President Trump to Nominate Christopher Wray ’85 as Next FBI Director
Jun 8, 2017
As Paloma Blandon ’17 walked onto the stage of Kemper Auditorium, the members of the M.I.T. Logarhythms bent down on one knee around Blandon. The Logarhythms began to serenade Blandon with “Do You Believe in Love” by Hughie Lewis, and the audience broke out in a cheer.
This performance was part of the annual A Cappella Night, hosted by the Student Activities Board. The event featured a wide variety of performances from Azure and The Yorkies, as well as Redline, a Boston based all-male a capella group, and the M.I.T. Logarhythms, M.I.T.’s all-male a capella group.
Opening the night, Azure performed a dynamic performance of “Unbreakable Smile” by Tori Kelly. Standing in a semicircle, the singers began with an upbeat melody, immediately setting a cheerful mood. As the singers blended various harmonies together, Kiarah Hortance ’17 stepped forward to sing the first solo, followed by Taylor Crutison ’16, Co-Head of Azure.
“I really liked [‘Unbreakable Smile’] because it was really fast paced and engaging and the audience was active and enthusiastic,” said Kelly Sheng ’17, an audience member. “Kiarah is a really good soloist because she has the voice of an angel and whenever I hear her I want to smile,” added Sheng.
The Yorkies later captivated the audience with “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys. Opening with slow, smooth “oohs,” the piece featured soloists Vish Dhar ’19, Jack Curtin ’19, Joel Peña ’16, and Jake Kim ’16. The simple arrangement allowed The Yorkies room for personal expression.
“We performed better than we expected to and the other groups definitely lived up to their reputations. Our favorite piece to perform was [‘I Want It That Way’] because it was a new arrangement and full of soloists soloing for the first time,” said Peña, Co-Head of The Yorkies.
Wearing red, black and white pieces of clothing, newcomers to Andover, Redline, followed with their own arrangement of “Say You Love Me” by Jessie Ware. The song began with a gentle beat from beatboxer Jeremy Wolfe as soloist Bobby Shraeder stepped forward to sing a soft and soulful verse.
“It was our first time performing [‘Say You Love Me’] live, so that was something special. I think it went great. We love singing in front of high school groups, especially ones that sing a capella, because the energy is really palpable to us. It’s really exciting… it makes it much more enjoyable for us to perform,” said Matthew Craig, one of the co-founders of Redline.
Returning once again, a highlight of the night was the high-energy performance by the M.I.T. Logarhythms. Performing a lively rendition of “White Lines” by Six Sixty, the M.I.T. Logarhythms opened their last song of the night with strong background vocals, while soloist Ishaun Datta belted an upbeat verse. Gathered in a clump, the singers included various “flying” hand motions, as well as a choreographic trick incorporating four performers holding each other up while rotating like a ferris wheel.
“I really liked ‘White Lines’ by the M.I.T. Logarhythms, because, not only did they sing beautifully, but their personalities also really showed when they sang. They made everyone, including me, want to get up and sing! It was a magical experience,” said Katelyn Wang ’18, an audience member.
The M.I.T. Logarhythms also performed “Expensive” by Tori Kelly. The song began with intensifying harmonies, building up to soloist Ray Asare singing the very first line of the song. Halfway through the piece, Asare improvised, providing a unique interpretation to the song.
“My favorite song to sing was ‘Expensive,’ which was the last song we sang. I think everyone in the group probably has a different song they like to sing, and that’s because we all find something we are able to connect with and because we are a very performance based group we like to put ourselves out there when we perform, and I think for each person there’s a different one where they can really not only sing but also move to it really well,” said Neil Aggarwal, Musical Director of M.I.T. Logarhythms.
