“There's nothing radically different about what we do,” says Thom Mariner, founding member of the a cappella octet, VoiceBox. “We're just, little by little, trying to find an audience.”

        VoiceBox, Cincinnati's premiere a cappella ensemble, began making a local name for itself in 1994, as voxhumana. Now, two CDs, several personnel changes and a name change later, the group hopes to beef up its image and maybe turn some heads outside of the Tristate.

        The vocalists will kick off their season today at Cincinnati Art Museum. If it all works out, they'll eventually call the museum home, and become ensemble-in-residence. They are “spreading our wings” to include performances throughout Ohio, as well as student outreach programs.

        Their show is classic VoiceBox — a musical grab-bag from Cindy Lauper and John Lennon to Josquin des Prez and their own Jeff Buettner (who sings bass).

        “I've always felt we made an impact with unique programming and some recognition of something that's our own,” says Mr. Mariner, one of three singers remaining from voxhumana. To play up that uniqueness, the group plans to emphasize new commissions and will write and arrange more songs themselves.

        Finding a niche has been a stumbling block for a genre that Mr. Mariner says is “still pretty hot, but in it's own little world.”

        Even though there are a number of hot a cappella groups — such as Anonymous 4, Tallis Scholars, Hilliard Ensemble and the King's Singers, it's hard to get noticed, and radio stations typically shy from programming vocal music.

        And, although a search of “a cappella” on the Web calls up 161,000 sites, their style of singing is a lot different from collegiate a cappella or barbershop.

        Today's concert, for instance, will reflect the spirit of the art exhibit, European Masterpieces: Six Centuries of Paintings from the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia. They call their program a human timeline.

        “Many works are portraits of people in daily life,” says alto Elise Hyder, who joined in 1998. “We took that common element of what we experience as human beings: birth, childhood, adulthood, losing parents, our own mortality, death and eternity.”

        Soprano Maureen Boylan wrote a script that will weave between the musical selections, tying each piece with observations on life. “We'll also share some personal stories dealing with life changes. It will be an intense, emotional journey,” Ms. Hyder says.

        Their journey through 500 years of music will include three world premieres by Mr. Buettner and several arrangements by members. With Stephen Sondheim and Lerner & Loewe tossed in, they show they plan to stay “outside the box.”

        “We thought we could do something predictable and academic. But then we thought, that was too normal,” Mr. Mariner says.
       

IF YOU GO
               • What: VoiceBox: “Time after Time”

        •

        When: 7 p.m. today •

        Where: Cincinnati Art Museum

        •

        Tickets: $20 (includes admission to the special exhibition, European Masterpieces: Six Centuries of Paintings from the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia), 721-2787.

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