Being part of a �ֲ���ý a cappella group is fun — no question. But the fun has a function, says Kelly McDonald ’19 of Whately, Mass., a member of the Crosstones, part of the college’s thriving a cappella scene.

“It’s a great way to connect to people, a great way to learn about myself, and to learn about my friends.”

This video by Theophil Syslo features Crosstones interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and performances over the last two academic years, including the group’s Back to �ֲ���ý concert on Oct. 6.

An a cappella audience, such as the jam-packed crowd that saw the traditional Back to �ֲ���ý concert in October, experience a polished performance. But each minute reflects hours of work.

Newcomer Nana Ankomah Baffoe ‘22 of Accra, Ghana, had the solo in “Sleep” by Allen Stone, and he was nervous about hitting the last note, the highest of the solo.

“I always get scared about that last note,” he said. “And when that note comes out, when you hear the applause, it’s such a relief,” he says. “But at the same time, you think, ‘I still want to sing! I don’t want to get off stage!'”

“I get so much joy out of the group. It’s just really fun to feed off the happy energy,” says Zach Collester ’19 of Shillington, Pa. “The things that I reap from this group are endless.”

At 9 p.m. on a Monday night, a hush fell over a darkened Memorial Commons. Then lights flashed on and the harmonies of a cappella filled the room.

The first big a cappella concert of the year, on the first day of Winter Carnival, featured a crowd-pleasing confluence of vocal talent and pop favorites.

The energy was reciprocated: Friends sang for friends in the audience, and friends cheered on their crooning friends.

“I found a group of brothers.”

For Walter Washington ’19 of Fleetwood, N.Y., singing with the Deansmen is central to being a �ֲ���ý student.

“I joined my sophomore year after feeling a little bit weird about being at �ֲ���ý and not really having that sense of community,” said Washington, who is also student government president. “So I found a group of brothers and knew from then on that whatever is going on, throughout the night they got my back.”

“A cappella is pretty amazing because it brings people together from all different walks of life,” said Sophie Mortman ’18 of Sharon, Conn., a member of Take Note.

For the high notes of the Winter Carnival a capella concert, take a look — and a listen.

The Deansmen

“If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys

The Merimanders

Mashup of “No Scrubs” by TLC and “No” by Meghan Trainor

TakeNote

“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen

The Manic Optimists

“Dreaming with a Broken Heart” by John Mayer

The Crosstones

“Wild Things” by Alessia Cara

https://vimeo.com/252595305

The �ֲ���ý community comprises many smaller ones, and no community harmonizes better than �����������������.

On Wednesday night, the Crosstones, one of �ֲ���ý’ half dozen a cappella groups, rehearsed in the Olin Arts center, and this camaraderie was in full voice.

“Crosstones are my favorite part about �ֲ���ý,” says Katie Allard ’19 of Ridgewood, N.J. “If I could have rehearsal 24/7, I would. It’s just like one big family.”

Newcomer Sam Findlen-Golden ’20 of Amherst, Mass., thoroughly enjoys being part of the bass section. “It’s a blast. We get all the low notes in the song and get to make all the ‘dum dum’ noises.” Singing with the group has set a sweet tone for his first year. “It was the first big thing I got into here and it’s been a formative thing in terms of going through my first year,” he says.

Luke McNabb '17 of Glastonbury, Conn., belts out the high notes in his solo of Aerosmith's "Dream On."

Maddie McLean '17 of Hood River, Ore., conducts the group.

After the group moves to an Olin classroom, Madeline Clark '20 of McLean, Va., works with her section on a challenging part of a song.

Members of the Manic Optimists, done with their own rehearsal elsewhere in Olin, watch and listen from the other side of the glass doors.

Sam Findlen-Golden '20 of Amherst, Mass., works to blend with fellow bass singers.

The group began rehearsal in a spot favored by ����������������� groups, thanks to its reverberant acoustics: the lobby between the closed doors of the �ֲ���ý Museum of Art and the rest of Olin, known as the glass box.

There, they ran through a few songs at full strength. While they were performing, members of the Manic Optimists, who had finished their own rehearsal elsewhere in Olin, gathered on the other side of the glass doors to watch and listen.

Here’s a clip from the Crosstones’ rendition of “All These Things That I’ve Done.”

Co-president Maddie McLean ’17 of Hood River, Ore., enjoys the role that music plays at �ֲ���ý. It’s a very inclusive, fun, and kind community. We all support each other and we all go to each other’s concerts,” she said. Declan Chu ’17 of Winthrop, Maine, adds,  “We push each other to be better.”

Chu elaborates on the impact of �ֲ���ý �����������������. “It doesn’t just end at �ֲ���ý. I’m still in contact with alums from the Man Ops and TakeNote who were seniors when I was a freshman. And it’s really nice to have that network,” he says, pausing to laugh, “as a senior trying to get employed.”

McLean sums it up: “You usually leave this rehearsal exhausted, but really happy with what you did.”

What Does the Bobcat Say

But after spending my first year at �ֲ���ý watching numerous a cappella performances in packed rooms all over campus, I was hooked.

I joined The Crosstones in my sophomore year, as the group was moving away from “head” arrangements in favor of sheet music. Sure, we still arrange songs by pressing our ears against loudspeakers in the Olin Arts Center, desperately trying to discover hidden voice parts in songs like “White Christmas.” But now most of our arrangements are transcribed onto sheet music as we build a repertoire archive for future members.

Arranging songs by ear and notating them is as time-consuming and difficult as it sounds. It’s a process of stopping the original recording with one hand, using the other to explore phrases on the piano and keeping the beat with your foot.

