By Julia Meehan
Photo Editor
Four of the College’s resident a capella groups performed for students and families in a joint concert in the Brower Student Center Room 100 on Sunday, Oct. 27. The “Acapalooza” concert was hosted by the Trentones and featured I-Tunes, the Treblemakers and Voice of Hope.
The emcee, co-music director and sophomore music major, Terence Odonkor of the Trentones, kicked off the night with a demonstration of what a capella was to audience members who might not know. He did so by singing a snippet of Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” with two of his fellow performers.
Following their opening, the Trentones took the stage for the first song of the night, “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers, with a solo by senior computer science major Giuliano Falcone.
Behind him, the rest of the group provided accompaniment in the form of beatboxing and melodic phrases.
After this opening song, the College’s oldest a cappella group, Voice of Hope, stood in the spotlight for its set. Before the group began, its president, Rebecca Kim, a senior elementary education and iSTEM dual major, had a message for the audience.
“We are a Christian group and even though some of you in the crowd might not be Christian, we know that you are so loved by someone out there,” she said.
The set was comprised of three Christian songs. The group started off with “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” by Robert Robinson, followed by “New Wine” by Hillsong Worship, a powerful ballad about renewal with solos by senior interactive multimedia major Joshua Bae and freshman open-options communications major Bethany Kudisch.
Voice of Hope finished with “Build Your Kingdom Here” by Rend Collective, a bouncy western-style song with a solo by junior nursing major Seth Marcelo.
“This is probably the only country song we’re ever going to do,” said Marcelo in his introductory remarks.
Next up to the stage was I-Tunes, a co-ed a cappella group that specializes in songs by international artists. They performed two international songs in their set at.
The first was their opener, “Senorita” by Cuban artist Camila Cabello and Canadian artist Shawn Mendes.
The song featured an impassioned duet by senior secondary education and mathematics majors Amanda Hyland and freshman public health major Mark Lacap that was full of style and smiles.
The second song was “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” by the British band The Police, which featured a solo by junior early childhood education, English, and deaf and hard of hearing majors Amanda DeStefano.
One of the other set’s songs was “Bellyache” by Billie Eilish, an intense and rhythmic rendition of a light ukulele song, featuring heavy beatboxing and a solo by sophomore nursing major Arta Qosja.
They closed their set with a cover of Michael Buble’s “Feeling Good,” with an exceptional solo by senior political science and law major Sean Wehner.
“It was originally by Michael Buble, but this time it’s not, it’s by me,” Wehner said before the song.
His low bass voice soared over the accompaniment and left crowd members in applause on their feet.
The next group on the stage was the Treblemakers, the only all-female a cappella group on campus. Their first song was a Jonas Brothers mash-up featuring “Sucker,” “Burnin’ Up,” “S.O.S” and more.
The second song they performed was “New Rules” by Dua Lipa, featuring an attitude-filled solo by junior communication studies major Lindsey Della Rovere. Lastly, they finished with “Dog Days are Over” by Florence and the Machine. The song featured a breathtaking solo by senior journalism and professional writing major Mia Ingui, who provided beautifully belted notes that drove the crowd to applause before the song was even over.
The last group to grace the stage was the Trentones, the College’s representatives at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella competitions.
“It’s like what you see in that movie, you know, ‘Pitch Perfect,’” Odonkor said. The Trentones have advanced to the semi-finals two years in a row and hope to go even further this year.
Their first song was the soft R&B ballad “Officially Missing You” by Tamia, with a beautiful solo performance by senior deaf education and fine arts dual major Irene Yoon.
Next was their cover of Symphony By Clean Bandit and Zara Larson featuring solos by freshman mathematics major Eileen Yizzi, freshman communication studies major Jillian Carruthers and sophomore music major Alexandria Rudolph.
Carruthers’ solo was particularly powerful with her clear, high notes propelling the audience to applause.
Lastly was their emotional rendition of “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi with a solo by junior music and voice major Joseph Rippert.
To finish off the performance, all four groups banded together to perform “Thriller” by Michael Jackson in honor of Halloween.
The performers exited the stage and broke their floor formations to raucous applause from the audience and many were presented with bouquets and hugs from their family and friends in the audience.
It was apparent that the performers were having just as much fun as the audience.
“I always love singing with the Treblemakers. We have so much fun on stage and we’re basically a sisterhood,” said Sreenidhi Viswanathan, a sophomore urban elementary education major.
