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The Arts Society will present the third annual Afternoon of A Cappella on Sunday at the Williams Center for the Arts, featuring all four campus groups and three guest ensembles to benefit Friends of Lafayette Music.
Performing will be Lafayette’s Quintessence, Soulfege, Cadence, and The Chorduroys, and Sirens of Johns Hopkins University, generics of University of Maryland, and Dtones of Dickinson College. The concert will conclude with a finale performed by all of the groups.
Ticket prices are: Lafayette students, $2; staff/faculty, $3; alumni, $5; other adults, $6; students/youth, $3.
The annual concert was inspired three years ago by Arts Society members who sang with the college’s a cappella groups and realized they enjoyed going to similar events off campus, meeting students from other schools, hearing new songs, and comparing notes.
“A cappella is very much a learning process, especially for the younger groups on campus. The members love to hear what other groups are doing to see how we can improve our own groups. It is a chance to get together with people from other schools and do what we love, sing!” says Marquis Scholar Kaytlin Henry ’07 (Little Egg Harbor, N.J.),president of Quintessence and co-musical director of Soulfege.
“Students who attend the concert will have a chance to see their friends’ countless hours of rehearsal come to fruition, as well as enjoy the musical stylings of groups from other schools that they might not otherwise see, ” says Tyler Cohn ’06 (Wantagh, N.Y.), Arts Society president.
“I think these sort of events are especially important at Lafayette because we don’t have the reputation that one would expect from a campus with four very different a cappella groups,” adds Ben Flath ’07 (Scotch Plains, N.J.), a member of Quintessence and The Chorduroys and co-musical director of Soulfege.
Cadence, a female group, was founded in 1990 by Missey Labov Dweck ’93 and Jody Forester ’93. The group performed in this year’s MusikFest with Round Midnight and Lehigh Valley Chorus, and with Sweet Adelines to benefit The Perfect Fit for Working Women, a collaboration serving low-income women. Last season, Cadence placed third (the highest-placing all-female group) in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) Mid-Atlantic Regional Finals, collecting Best Soloist honors for Toni Ahrens ’05. The group will begin this season’s ICCA competition at the quarterfinal at University of Rochester on Feb. 18.
Cadence roster: Amanda Finkelstein ’07, president; Megan Conway ’06, musical director; Megan Kaesshaefer ’08, assistant musical director; Hannah Schorr ’08, business manager; Lauren Duffy ’07, secretary; Danielle Wyckoff’06; Jill Bisplinghoff ’07; Megan Kunkelman ’07; Cara O’Donnell ’07; Allie Kramer ’08; Marjorie Schmidt ’08; Michelle Devine ’08; Lindsay Laborda ’08; Jackie Macri ’09; Lauren Mottola ’09.
For over a decade, the Chorduroys have been singing various numbers from rock to rap, Motown to modern and have produced two CDs. The male group placed fourth in last year’s ICCA Mid-Atlantic divisional tournament and will sing in this year’s regional quarterfinal at Drexel University on Jan. 28.
Chorduroys’ roster: Varun Mehta ’06, president; Greg Lapp ’06, musical director; Zane Ferguson ’06; Ben Flath ’07; Jeff Lininger ’07; Dimi Marmarov ’07; James Melachrinos’07; Matt Roy ’07; Dustin Bednarz ’08; MarcLisi ’08; Devin MaGrann ’08; Danny Massa ’08; Tim Zirkel ’08; Greg Carson ’09.
Formed in fall 2002 by Lisa Oliveri ’04, the mixed a cappella group Soulfege’s guest performances have included a gig last spring at Lehigh University. With 19 members, Soulfege is Lafayette’s largest a cappella group.
Soulfege roster: Amanda Driscoll’06, president; Tim Zirkel ’08, vice president; Kaytlin Henry ’07, co-musical director; Ben Flath ’07, co-musical director; James Garton ’06,business manager; Jeff Lininger ’07, secretary; Megan Conway ’06; Jacqui Goodwin ’06; Greg Lapp ’06; Jesslyn Roebuck ’06; Danielle Wyckoff ’06; Elena Dones ’07; Tom Ercolano ’07; Dustin Bednarz ’08; Marc Lisi ’08; Danny Massa ’08; Bernie Balane ’09; Gina Collaizzo ’09; Greg Carson ’09.
Originally founded as a quintet, Quintessence is a small-group jazz ensemble in its third full year of performance, now with eight voices. Lafayette’s youngest a cappella group, Quintessence strives to please crowds with tight harmonies of jazz, swing, salsa, sultry standards, and improvisation. The group placed third in ICCA Mid-Atlantic divisional competition last season, winning Best Arrangement for Henry’s “I Dream of Jeannie” medley, and will sing in ICCA regional quarterfinal competition at Penn State on Feb. 4.
Quintessence roster: Kaytlin Henry ’07, president; Kara Boodakian ’07, treasurer; Ben Flath ’07; Megan Kaesshaefer ’08; Marc Lisi ’08; Lindsay Messina ’08; Bernadette Balane ’09.
Performers who are also Arts Society members include Wyckoff, Bisplinghoff, Lapp, Flath, Roy, Bednarz, Zirkel, Driscoll, and Dones.
The Arts Society is a student organization of musicians, actors, visual artists, designers, dancers, directors, writers, and avid arts enthusiasts. The organization has won two Aaron O. Hoff Awards for service to the Lafayette community, one for Outstanding Cultural Group, and another for Program of the Year for the 2002 Pre-Game Block pARTy. Membership is open to all Lafayette students. This year’s Arts Society events, programs, and activities include the season-opening All-Arts Picnic, photo caption contests, Fourth Annual Pre-Game Block pARTy, trips to Broadway to see Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Spamalot, Dinner and a Movie, a Favorite Poem Reading, Café Night, Trick-or-Treat on the Hill, and more. For more information, email Allison Blatt, Williams Center operational director.
Friends of Lafayette Music is a group of alumni, parents, and friends who support Lafayette’s four a cappella groups. Since 1998, Friends of Lafayette Music has worked to support student musicians. Friends’ financial support allows the groups to purchase new equipment, music, uniforms, and supplies. In addition, all four groups have been able to take their music on the road to competitions and festivals and invite professional musicians to hold workshops. To join the Friends, send a check payable to Lafayette College (with “Friends of Lafayette Music” on the memo line) to Annual Fund, Markle Hall, Lafayette College, Easton, PA 18042.