Muhlenberg is home to a wide variety of a cappella groups, and they have been delighting the Muhlenberg community with two electric events. A Cappella Fest, which was held for the first time in three years on Mar. 27, and Song Swap, held on Apr. 2, were ways for the groups to have fun and also showcase their wide array of talents.
Zachary Rabishaw ‘22, the president of The A Cappella Council (ACC), served as the host of A Cappella Fest and introduced the groups from both on and off campus. “A Cappella Fest is a yearly Muhlenberg tradition where the six Muhlenberg a cappella groups are joined by visiting groups from neighboring schools. We were so excited to bring AcFest back to campus after 3 years, and it was such an exciting evening! We were joined by the Mar-Keys from Lafayette College and the Lehigh Echoes from Lehigh University, and both groups blew us away with their performances,” declared Rabishaw.
“I was so happy to finally get to experience an a cappella song swap, as only the class of 2022 was on campus the last time one happened.”
-Allison Mintz ’23
The event allowed for groups to interact and mingle while showcasing their talents and fun dynamics.
Rabishaw continued, “All in all it was such a heartwarming experience bringing this event back to campus in full swing, and the show could not have gone better.”
Jacob Forman ‘24, a member of the Dynamics, mentioned, “It’s great to see all these groups come together, including outside people, for a night of music. It makes you realize that even though we all come from different walks of life, music is a universal language!”
The six a cappella groups on campus also participated in Song Swap. The first component of the event was a traditional performance by the groups and then the second was the opportunity for them to switch it up and have some lighthearted fun with parody and jokes.
Decided by ACC, the pairings for the night included Noteworthy and the Acafellas, the Chaimonics and CODA, and the Dynamics and InAcchord. Each pair was expected to host a collaborative rehearsal, where the groups would take turns teaching one another a song of their partner group’s choice from their repertoire.
After that, the groups would return to regularly-scheduled weekly rehearsals, in which each one would secretly decide on a “bit,” or relevant joke of some kind to include as a complement to their performance of their partner group’s song.
“As a member of Noteworthy, we know that everyone wants to do something silly with ‘21 Guns,’” said Allison Mintz ‘23. “I was weary to see how the Fellas would treat our precious Green Day ballad, but I have to admit, their ‘one gun’ parody knocked it out of the park.”
“I was so happy to finally get to experience an a cappella song swap, as only the class of 2022 was on campus the last time one happened,” explained Mintz. “While I obviously loved the goofy parodies of each group’s signature songs, I also really enjoyed the first part of the event, where each group got to sing one song from their own repertoire. A lot of us came out the gate with songs we don’t normally perform at gigs; it gave some different folks chances to shine and provided me with some new favorite performances.”
