Tag: singing

Looking Forward: Sirens A Capella

Lucy Freeman Leave a comment

Happy Friday, arts, ink!

It’s a good day to be a Wolverine. With the news of vaccine eligibility increasing in Michigan sooner than many anticipated and President Schissel’s announcement of a closer-to-normal looking Fall semester plan (let’s not forget the exciting win of our basketball team, either!), things are looking up for the campus. Of course, until we get a larger portion of our community vaccinated and further recommendations from the CDC + state officials, we all need to continue doing our part to socially distance, gather in small groups and preferably outdoors, and wear masks. Hopefully, though, we will be able to create together again in the near-ish future. My fingers are crossed!

For this week’s spotlight, I chatted with Hannah deSilvia, Business Manager for Sirens A Capella. She told me a little bit about how the Sirens have adjusted to COVID restrictions while still building strong relationships between members and creating amazing music. Let’s dive in!

“We’re just a really tight-knit group of girls that likes to sing and we work collaboratively all semester to put our repertoire together and have our concert at the end of the semester normally. We really emphasize, like, building friendships and having fun, especially now because that’s something that we don’t get to do and we often miss each other, so we try and make the most of our time together.”

This year the group has moved their rehearsals to being completely virtual, a transition they started to plan for over the summer. Although Zoom doesn’t effectively allow the group to sing synchronously together, they’ve found ways to still make this time productive by allowing individuals to sing their part alone while others mute their sound and sing along. Hannah also explained that they’ve made their rehearsals a little more of a relaxed and flexible space – spending a little more time than they normally would to catch up and talk about things. It helps them feel more connected despite not having some of those more casual conversations as you walk into the building or get settled in. 

Rather than performing a concert like usual, the group decided to focus their energy on recording music – something that they could do remotely, and individually. The group has recorded music before (you can check out their song “Talia” on Spotify) but they typically did so in a physical studio. Although it was a little bit of a learning curve, the girls made the best of it and the recordings are being mixed now. 

April 20th will be Siren A Capella’s 10th anniversary, a special milestone for the group. No spoilers, but I would definitely recommend you keep an eye on their Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube pages in case they drop some fun content to celebrate. The group will also be holding auditions in the Fall – so if you’re a singer, warm up those pipes and stay tuned for more details in the first few weeks of the semester. 

That’s all from me this week! I hope you all have a fun and safe Saint Patrick’s Day. Come back next week for a spotlight on the Korean Student Association.

Lucy

Laying Down the Sound: Colored Balloon – Episode 3

Dominic Manzo Leave a comment

Welcome back to Laying Down the Sound! This is the third installment of the series and likewise the third episode focused on my song “Colored Balloon.” (I aim to finish the song in 4 videos total). In this video, I shift away from the acoustic composition – this was covered in the previous two videos – and begin concentrating on the recording process, including the equipment used and walkthroughs of the arrangement within Ableton Live, the DAW (digital audio workstation) I used. Somehow, against my will, my videos keep getting longer every week! But, again, hopefully you enjoy and can get something worthwhile out of this. Thanks for watching and I’ll be back next week with the last video – this is at least my plan – focused on “Colored Balloon.” After that, I’ll move on to other songs from my album!

Laying Down the Sound: Colored Balloon – Episode 2

Dominic Manzo 2 Comments

Hello again everyone! In this week’s video I focus again on my song “Colored Balloon”; this is the second episode of the “Colored Balloon” series. More specifically, I go over the song’s organization and lyrics. The structuring of the song and the inspiration for the lyrics are here in focus. At the end of this video, I feature a full acoustic performance of “Colored Balloon,” which is meant to serve as a checkpoint along the way; it signals the completion of the songwriting process and the beginning of the recording process. Accordingly, then, my focus in the next video will focus on the latter. I did not intend for this video to be so long, but it is. Hopefully you enjoy and can take away something worthwhile from this video!

