Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Boston University Sweethearts Perform A Capella Holiday Concert


A Boston University a cappella group is reveling in great success this holiday season.

The Boston University Sweethearts, an 8-member all-female a cappella group, held their Charlie Brown themed holiday concert on Saturday, December 8. Each performer was dressed as a classic Charlie Brown character complete with nametags and memorable props (Linus did indeed have a blanket, though Lucy did not have a football.)

A sizable crowd funneled in to CAS Stone B50, a large auditorium in the basement of BU’s college of Arts and Sciences, to watch their friends, family members, and peers perform a lively holiday tinged set.

“Most of the gigs we do are typically performed with other groups… and we only get to sing two songs,” said Gabby Miller, a sophomore member who joined the Sweethearts this past semester. “It’s really special that we have a semester concert because it’s our chance to show what we’ve got.”

The crowd was surprised as the young women began belting an a cappella rendition of Nirvana’s famous classic, “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” The lively bobbing and clapping accented the soloist’s impressive vocals extremely well, and the audience was pulled in to the realm of the energetic and animated group right away.

The set list included contemporary pop songs like Adele’s “Someone Like You,” led by junior Chelsea Sageer, unexpected mash-ups, and of course, to help kindle the audience’s holiday spirit, a few classic Christmas songs were sifted intermittently in to the mix.

Most remarkable was the original song written by the Sweethearts’ music director, Rosie Bauder. Bauder announced it was only the second time the group had performed the song together. She shared the lead with Lee Marby.

“We were able to debut the song at BU Night of A Cappella,” Miller said. “It was an awesome experience to be able to perform an original song. It was definitely one of my favorite moments this year.”

Bauder and Marby also performed with Miller in a mash-up of Heart’s “How Do I Get You Alone?” and Jordan Sparks and Chris Brown’s “No Air.” The combination was unexpected, but certainly a crowd pleaser. The group received a rousing applause for the creative number.

“We run the show ourselves,” Sageer said. “It’s really cool to produce the show and perform and see it all come together.”


The group performed “White Christmas” and “Silent Night” to spur some Christmas cheer in the audience.  The a cappella group also performed “White Winter Hymnal,” by Fleet Foxes, the same song they performed in BU Today’s winter music video starring the Sweethearts that will be posted on Wednesday. The Sweethearts have performed in holiday videos for BU Today in the past as well, according to Sageer.

“One of [their] projects was to film a wintery musical and they picked the Sweethearts to do it,” Miller said. “It was last Sunday.  We filmed right on Bay State Road. We actually pre-recorded the song in the BU Today studio that Wednesday night in place of rehearsal.”

The Sweethearts meet for rehearsals twice a week for a total of five hours. The barbershop style group, which consists of four major parts, the lead, tenor, bass and baritone, uses its rehearsals to work on perfecting their vocal harmonies and practice new songs.

Over the last semester, the Sweethearts have been receiving attention from both the University and other local venues in search of talent. They recently sang on Emerson College’s radio station, WERS, which Sageer says was the group’s first time really gigging. Earlier that day, the Sweethearts performed for the public in the Boston Common.

The Sweethearts have also performed at the PrudentialCenter, on Newbury Street, and in the BU Night of A Cappella, where a number of the university’s a cappella groups gave a joint concert open to the entire BU community.

View Boston University Sweethearts' Performance Venues in a larger map
The above is an interactive map of the venues in Boston where the Sweethearts performed over the last semester.

Big opportunities surely lay ahead for the acclaimed group. When their video premieres on BU Today on Wednesday, it will be excellent positive exposure for the group that is looking to do more gigs similar to their stint at WERS.








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