A Cappella Showcase
Under the bright lights of the assembly stage, a group of singers walk up to the stage, prepared to sing for the eager crowd. Cheers erupt from the audience, and In Essence begins with “Wisely and Slow”. The audience listens, deeply engaged.
On Friday, the a cappella clubs had a showcase in the Assembly Hall, with many students attending the event to listen and show their support. After their first song, In Essence performed a second song, “Quiet” by MILCK. In Essence was followed by the Fermatas, who sang “Heroes” by Alesso. Then, the PEADs sang “Tessellate” by Alt-J and “Geronimo” by Sheppard. After the PEADs came Sans Hommes, who sang “Hell No” by Ingrid Michaelson and “I Want it That Way” by the Backstreet Boys. Finally, the Exeteras ended the night with “Moondance” by Van Morrison and “Till There was You” by The Beatles.
To prepare for the showcase, the different a cappella groups practiced their routines extensively. Upper and member of Sans Hommes Anna Reaman explained that her group spent many different nights working on “perfecting each and every note”. Lower and member of PEADs Dylan Yin elaborated, saying that his group has been “preparing for this showcase [since] the beginning of spring term.” Yin described the aspects of the performance that his group focused on the most: “The main things we go over are making sure we all are together as a group, and we have the right sort of energy.” All of that hard work certainly paid off for the showcase.
“The point of this showcase was to allow the people to enjoy the moment and to connect with each other through music.”
Many of the a cappella groups performed four times during the week of the showcase; once at the the Multicultural Fly Inn, another time at Experience Exeter, again at the showcase and finally at Relay for Life. In their performances, the singers strived to bring joy to their audience. According to senior Cory Mengden, “One of the things the a capella groups tried to do was sound good as a group and have fun. During the showcase, we wanted to make sure that the crowd had fun too.”
Echoing Mengden’s sentiment, Yin explained that the showcase was all about cultivating interpersonal bonds. He stated, “The point of this showcase was to allow the people to enjoy the moment and to connect with each other through music.” Senior and co-head of the Exeteras Marichi Gupta agreed. “It was a pretty successful night. I think it was a fun night for everybody, and that’s all that matters in the end.”
For their part, the crowd at the showcase was very excited for the a cappella groups’ performance. Prep Miguel Shetreet described the performance as “a great time to be with friends and listen to a great performance.” Many audience members enjoyed the skill of the a capella groups. “[The showcase] illustrates the talent you can find on campus,” said prep Nick Schwarz.
Due to the great turnout, some performers felt anxious before the performance. “The group got kind of nervous before getting on stage,” Gupta explained. “The other co-heads and I had never been that nervous before.” However, soon many of the performers’ fears were assuaged when they witnessed the audience’s support. “[It] turns out they were encouraging and received our music well,” Gupta said. Other performers similarly praised the audience for its support. “It was also really fun to be able to sing in front of such an energetic crowd and make their Saturday night even more lively and energetic,” Reaman added.
Despite the the success of the showcase, many a cappella group members agreed that there are still some areas of improvement for future performances. Mengden explained that listening is a key part of a cappella performances, and encouraged his peers to stay in tune with everyone else. “If you are not listening you could hypothetically ruin a song,” he said. Prep and Exeteras member Jack Liu revealed that his group hadn’t fully memorized all the lyrics ahead of time and were forced to memorize them minutes before their performance. In the same vein, Reaman noted that Sans Hommes can improve on their engagement while singing, by moving around and smiling more. On a more positive note, though, she expressed her optimism about the group’s future, mentioning that the group was already making improvements.
For many in attendance, the highlight of the night was the promposal at the end of the showcase. A fellow Exeteras member handed a bouquet of roses to senior Joonho Jo, who had just completed the night’s final solo. Then, Jo invited upper Alyssa Kuwana on stage, and asked her to prom. She said yes. The two embraced, which resulted in cheers and applause; the scene warmed everyone’s heart. Reaman said, “The promposal was definitely one of the best and most sincere ones I have ever witnessed.”