Laying Down the Sound: Colored Balloon – Episode 1

Dominic Manzo 4 Comments

Hello everyone! I’m Dominic Manzo, a self-taught guitarist and musician. The video above is the first installment in my series titled “Laying Down the Sound.” In it, I introduce my intention behind the series. Namely, my goal is to illuminate the creative process behind my original songs; I’ll begin with each song’s starting point — a riff or chord progression — and work my way to its completion. The video serves also as the first episode of this series focused on my song “Colored Balloon,” which can be found on my YouTube channel (Mr.TheDom) and under my full name on Bandcamp. In this video, I touch on the development of the song’s fundamental chord progressions and vocal melodies. With “Laying Down the Sound,” I look forward to sharing my musical process with the viewer, and I have a feeling that I will come to better understand it myself. My hope is that my experience with writing and recording can be in some way beneficial to others who create or desire to create music. Thank you for watching and I hope you enjoy!

My First Semester in Women’s Glee Club

Elizabeth S 1 Comment

This past Sunday on November 17th, The University of Michigan Women’s Glee Club (WGC) presented “Be the Light Home,” a fall concert surrounding themes of compassion and circling back home. The community-driven concert was a great finish to my first semester in Women’s Glee Club. As such, I thought this week’s post would be a great opportunity to reflect on my experiences in the group so far.

Auditioning for the ensemble was initially nerve-wracking, but I am so, so glad I did. Since I was a child I have enjoyed singing, whether on my own or in church choirs. Throughout middle and high school I sang in my school’s choirs, my favorite being my high school’s smaller, auditioned choir. Before this year, however, I had never sang in an all-girls choir. While I had been a Soprano 2 for certain songs before, I had always been in an SATB choir comprised of soprano, alto, tenor, and bass vocal parts. Transitioning to SSAA—which has two distinct soprano sections and two distinct alto sections—was different but fun.

Founded in 1893, the Women’s Glee Club has a long, rich history, one that has impacted countless members of the university community. With hundreds of alumnae and around 80 current members, I’m ecstatic to have joined the ranks of such talented women. Women’s Glee Club features students with a variety of majors and interests, from voice performance to molecular biology. One of the great things about Women’s Glee Club is that it allows students to continue to sing in college while studying as a non-music major. Students from all backgrounds have the opportunity to sing in a collegiate choir through WGC, something I’ve enjoyed since being a member of RC Singers last year.

Women’s Glee Club is also a wonderful place to meet new people. I’ll admit, when I first heard the motto “Sisterhood, Song, and Strength,” I was a little skeptical. I was baffled by the concept of “Bigs/Littles” and “points.” Getting a sorority-esque vibe, I was perplexed by how a choir, especially one structured for academic credit, could achieve the same level of networking and bonding as a sorority or other organizations; however, I understood quickly WGC has so many events and aspects outside of the typical rehearsal. I’ve particularly enjoyed “Blues,” where WGC members go from tailgate to tailgate on game days and sing school spirit songs (Yellow and Blue, The Victors, etc.).

Overall, I’ve enjoyed my time in Women’s Glee Club so far and look forward to next semester!

 

Link to the official website for The University of Michigan Women’s Glee Club

Image design by Anna Sharp Chewter

Hamilton in Michigan

Jordan Brown Leave a comment

The hit Broadway musical “Hamilton” is finally coming to Michigan after being on Broadway since 2016.  The show will be playing in three different theaters across the state throughout the 2019-2020 season.

The Broadway show “Hamilton” seemed to become a new classic from the moment it started in April 2016.  The writer, star, and producer Lin Manuel Miranda shot to stardom because of this show. He played Hamilton during its first run on Broadway and will occasionally come back and play him again for special performances.  An example of this is during Hamilton’s Puerto Rican show to raise money for people in Puerto Rico who are still affected by the hurricane.

The show seemed to be so popular that was even hard for celebrities to get tickets.  There seemed to be constant stream of pictures of different celebrities watching Hamilton each night.  It may not be surprising then to find out that tickets were about $500 a person to go see the show. Luckily the tickets for the three shows in Michigan are a little more manageable.

Hamilton’s first stop after Broadway was Chicago, where tickets were still expensive and hard to get your hands on.  I was lucky enough to go to a performance and see Hamilton in Chicago. They stayed in Chicago for several months before getting ready to tour elsewhere.  Hamilton’s show in Puerto Rico was the start of their tour that will be all over the United States for the 2019-2020 season.

One cast member on this touring company is University of Michigan alumni, Simon Longnight.  He graduated from the University of Michigan in 2018, and is playing Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson on the tour.

The Broadway hit musical “Hamilton” is coming to Detroit, Grand Rapids, and the Wharton Center within the next year.  Tickets for the Detroit showings have already gone on sale!