The group was founded in 1979 by sophomores Linda Chin and Joyce Rogers, to provide a female-oriented alternative to the
Stanford Mendicants, an all-male group and the only a cappella group on campus at the time. The group was named "Counterpoint" because Rogers played the Harpsichord in high school and the concept of musical counterpoint is essential to the Baroque music she enjoyed playing. At first, the women of Counterpoint performed with an upright bass and occasional other instruments. The group's first performed song ("
Java Jive") featured an upright bass and received a standing ovation at their first performance in the spring of 1979. Also in 2019, Stanford Counterpoint celebrated their 40th anniversary with a reunion concert featuring generations of alumnae. In 2019, Stanford Counterpoint released their 14th studio album (
Close to Home) and an accompanying music video for the track "
God is a Woman". Both works are entirely performed/recorded/produced by women. The track "
Light of a Clear Blue Morning" was selected for the Recorded A Cappella Review Board's 2019 "Picks of the Year" and their music video for has been nominated for an A Cappella Video Award. As of 2020, Counterpoint has been nominated for 14 a cappella recording-related awards and honors including Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award (CARA) award nominations and
Best Of College A Cappella (BOCA) compilation album features. Many of these nominations were thanks to the work of Counterpoint's long-time audio engineer
Bill Hare. == Discography ==