The harmonious voices of some of Colgate University’s most talented musicians filled the chapel on Saturday, Nov. 16, when multiple a cappella groups came together to give the Colgate community a fantastic fall concert. The groups participating in this year’s fall concert were the Colgate Mantiphondrakes, the Colgate Dischords and the Colgate Resolutions (Resos).
The Mantiphondrakes were the opening group, and they set the tone for a concert celebrating the power of music in their opening song, The Jacksons 5’ “Blame It on the Boogie.” The group covered a wide variety of musical genres from disco funk to country music, including junior Jannah Zabadi performing Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats.”
Senior Alex Greene, member of the Mantiphondrakes, thought the concert showed off the singers’ work preparing together.
“I’m really glad that the concert went awesome,” Greene said. “We worked super hard to make sure we had all the songs down and it was exciting to see our new seedlings show off their singing skills.”
The hard work of these groups did not go unnoticed. Audience members, including sophomore Jeremy Stoll, were impressed with the performance.
“As a music major, it’s always lovely to see an a cappella night,” Stoll said. “I was really impressed by the fullness of all of the groups, and the soloists were absolutely phenomenal.”
The second group to perform was the Dischords, who stunned the audience with incredible solos, including sophomore Georgia Porter’s lively performance of CeeLo Green’s “Forget You.” Similar to the Mantiphondrakes, the Dischords performed songs across genres, with junior Gisele Tjan singing indie artist Lizzy McAlpine’s “Erase Me.”
The Dischords’ music director, senior Leia Francis, offered her thoughts on the fall concert.
“I love this concert in particular because it’s a huge celebration of our hard work throughout the semester, and it is always so fun to see what the other two groups have prepared,” Francis said. “I am so proud of the Dischords for how dedicated they have been to practicing and supporting each other during the process of preparing for the concert, but my favorite aspect is that we truly feel like a family.”
Finally, the Resos took the stage, walking down the aisles of the chapel in black suits and dresses. Sophomore Bea Corley was their first soloist in Saturday’s concert, and she delivered a powerful performance of “Past Lives” by BØRNS. The Resolutions had an already lively audience shouting their praises, the front row of the chapel was full of Resos alums holding up posters and cheering on current members.
Junior and Resos member Corrigan Peters noted how special it is to perform with the Resos.
“Performing with the Resos is always an amazing experience, and this year’s fall concert was no exception,” Peters said. “I love getting to sing in front of friends, family and many enthusiastic alumni from the group.”
This was not any ordinary a cappella show: both the Dischords and the Resolutions shared some new-member traditions with the audience.
The Dischords have a tradition called “Baby Song” which requires their first-year members to perform a Dischord-themed parody of a song. This year’s new members chose to cover the iconic Fountains of Wayne song, “Stacy’s Mom.” While the performance, which featured drums and a phone playing the instrumentals of the song, is not technically a cappella, the audience received the performance well as the singers giggled through their parody.
“The “Baby Song” is a little tribute to the group that the latest class of Dischords put on during intermission, and it is always a complete surprise to the older members of the group,” Francis said. “It’s such a special tradition because it is a completely lighthearted, silly moment in the middle of the show when we get to pause and realize how fun it is to be on stage with your friends.”
The Resolutions also shared a lighthearted tradition with the audience as they required their new members to perform a skit mocking the leadership team of the group. The new members poked fun at the group leaders’ academic interests and hobbies — like struggling with organic chemistry, playing frisbee or even working for The Colgate Maroon-News.
“I’m so proud of our first-years who did such a good job learning their music and performing their skit, as is the tradition for all new Resos,” Peters said.
The performances from all three groups were demonstrative of the immense talent that Colgate students have to offer when they aren’t busy hitting the books — or, like some of the Resos, studying for organic chemistry. The musical outlets that Colgate provides allows student musicians to showcase their talents and gives the rest of us the chance to cheer on our talented peers.
