The Rhody Rhapsodies welcomed four New England-based co-ed a cappella groups for this semester’s Spring Invitational at Edwards Auditorium on Sunday.
The performances, which began at 7:30 p.m., featured five songs from the Rhapsodies and two songs from each of the visiting groups. Lauren Holly, president of the Rhapsodies, hosted the event.
The groups are selected from a list that Holly refers to as “Friends of the Rhapsodies.”
“We have a list of all the different a cappella groups in New England that we’ve done shows with or we know people in,” Holly said.
The Rhapsodies started off the night with a student arrangement of “Gloria” originally performed by Laura Branigan, featuring a solo from graduating senior Joelle Shamatta.
In their opening set, the Rhapsodies continued with Ariana Grande’s “imperfect for you” with a solo from vice president-elect Izzy Washington.
Lastly, the group performed “Don’t Speak” originally by No Doubt with three featured soloists: Treasurer Ayla Zambardi, Ben Tomah and Holly.
Vocal percussion for the three songs alternated between Ted Allen and Evan Morgan.
The Rhapsodies are completely self-arranged, with students in the group working together on an arranging committee, according to Holly.
“We have this whole long process of how to choose songs that have different vibes,” Holly said. “It all gets chosen the semester before.”
Hawkward from Roger Williams University was the first visiting group to perform. Their set list consisted of “Snow Angel,” originally by Reneé Rapp, and “24K Magic,” by Bruno Mars, both arranged by Hawkward member Darby Wilson.
The “24K Magic” arrangement featured a range of dynamics and a prominent soprano section. The performance was similar to the upbeat style in the “Pitch Perfect” riff-offs.
Alex Gould, one of the newest members of the Rhapsodies and a graduate student, introduced the next group: Extreme Measures from his alma mater, the University of Connecticut.
Extreme Measures and their coordinated outfits began with “Highroad,” a 2019 indie pop tune originally performed by Sir Woman. This song was playful, featuring two vocal percussionists. Their second song was another soulful ballad: “Oscar Winning Tears.” by RAYE.
The night was broken up with the quintessential beatbox interlude, where the vocal percussionists and beatboxers from each group take 20 seconds to show off their skills on the special beatbox mic. Audience members looked around at one another in awe as they witnessed the different sounds that these percussionists were able to produce.
The Bottom Line from Bryant University was the next visiting group, performing their own arrangement of “Snow Angel” as well as “The End of Love,” originally by Florence + the Machine.
Rather than having the members separated by vocal group, they stood together, which allowed for a unique mix of all the harmonies in their two songs. The Bottom Line’s tenor section especially came through in “Snow Angel,” where it was evident that this group was full of powerful voices.
“The End of Love” was a full group song with no solos, yet had prominent harmonies and featured the soprano section, with their overtones soaring above the melody.
The last visiting group, Noteworthy from Emerson College, entered the stage in their red theme, complete with matching Converse sneakers for the ensemble. They performed a layered arrangement of “Cardinal” by Kacey Musgraves and “Lovefool” by The Cardigans, with a solo from Sideny Glasser.
The Rhody Rhapsodies rejoined the stage for the last performances of the night, which included an arrangement of “How Long” by Charlie Puth, soloed by Gould.
Their last song was a mega-proposal from Holly, a Long Island native: a nine-song, nearly nine-minute Billy Joel medley. Arranged by Holly, the Rhapsodies performed the entirety of Joel’s “The Stranger” album, with solos from seven members of the group.
After thanking the Rhapsodies’ current e-board, introducing next year’s board and acknowledging the graduating seniors, the Rhapsodies closed out the night with an encore performance of “Jason’s Song” by Ariana Grande.
Holly said the senior recognition was her favorite part of the evening.
“That was super nice because I’ve been in the group for four years, so it’s nice to know that they enjoyed being in it as much as I enjoyed leading it,” Holly said. “It is the group that really made me feel like I chose the right spot.”
Holly said she hopes that future invitationals continue to garner high turnout, given that the events are supposed to be about happiness, fun, love and music.
