A Capella Blowout In Holyoke Center

Some of Harvard’s finest a capella groups will grace a stage outside Holyoke Center on Friday, May 4, as part of this year’s Arts First festival. The free concert, which will run from noon until 6 p.m., promises to make for an entertaining afternoon—especially because of its performers’ unique backgrounds and musical styles.

The Holyoke Center show will feature traditional a capella ensembles that are well-established on campus, like the Krokodiloes and the Sisters of Kuumba, as well as other performing arts groups. These acts will cover a variety of artistic modes of expression—from Harvard Sangeet, whose members play South Asian fusion music, to the Christian a capella group known as Under Construction and performers of Chinese dance Madelyn M. Ho ’08 and Kevin Koo ’07.

The LowKeys, a co-ed a capella group with a special focus on pop-rock style, will be among the acts featured at the show. LowKeys president William B. Bailey ’08 says of his organization’s yearly Arts First performance: “If it’s good weather it’s always really fun because there are lots of people out and about in the Au Bon Pain area, so we usually get a good crowd.”

LowKeys member Victoria I. Norelid ’07 adds, “It’s much more informal. It’s a nice way to do a concert. It’s really an impromptu gig.”

Joining the casual atmosphere of the LowKeys will be a subsection of the Harvard Kuumba Singers, the Sisters of Kuumba. They will be singing a medley of a capella songs from the African Diaspora. According to member Naabia G. Ofosu-Amaah ‘07, many members of the ensemble are excited to be back in the Holyoke Center lineup.

“It’s something that the Sisters of Kuumba haven’t really done at least for a while.” she says. “This year is an opportunity to showcase what Sisters of Kuumba does.”

In another novel move for this year’s Holyoke Center performance, Harvard’s undergraduate a capella groups will share the stage with a counterpart from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences: Friday’s concert will also feature VoiceLab, an a capella group founded in 2005 and comprised mostly of graduate students.

VoiceLab singer Stephanie G. Wooler, a second-year graduate student in the Romance Languages and Literatures Department, says she’s thrilled for the chance to perform with so many other organizations on campus.

“It will be an opportunity to sing and be part of the Harvard community,” she explains.

As Wooler points out, the diversity of the groups performing—and that of their repertoires—is sure to keep the festival engaging.

“We cover everything from Bulgarian folk to Dido.”