Novis Membris!

It is done!  Yesterday came the triumphant end to the semesterly joy of the audition process.  First, we’d like to thank everyone who came out and sang for us.  You all brought something unique and valuable to the table and we hope to see you again sometime down the road.  But from the blood, sweat, and tears of the audition process (and by this, I mean just sweat.  We all know how stuffy Lyons 4 gets, but I digress…) we have forged forth a glorious new class of Boston College Madrigal Singers.  We couldn’t be more excited, so I’ll delay no longer: your new 2012 Mads!

Kirsten Haley, Soprano

Pamela Hickey, Soprano

Michele Becker, Alto

Paul Lavadera, Bass

Congratulations to all the new members!  We can’t wait to sing with you!

Much Love,

Louis Fantini, Class of 2014

Social Coordinator, Madrigal Singers of Boston College

Only Once More Those Auditions… and A Cappella Fest!

Warm greetings and welcome to our legions of loyal readers.  Just a quick update from your friendly university Madrigal Choir:

Auditions
They’re happening! This week, even! You needn’t have been born in the 15th century, you don’t even have to have any real choral experience.  Just prepare any song you’re comfortable singing and swing by Lyons Hall, 4th floor, Monday (9/17) 5-7pm, or Tuesday (9/18) 6-7:30pm.  The entire process will take about ten minutes and be completely painless (seriously).  There’s quite a few openings in the group, so if you have any desire, come on out, we’d love to hear you sing!

A Capella Fest:

If you’re too nervous to try out but would still like to enjoy some early music from a more, erm, spectatorial perspective, come by A Cappella Fest at Robsham Theater, this Saturday (9/22) at 7:30pm.  This is the biggest vocal music event at Boston College, featuring almost all of the BC’s a cappella groups.  Only $10 for a night of fun and music, with all benefits going to the Morgan Center.  Supporting the arts, having a good time, AND all for a good cause?  Impossible?  On most nights, perhaps but not at A Cappella Fest!

Much Love,

Louis Fantini, Class of 2014

Social Coordinator, Madrigal Singers of Boston College

The Triumphant Return of Mads and Audition Information

Wolcum Yole!

We’re back!  I hope everyone had a restful summer and survived their first week of class (presumably so, if you’re reading this), and that everyone is ready for another action-packed season of early music at Boston College!  For a quick semester overview, we’re hoping to add a few more concerts and more caroling to the winter season, in addition to our Winter Concert scheduled tentatively for the first week of December.  Looking a little further ahead, we’re hoping to record a CD in the Spring semester, so you should probably begin to prepare your ears for the glory of The Madrigal Singers of Boston College recorded in hi-fidelity, stereophonic brilliance on compact disc.

Along with a new season comes new officers, so grant me the pleasure of officially introducing the officers for the 2012-2013 academic year:

President: Jonathan Mott

Vice-President: Michael Lim

Treasurer: Ashley Tran

Social Coordinator (and author of this fine blog): Louis Fantini (Fall)

And, of course, equal congratulations to all the returning members for just being so awesome/talented/attractive.

And with the new season comes the equally exciting task of recruiting new members!  We had a very successful Student Activities Day, with a lot of excitement form prospective members, so we cannot wait to hear the new, undoubtedly beautiful voices.  If we spoke at the fair, then you probably already know this, but for anyone else everything you need to know is as follows:

Any BC Student is free to audition.  No background needed, only enthusiasm is required!  Auditions will take place on Lyons 4th floor on Monday, 9/17 from 5-7pm and Tuesday, 9/18 from 6-7:30pm. Feel free to drop by at any point during those times. The audition process is completely painless; just prepare any short piece of your choice to sing and we’ll run through some basic exercises. It should only take about 10 minutes out of your day, so why not? Come by and sing with us!

