Varsity Theatre was filled with the sound of music during the A Capella Showcase April 7 featuring all three of Marquette University’s a capella groups: The Gold ‘n Blues, The Naturals and The Meladies.
“It is such a joy having all the groups together,” Sam Robertson, assistant music director of The Naturals and a first-year student in the College of Communication, said. “We all bring such amazing talents and performances to the musical table, and it’s an honor to be a part of that.”
The Naturals and The Gold ‘n Blues performed their sets from the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella 2022 Tournament Quarterfinal in Madison, Wisconsin Feb. 19.
“We wanted to show Marquette what we did at our event so we threw together a showcase to perform our ICCA sets,” Molly McDermott, president of The Gold ‘n Blues and a graduate student in the College of Health Sciences, said.
At the ICCA competition, there were seven groups in total from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, University of Minnesota, University of Minnesota Twin Cities and Marquette University.
Marquette’s Gold ‘n Blues placed third and won two individual awards for outstanding soloist, Lourdes Galido, a senior in the College of Nursing, and outstanding vocal percussionist, Carson Scarnegie, a junior in the College of Communication.
“It was our first time ever competing in the ICCAs this year,” Emma Ross, music director of The Gold ‘n Blues and a junior in the College of Nursing, said.
The Meladies, the all-female a cappella group on campus, opened the a cappella showcase.
“We’re honored the other groups asked us to open for them,” Michaela Brooke, music director of The Meladies and a junior in the College of Health Sciences, said. “We’re just really excited to be out in front of an audience again and it’s the first time we’re able to perform without masks.”
The Meladies’ set was comprised of “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac and a mashup of the two Adele songs, “Set Fire to the Rain” and “Rumor Has It,” which they call “Set Fire to the Rumor.” Both songs were a part of their set for their spring concert April 9.
The Naturals, the all-male a capella group on campus, performed next. Their set included “Misery” by Maroon 5, “Stupid Deep” by Jon Bellion and “10 Years” by Daði Freyr.
“One thing The Naturals are known for is delivering a performance that is energetic and entertaining, and because of this, the atmosphere in the audience is exciting and supportive,” Noah Kinnison, vice president of The Naturals and a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences, said. “We build off the energy of the audience in order to create a performance that is not just a showcase of our musical talents but also our performative abilities.”
Marquette’s co-ed a cappella group, The Gold ‘n Blues, ended the showcase with their set using the songs “Call It What You Want” by Taylor Swift, “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa and “Horse to Water” by Tall Heights.
“We wanted to put together a set with songs that we felt showed off the good qualities of all of our voices,” Ross said. “Performing a set is always really fun just because I love being on stage with all my besties.”
McDermott said it’s really special when all of the groups can get together to sing and perform.
“A cappella is probably one of the best things that I’ve done at Marquette,” McDermott said. “I just think it’s really awesome to have a group that’s so supportive and a group of people who love to sing.”
Sam Wilsdorf, a member of The Naturals and a senior in the College of Engineering, said getting to sing with others who love a cappella is the best part of it all.
“It is really amazing to see how much talent Marquette has to offer,” Wilsdorf said.
The Gold ‘n Blues will host their spring concert May 7 and The Naturals will host theirs May 14.
This story was written by Bailey Striepling. She can be reached at [email protected].