For The Crosstones, a new arrangement doesn’t necessarily mean a new song. “Past songs are often improved upon and rarely discarded,” says musical director Phoebe Uricchio ’10. Three of us recently reimagined an old favorite, Fiona Apple’s “Criminal,” to give it the grit and eerie tonalities of the original recording. But rearranging a song takes as much time and effort as working up a brand-new one.

Catch The Crosstones in concert at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 20, at the Benjamin Mays Center, 95 Russell St.

In most songs, our goal is to imitate the instrumental background of the original recording. By attempting to emulate guitars, pianos, basses and drums, we find ourselves becoming an orchestra of vocalists. Blending is very important as each part becomes one layer of many in the background vocals. Regardless of the song choice, we strive to support the soloist and strengthen our collective sound to make a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

Dan Arsnow ’10, musical director of the all-male , says that song choice is often a reaction against the past for his group. Founded in 1957, The Deansmen are one of �ֲ���ý’ oldest a cappella groups and boast a repertoire dating back 30 years. “We lean toward songs that offer a departure from the styles, moods and tempos that characterize our current repertoire,” he explains.

And because The Deansmen are an all-male group, they continually think about different ways to “add vocal embellishments, rhythms and other nuances” to make best use of the male range, notes Arsnow.

Thursday and Sunday nights, you can find the members of Northfield “shape-note” singing in The Ronj, �ֲ���ý’ student-run coffee shop. The individual shape given to each printed note on the scale is what distinguishes this genre, which is meant to facilitate sight reading and therefore encourage participation from large congregations.

Also offering folk songs from around the world and sometimes singing with fiddlers or at contradances, Northfield has its own way of picking material. “Our group decides on songs very organically,” says Northfield president Sarah Davis ’10. “Members bring songs to our rehearsals whenever they get the urge and teach them to the group. Our repertoire is very fluid.”

While The Deansmen stand for tradition, often performing in tuxedos, and Northfield embraces an atmospheric folky quality, �ֲ���ý’ other a cappella groups have their own cherished roles. �ֲ���ý’ newest all-male a cappella group, — affectionately called The ManOps — have assumed the role of a cappella funny men, coupling their singing with choreography that never fails to entertain.

“It doesn’t feel like pressure, but it definitely makes it more exciting for us to do shows knowing that people are ready to see a more polished and amusing show,” says musical director Ryan Pollie ’10. Musically, while The ManOps aren’t above acquiring arrangements from other groups, their repertoire took a step up with changing membership.

“When we started getting music majors and kids who sang in high school in the group,” Pollie says, “we realized that we had the ability to come up with some really impressive stuff on our own.”

If the a cappella sound is only now finding an audience in the world outside academe, here on campus it’s a beloved way to stretch oneself both vocally and socially. The act of merging undefined syllables with melodies may seem corny, but when the result is a full sound sung while bopping around on stage with some of your best friends, nothing beats it.

From Naima: So last weekend the campus was flooded with parents and younger siblings checking out the �ֲ���ý scene. My parents couldn’t make the trip from Chicago this year, so Parents Weekend meant a few other things for me.

1) Big Tips. Working at the , is always dope, but the tips are generally sparse. When parents are in town, they tip well. Maybe it’s because they’re used to tipping in the real world, where one might discard their change into a tip cup. Or maybe it’s that the Ronj employees are wearing dirty clothes or no shoes and these lovely parents are trying to help us out during this economic crisis. Whatever the reason, the same tip cup that is usually home to spare dimes and nickels was overflowing with dollar bills.

2) A Cappella. Every Friday night of Parent’s Weekend, all of the a cappella groups on campus put on a massive show at Lewiston’s middle school. It’s literally steps from campus and holds over 500 people. This year, the , the group I am in performed songs from Gnarles Barkley, Jackson 5, and Sufjan Stevens. Other groups performed songs from acts like Flight of the Concords and Ray Charles. Here’s a picture of my group on stage. *excuse the fuzziness*

3) Harvest Fest. This doesn’t always coincide with Parent’s Weekend, but it did this year. It’s basically a “hippie fest” of sorts. Think girls with hair dressed in flowers, flowing dresses, lots of food, hemp sweatshirts on sale, devil sticks, tie-dye, and a vast musical green and grassy knoll. Not so bad if the parents stayed home.

4) Free Meals. This is a perk of having your own parents come up as well, but generally, us “orphans” (as we are so affectionately called) end up tagging along to a meal. It’s also just a great opportunity to get to know some of your good friends’ parents. Sometimes it’s hard to really understand someone you’ve spent nearly every day with unless you have a good idea of where they’re coming from.

5) Sporting Events. Almost every sports team in season has a home game on Parent’s Weekend. So if you want to show off the athletic program to your parents, then you can head over to the turf, football field, soccer field, or rugby field and something is bound to be going on. This year, a bunch of my parent-less friends and I watched our field hockey team beat Conn College. It was fun, and it was a good opportunity to see a few good friends of ours play some hockey. Also, it was gorgeous out so it just nice to sit out in the Maine sun.

6) Catching Up On Work. I won’t tell whether I actually did this or not, but I definitely thought about it. Since my mid-terms are kind of spread between last week and the week after break, I thought I could dedicate some mind power to preparing for tests, essays, and take-home exams. Especially since many of my friends were busy with their parents off in Portland or just down the street, I planned on getting loads of work done. That said, I was up until the wee hours finishing papers this week. Oh well. Parents weekend without parents? Success.

Peace and then some,

Naima