A Cappella Persists Despite Rocky Return to Campus

In a normal year, you can often hear a cappella groups harmonizing in the Seymour St. John Chapel or the Paul Mellon Arts Center gallery on a Friday evening or Saturday afternoon. However, this year, with many students learning remotely, these flocks of songbirds have encountered challenges from low recruitment to complex safety procedures during rehearsals.

Since a large group of senior members graduated last spring, recruitment was a key concern for Choate’s five a cappella groups this fall. The groups’ recruitment strategy differed greatly from past years. Normally, a cappella would be introduced to new students at Club Fair, where students could watch brief impromptu performances and talk to group presidents at their booths. This year, in order to reach students across grade levels virtually, all of the groups compiled videos and introductions, which were featured on Choate arts social media accounts and in weekly School Meeting videos.

A cappella leaders found this new approach of recruitment to be particularly challenging since not everyone has access to social media, and there are few other options when it comes to publicizing the groups. Consequently, the audition process had a rocky start with relatively low interest from students. Although the a cappella groups initially set the deadline for audition forms submission on September 16, they ended up pushing that date back to October 6 because of a lack of submissions.

To find interested students, the a cappella presidents had to get a little more creative and resourceful than usual with outreach. Since many of the a cappella presidents are also prefects, they were able to convince their prefectees to audition. After the extended deadline and this extra advertising, the groups were able to find fresh faces to fill the spaces left by recent graduates.

Now, a cappella faces yet another challenge with the campus safety protocols in place that makes it difficult for the groups to meet in person and sing together. In light of the recent surge of Covid-19 cases in Connecticut, the School is staying vigilant with its health guidelines as it remains on the orange alert level of precautions with some day students no longer allowed on campus. In order to forge bonds between members despite the coronavirus-related restrictions, the a cappella groups have explored new activities beyond singing and taken advantage of time on campus to meet in person.

The Whimawehs, an all-female a cappella group, have discussed playing Among Us, a popular online multiplayer game, together. Another group, Bellacanto, has planned to order pizza and chat outside. Meanwhile, Maiyeros, the only all-male a cappella group, hopes to continue to hold virtual and in-person rehearsals spiced up with humor.

“We have a strong tradition of making memes during rehearsals, and I have a feeling that will continue and help with morale, too,” said Lucas Eggers ’21, one of the presidents of Maiyeros. 

As the year continues on, the a cappella groups plan to resume in-person rehearsals with appropriate social distancing measures, including the use of singing masks that help amplify sound and allow users to sing more comfortably.

Although various popular a cappella performances that usually take place in the fall and winter terms — such as Parents’ Weekend, Holiday Programming, and dorm-to-dorm performances — have been canceled, the five a cappella groups plan on recording performances to share with the community within the next few months.

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