a rousing performance in the William Center's Blue Lounge.
Students had a front-row seat to experience Beatbox – a growing musical style phenomenon that pushes the boundaries of sounds that can be produced by the human voice – courtesy of ’12 alumnus Chris Celiz, who brought members of his Beatbox House – a collective of world champion Beatboxers – to campus.
“We just make music; we don’t use any instruments – that’s an easier version of how to describe it,” Mr. Celiz said in describing Beatbox. “We’re kind of like a rock band, but we (create music) with our mouths.”
If you have a hard time wrapping your arms around Beatbox, think of actor/comedian Michael Winslow, known as “The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects,” from “Police Academy” movies. Beatbox, which evolved from hip-hop music, recreates rhythmic percussive sounds through the mouth, especially when accompanied by rhymes or rapping.
“It’s similar, but what we are exploring is how to create different sounds using extended techniques . . . replicating a lot of sounds that we hear, which is what Winslow does,” Celiz said. “I think, for us, we’re just doing the same thing; we’re creating music just in the 2023 fashion, hearing things that are happening in popular music (today) and replicating them with our voices. We are continuing that tradition.”
Celiz and three Beatbox House colleagues – there are five core members altogether, each from a different part of the country – dazzled an audience of students, faculty and community members in the Blue Lounge at the start of the semester. That day also marked the beginning of Beatbox House’s week-long residency at Chautauqua Institution.
Their campus appearance was co-sponsored by the Fredonia Technology Incubator as part of its Arts and Business Series, along with the School of Music and Fredonia Alumni Association.
“In this event, we were able to feature the work of a successful alum and have students interacting with a group of amazing musicians from diverse backgrounds – culturally and experientially – with whom students could see themselves represented,” explained School of Music Professor Jill Reese. In so many ways, the performers helped the audience to explore the intersections of identity, diversity and inclusion through their music.
“Beyond sharing a mind-blowing performance, they also engaged the audience of students and professors (and music teachers and residents from Chautauqua county) in considering the ‘possibilities’ represented by their stories as artists, entrepreneurs, community educators, and citizens of the world,” added Dr. Reese, who teaches Music Education.
Each artist is a soloist, educator and musician, and their ability to work together and bring a communal vibe unlike any other gives the audience a one-of-a-kind experience,” Reese explained. “It leaves them with a new possibility of what human beings are capable of and inspires people to take action on what’s truly possible for themselves,” Reese added.
“We just make music; we don’t use any instruments – that’s an easier version of how to describe it. We’re kind of like a rock band, but we (create music) with our mouths.” – Chris Celiz
The sounds that Celiz and his crew were making didn’t even seem real, remarked Department of Theatre and Dance Professor Ted Sharon.
“I kept looking over at the board operator to see if he was pumping effects through their mics. You don’t believe it until you see it happening, blink a few times, and then double check the impossible sounds your ears are hearing,” added Mr. Sharon, who is also the incubator’s entrepreneur-in-residence and presided over the question-and-answer session.
Celiz believes majoring in Music Education at Fredonia helped to facilitate the creation of Beatbox House and, combined with striving to bring out the best of his students when he taught music to students in kindergarten through eighth grade in New York City for five years, mirrors his philosophy of life.
“Practicing and studying at Fredonia really helped with curating a space that was safe enough for everyone to express themselves, that’s the best way that Fredonia helped with that. It definitely played a part in helping to make that happen,” Celiz said.
At Fredonia, Celiz, studied clarinet and saxophone all four years, played in the Fredonia Jazz Ensemble and Weapons of Jazz Destruction, along with the College Symphony Orchestra, sang in the University Chorus and was a member of the a cappella group “Much More Chill.” He counts among his favorite teachers Reese, who he remembers as being very passionate and insightful; Emeritus Lecturer Bruce Johnstone, who taught how to emote, and Associate Professor Andrew Seigel, who taught “a lot about life through our lessons with him.”
Celiz left teaching in 2019 to pursue a career as a full-time teaching artist and performer. Beatbox House has performed all over the world through American Music Abroad, a program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, and entered numerous competitions in Asia, Europe and both North and South America.
“I never thought this was going to be my career after graduation, that Beatbox House was something that I would do, but it’s a thing that I love to do,” Celiz said. “That’s kind of carried me in life. I’m just open to see what the rest of life has to offer.”
"The students were thrilled with the four of them – they stayed and talked with them in small groups as if they were old friends long after the night was officially over,” Sharon said. “But, that's Fredonia - it's a special place. There is a welded link between students and alumni that holds them together in friendship and appreciation even when they haven't met before. It's a connection that naturally crosses over the years and without compulsion."
Celiz and Beatbox House were gentlemen-artists through and through, Sharon added. “Their focus was on making a real connection with people and the best music they were capable of. You couldn't be prouder of an alumnus, and could ask for a better example for our current students."
