The Naturals’ performance “Through the Ages,“ on Nov. 18 in the Weasler Auditorium, brought together 31 alumni of the group to commemorate the group’s 20-year anniversary.
“Through the Ages” featured performances of “16 Tons,” “Creep,” “The Cave/I Will Wait,” Jimmy Buffet medley, “Can’t Take my Eyes off of You,” “The Aeroplane,” “Television/So Far So Good,” “How to Save a Life,” “Coney Island” and “Bad Romance.”
“It is a cheesy art form of sorts, so we lean into that with the bowties we wear,” Arik Zintel, junior in the College of Arts & Sciences and music director of the Naturals, said. “Even our name, the Naturals, is a music pun from the natural music note.”
Jonah Blohowiak, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences and president of the Naturals, said the alumni came to the concert not only to watch in the audience, but also to perform on stage for the song “Coney Island.”
Jack Del Pizzo, a first-year in the College of Arts & Sciences, said the group’s alumni call themselves the “super-naturals.” He said he enjoyed watching them perform to see where their traditions come from.
“The Naturals is a very unique experience because we have members from various majors,” Blohowiak said. “We are all not just one major, we span the whole spectrum of humanities, STEM, biomedical sciences, engineers and lots more.”
Blohowiak said, no matter the song, whether it’s “Bad Romance” or sadder songs like “How to Save a Life,” a different kind of energy is brought.
“We don’t usually cater what we sing to the audience,” Zintel said. “Because when we sing what we want to sing we are much more fun to watch.”
For large groups, Blohowiak said the singers receive choreography to bring a new level of energy to the performance. The group members can either improvise the choreography or create it beforehand.
Zintel said the Naturals are a close-knit group, which was crucial for surviving during COVID-19. In just the past year, the Naturals have increased in size from 12 to 16 students. He said students are attracted to the Naturals because of the group’s commitment.
Blohowiak said the 2013 Naturals president told him he was surprised the group made it through COVID-19.
“As upperclassmen in the group, it has been on us to rebuild the program post-COVID-19 and keep the values already established by past Naturals alumni,” Blohowiak said.
Zintel said a tradition being brought back to the Naturals this year is the song “Coney Island.” It was sung at the end of every Naturals concert as tradition, but in recent years it had been missing so they decided to bring it back this year.
“The best tradition is at the end of rehearsals someone gets to break the group down,” Blohowiak said. “Our traditional break down is the bowtie swag.”
Zintel said since the Naturals was founded in 2003, the group has come to compete in events such as the International Collegiate Competition of Acapella and Acatoberfest.
Zintel said Acatoberfest is a performance on Family Weekend, when the new members receive their bowties.
The Naturals will have a Christmas concert Dec. 8 at 7:30 p.m. in Marquette Hall.
This story was written by Gabe Mannion. He can be reached at [email protected].
