The Stanford Harmonics, also known as The Harmonics, are a co-ed a cappella group from Stanford University. Known for their alternative rock repertoire and award-winning recordings, the Harmonics have garnered international recognition for their performances and have been featured on BOCA, Sing, and Voices Only a cappella compilations. The Harmonics are one of the few collegiate a cappella groups that own their own wireless microphone equipment and have developed a live performance style that includes the use of electronic distortion and sound effects.
The group's third release, Insanity Laughs (1999), was received as a "breakthrough album" for the unprecedented mixing of its drum-like vocal percussion.
In 2009, their landmark studio album Escape Velocity won three Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards, including Best Mixed Collegiate Album, and was selected by the Recorded A Cappella Review Board as one of their Picks of the Decade.
In 2010, the Harmonics won the A Cappella Community Awards for Favorite Mixed Collegiate Group and Favorite Scholastic Album.
In 2020, their album Signal Lost won Best Rock Album from the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards.
Their newest album Event Horizon, a concept album centered around grief, was released in August 2025.
The Stanford Harmonics have released eleven full-length albums, one "greatest hits" album, and one extended play, alongside numerous singles.
|- | 1998 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Album | Escalator Music | | |- | rowspan="2" | 2000 | rowspan="2" | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Album | Insanity Laughs | | rowspan="2" | |- | Best Mixed Collegiate Arrangement | Jonathan Pilat | |- | rowspan="2" | 2002 | rowspan="2" | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Album | Phonoshop | | |- | Best Mixed Collegiate Arrangement | Jonathan Pilat for "We Are In Love" | style="background: #F4F2B0" | | |- | 2004 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Song | "Lady Marmalade" from Rock Beats Scissors | style="background: #F4F2B0" | | |- | rowspan="2" | 2006 | rowspan="2" | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Album | Shadowplay | | rowspan="2" | |- | Best Mixed Collegiate Solo | Bryan Tan for "The Memory Remains" | |- | rowspan="4" | 2009 | rowspan="4" | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Album | Escape Velocity | | rowspan="4" | |- | Best Mixed Collegiate Song | "The Sound of Silence" | |- | rowspan="2" | Best Mixed Collegiate Arrangement | Charlie Forkish for "The Sound of Silence" | |- | Charlie Forkish for "Imagination" | style="background: #F4F2B0" |
|- | 2010 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Song | "Spiel Met Mir" from Sing Six: Sunny Side Up | | |- | rowspan="3" | 2014 | rowspan="3" | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Collegiate Album | Midnight Hour | | rowspan="3" | |- | Best Mixed Collegiate Song | "Somebody to Love" | |- | Best Mixed Collegiate Arrangement | Evan Smith for "Somebody to Love" | |- | 2018 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Electronic / Experimental Album | Fault of Imagination | | |- | rowspan="3" | 2020 | rowspan="3" | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Rock Album | Signal Lost | | rowspan="1" | |- | Best Rock Song | "Zombie" from Signal Lost | | rowspan="2" | |- | Best Mixed Collegiate Album | Signal Lost | |- | 2022 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Mixed Voices Collegiate Solo | Mitchell Zimmerman for "Ever After" (Single) | | |- | 2022 | Best of College A Cappella | Featured Single âÂÂBad Liarâ | Single | |
The International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) first judged live a cappella performance competitions in 1996.