By Riley Eisenbeil
Staff Writer
The College’s Treblemakers, better known as the Trebs, performed an assortment of 12 songs at this year's spring concert, including hits by SZA, Ariana Grande and The Weeknd. The concert also highlighted five graduating members, each singing a solo for their chosen song.
The show took place on Sunday, April 23, and started promptly at 5:00 p.m. The audience consisted of family, friends and members of the College community who were seated across the various sections and mezzanines of Mayo Concert Hall.
“This is the second Trebs’ spring concert I’ve gone to and I really enjoyed it,” said Siobhan Lavery, a junior English major. “You could tell how much fun everyone was having and how close they were. It was really fun to see my friends doing something they love and to see the group feeding off of each other’s energy throughout the show.”
Being the only SSAA A Cappella group on campus, the Trebs have two distinct soprano (S) sections and two distinct alto (A) sections. This group has been a part of the College's history since it started in 2007.
To shine some extra spotlight on the soon-to-be graduates, they wore all-white outfits while the other members of Trebs wore different shades of light green and pink.
Photo of the Treblemakers taken before the show.
(Photo courtesy of Ben Winkler)
“I’m sure a lot of you had long trips, [and] it doesn’t go unnoticed that you all came,” said Colleen Rauch, a senior accounting major and the president of Trebs, in her introduction speech. “We appreciate it so much. We have been working so hard this semester to give you the best setlist possible and we’re so excited.”
Almost all of the songs featured in the concert were arranged by either the Trebs Music Director, junior music and film major Mallory McGowan, or the Assistant Music Directors, freshman vocal music education major Sarah Granholm and sophomore music education major CJ Margolis.
The first half of the show featured “Blame it On the Boogie” by The Jacksons, Rauch’s senior song “Big Girls Don’t Cry” by Fergie, “Kill Bill” by SZA, communications major Emily Croes’ senior song “Put Your Records On” by Corinne Bailey Rae, “Fall in Love Alone” by Stacey Ryan and English secondary education major Talia Verrecchio’s senior song “Honeymoon Avenue” by Ariana Grande.
“It’s so cool that they produce all of the sounds themselves,” said Kimmy Torres, a junior psychology major. “I really liked the songs that they chose this semester.”
After a brief intermission, a small group sang “Don’t Worry Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin before the whole group came together to perform a few more songs. Those included “Amoeba” by Clairo, graduate student Elizabeth Buch’s senior song “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Sammy Rae and The Friends and “And So It Goes,” by Billy Joel, which featured all of the seniors. During this song, the whole group was grabbing hands, rubbing each other’s arms and trying to hold back their tears — not many were successful.
When the song came to a close, Nicole Vassallo, a junior English secondary education major and the group's vice president of marketing and public relations, introduced a section of slides that honored the seniors.
“We wanted to do a little tradition for our seniors who we love so very much,” Vassallo said. “All this stuff [on the slideshow] is snippets from what everybody here has said about our seniors so you can read it as we’re talking, but they’re going to get it all in a little booklet at the end.”
After that introduction, a number of Trebs, including Vassallo, took turns with the microphone to share some memories or best wishes to the graduates and hand them a bouquet of flowers.
When all the hugs were done and emotions were high, Victoria DiMeo, a senior marketing major, stepped into the middle of the stage to perform her senior song “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield.
After the setlist was complete, Rauch took the stage one last time to close out the show and to take in her last moment as a Treb. After the show, she reflected back on her time in the group.
“This last performance was easily my favorite I’ve done in my time as a Treb,” she said. “It really felt like the culmination of all our hard work, and that is truly what being a Treb has meant to me for the past four years of college. I have grown so much not only as a singer, but as a person, and I know that I would not be the person I am today without having had the Trebs by my side for all of college.”
