Headshot of Craig Simonetti
Alum

Craig Simonetti

Instructor
Affiliated Departments
Voice
Personal Websites
Craig Simonetti's website

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Craig Simonetti is a member of Backtrack Vocals and has been beatboxing in a cappella groups for eight years. He's been beatboxing competitively for three years, and along with his beatbox tag team partner Michael Wingate, holds the title of 2v2 Vice Champion in the 2019 American Beatbox Championship held in New York City and the 2019 Great North Battle held in Toronto.

Simonetti works in everything from arranging to production, from performing as a beatboxer to singing at weddings and funerals. A vocal specialist who is constantly looking for new hats, he's always expanding his knowledge of the voice and using it to inform his teaching and performing. He specializes in educating young a cappella performers, using his expertise in vocal pedagogy and beatboxing to conduct workshops for groups in the Greater Boston area as well as in New York City. His arrangements can be heard in Backtrack, in the Boston-based group Blacklight, and in the former collegiate group the Hexachords, featured on season 2 of Sing It On! on Pop TV. He has also arranged for high school a cappella groups in the Greater Boston area.

Career Highlights
  • Member of Backtrack Vocals, a five-person professional singing group based in New York City (also a beatboxer, arranger, and recording engineer for Backtrack) and Forest Fire, an internationally recognized beatbox tag team
  • Freelance vocalist for weddings, funerals, and choirs, among others
  • Featured beatboxer on the Hexachords' album Move on Spotify
In Their Own Words

"The modern singer wears many hats. I want my students to understand differences in vowel shape, what it means to be connected to their breath and body, style and genre requirements, and all of the different sounds their voices can make. Learning to sing was such a nebulous concept before I learned that singing is just making sounds in a musical manner. I want my students to develop their flexibility and skill set so that they can confidently approach challenges in their repertoire in a variety of styles."

Flexibility and conditioning have become paramount in my career as a tenor and beatboxer. By increasing range and versatility as well as reinforcing healthy vocal habits, I have been able to add sounds to my repertoire and find my place in a variety of genres and styles. I know what it takes to juggle the many sounds required of the modern vocalist and how to teach my students to become more marketable musicians."