As Adrian Rangel-Sanchez stands in front of the classroom teaching choir, anyone can tell that he loves teaching almost as much as he loves music just by looking at the smiles on both his and his students’ faces and listening to the laughter in the air. However, not many students know just how long Rangel-Sanchez has been involved in Irvine music; when Rangel-Sanchez was a junior, he started University High’s first a cappella group: the Footnotes.

Rangel-Sanchez and his friends decided to start the Footnotes when they became frustrated with their choir program’s disorganized rotation of teachers and decided they wanted a better experience than what they were getting from class.

“In the beginning, we were kind of a mess,” Rangel-Sanchez said. “We rehearsed wherever we could, so sometimes we rehearsed at a church, sometimes at school. We also performed wherever we could, just going around different classrooms performing during lunch and office hours for different teachers’ clubs.”

Rangel-Sanchez said he cherishes his memories from the Footnotes. One especially close to his heart is the end-of-the-year concert he and his friends organized during his senior year.

“All the music was arranged by members, and we had a full set of music along with a really challenging piece called ‘A Boy and a Girl’ by Eric Whitacre, and we managed to get it together,” Rangel-Sanchez said. “I was so proud of all we had accomplished. That concert was actually what inspired me to become a choir teacher.”

To this day, the Footnotes are an institution at University High. Students eagerly try out year after year, hoping to be a part of the magic.

Andrew Yoon, a junior in the Footnotes, remembers hearing the group in middle school.

“They sounded amazing, and everyone had fun while singing, so when I came to Uni, I auditioned for it,” Yoon said. “My favorite part about the Footnotes is definitely the people and the music we make just using our voices. We’re one big family looking out for each other, and that’s what makes the Footnotes so special.”