We’re hoping to see lots of new faces and hear lots of new voices.  Get excited for a new semester of hot madrigal action, but for now, enjoy this balmy September evening with some Pärt and Rachmaninov:

 

Much Love,

Louis Fantini, Class of 2014

Social Coordinator, Madrigal Singers of Boston College

Spring Concert

Hello everyone. Last Thursday was our annual spring concert. We celebrated spring through a collection of several different madrigals and also bid farewell to our six graduating seniors (Dan Accardi, Chris Asmar, Jill Bailey, Theron Patrick, Sara Schulz and Katie Weintraub).

Thanks for all of the support that you have given us over the past year. Enjoy the summer and see you in September for more MADRIGALS!!!

Please see our Media page for several of the pieces that we performed and YouTube for many others. Here’s one to get you started…

Congratulations 2012-2013 Officers!

Today we had our annual elections. As usual, competition was fierce. Here are the “officers-elect” who will take the reigns at the end of this academic year: 

President – Jonathan Mott ’14
Administrative Chair – Michael Lim ’13
Treasurer – Ashley Tran ’15
Social Coordinator (Fall) – Louie Fantini ’14
Social Coordinator (Spring) – Anthony Marte ’14

Here are some stipulations for the future officers left by an anonymous voter: 

Jon – to cut his hair super short
Michael – to take off his shirt for us
Ashley – to wear a belt
Louie – to grow a beard
Anthony – to shave

Concert at Wesleyan and Final Performances

Last weekend, we visited Wesleyan University and joined one of their a cappella groups, the Mixolydians, in a concert. Like us, the Mixolydians are a student-run a cappella group which sings a wide variety of older and more modern choral repertoire. This concert provided both of our groups with a fantastic opportunity to learn from one another and expose each group to other repertoire. We hope that we can have the Mixolydians and other student-run choral a cappella groups to BC some time next year for another concert showcasing some of the best student-run vocal talents out there. 

After our trip to Connecticut, we are gearing up for the final performances of the semester. 

- On April 28 at 4pm in Gasson 100, the Mads will be performing in BC’s annual ArtsFest. In addition to attending our performance, we strongly suggest that you check out some of the many other talented arts groups from BC. Dance, music and artistic performances will be held all throughout the weekend, so be sure to stop by. For more information, please visit: http://www.bc.edu/content/bc/offices/artscouncil/festival.html

- On May 3 at 8pm in St. Mary’s Chapel, we will be having our annual spring concert titled, Music in Bloom, which will showcase the selections that we have been tirelessly rehearsing this semester. Each piece in this concert is connected in some way to spring–whether it be love, April showers or Easter. We hope that you will be able to celebrate the wonderful music and spring with us on May 3 and also join us in wishing the seniors many successes in their future musical and professional lives. 

Eric Whitacre Kills it Again…

Video

WOW. Quite an amazing video. Over 3000 participants. Speaks greatly about the uniting and transformative power of music and the good that we humans can do when we work together. Also check out his new album, “Water Night” in iTunes.

Congrats New Members!

Congratulations to Peter Olsen and Marie Pellissier for being accepted into Mads! Thanks for auditioning and can’t wait to get rehearsing, performing and most importantly, into costume!

Spring Auditions!

Hello Everyone! We here at BC hope that you all are enjoying the winter season!

Next week on Tuesday and Wednesday (1/24 and 1/25), we are going to be holding auditions for any member of the BC community interested in singing with us. You are welcome to stop by the fourth floor of Lyons any time between 6pm and 8pm on Tuesday or Wednesday with a song of your choice prepared to audition. If you have any interest in singing, we strongly encourage you to audition as we make our auditions as low-stress as possible. If you have any questions, please feel free to email bcmadrigals@gmail.com. Hope to see you there!

Christmas Concert

Thanks so much to everyone who attended our Christmas concert last Thursday! We appreciate all of the support we received and we hope that you enjoyed our selections. If you are interested, a few of the pieces that we performed on Thursday can be found on our Media page. Below is one of our favorites, complete with a sassy binder “snap”. Please stay tuned for next semester’s concert information. From everyone in the Madrigal Singers, we hope you have a warm and pleasant holiday season!