Connector Staff

The Hawkapella fellas and the Fermata Nowhere family took center stage at University Crossing on Dec. 5 and wowed the audience with their vocals prowess. Alongside four other acapella groups from around New England, UCrossing housed a night of fun covers and original compositions.

Beyond what one might have seen, acapella is a lot more than what the movies portray. “We’ve become a close knit family and it’s an outlet for something outside of your study. It is singing and performing, but it’s also bonding,” said President Riley Ryan of Fermata Nowhere. Acapella brings together a bevy of different members for both groups; these members all come from different majors ranging from business to music and even biology.

With acapella there is always a major emphasis on balancing two key elements: the solo and the accompanying melody and percussion. Joseph Royal, Hawkapella’s business manager, said, “Each person has to be conscious of their roles and the roles of everyone around them…even if you are a soloist, you may be leading the pack, but you are very much part of [the group], you are not so separated.”

Vice President of Fermata Nowhere Victoria Calcagno said, “When singing in a group, you can’t just focus on what you want out of the piece; you have to listen to everyone’s breathing, tempo and dynamics; focus on our strengths and weaknesses and adjust from there.” Calcagno demonstrated this in her performance of Tove Lo’s “Habits” where neither set of vocals overshadowed the other.

Both soloists and backgrounds alike have to work together and practice relentlessly to perfect each and every tune. Fermata’s own Christina Ruggiero said, “When you come together, it’s all about blending with each other. You are no longer one voice; you’re supposed to make everyone in the group sound like one voice. We can all think as one mind.”

Another under-appreciated factor that is involved in every Acapella cover is the piece’s arrangement. It is not simply plugging in notes into an equation. As Hawkapella’s music director, Chris Kelleher explains, “One of our challenges is to produce enough sounds to match a lot of elements in a song like percussion, rhythm and lead vocals.” To remedy this he continues, “We have a couple of amazing beatboxers that add to the sounds and they enhance it in every way.”

For both groups, each piece is carefully arranged by music directors like Kelleher, companies or even alumni of either group. But due to each year bringing in a new set of voices, an arranged piece may not fit with a group right off the bat forcing music directors and senior members to get everybody on the same level. “I have a lot of respect for them. Once the knowledge is there, that’s when the magic happens and we make it our own,” said Royal, commenting on Hawkapella’s arrangers and their hand in working “Not Coming Home” by Maroon 5, a song that means a lot to Royal, into the set.

The journey for these acapella marvels has led them to many amazing gigs over the years. Fermata Nowhere appreciated all the National Anthems they were able to perform this year, especially at the men’s hockey and men’s basketball home-openers. Ruggiero explained, “When you can do a song like the National Anthem, which is so important, you don’t want to mess it up and when you get it just right, it feels really good.”

Hawkapella, on the other hand, named Glow in The Dark-apella as their favorite gig as of late. Tom Marsh, the secretary of Hawkapella, described the innovative charity event put on by Framingham State University as a way to “…inject their personality into a responsive crowd,” and letting that crowd see what was truly “…behind the bowtie.” The Hawkapella boys not only let their colors shine in a florescent auditorium, but also let, as Marsh puts it, “…the color of our voices,” shine.

The Showcase allowed these student-performers to show off what they have achieved in front of tons of students they get to see every day. Some, like Ryan and Kelleher, love the idea of belting out notes before a local audience. Others, like Calcagno and Ruggiero, are humbled by the fact that fans recognize and acknowledge them for their talents. Marsh, who enjoys being up close and personal with the audience, just wants to show the people that, “We love doing concerts here and we hope to share our best sounds with them.”

Through their amazing journey, both the sisterhood of Fermata and brotherhood of Hawkapella have created lifelong bonds and left a lasting impact on the musical ecosystem here at UMass Lowell for years to come. They have not only grown in skill as groups, but they have all grown as individuals whether it is growing more comfortable with your own self or finding a new family in friends.