This past semester, two Nu Alpha sisters have used their voice to be successful on and off campus. Hope Miller and Lauren Holmes are two very dedicated vocalists and members of Nu Alpha and we wanted to highlight their recent accomplishments in the fields of a cappella and classical voice!
In January, senior Hope Miller led The College of New Jersey’s competitive a cappella group The Trentones to victory at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (hereafter, ICCA) Quarterfinals in Ewing, NJ. As the group’s music director, she wanted to convey a story through the group’s three song set. Through her love of Lizzy McAlpine and suggestions from members, Hope arranged “The Thought of You” by Logan Smith as the opener, “Reckless Driving” by Lizzy McAlpine featuring Ben Kessler, and “If I Go” by Ella Eyre. These songs conveyed a love story where the two people in the relationship are on completely different pages. When talking about the progression of the story, Hope said “We had a love song with the male character’s perspective, a duet where they meet in the middle, and a song with the female character’s perspective.” In addition to being music director, Hope also took on the task of arranging these songs for the group. Hope described the process of arranging each song differently, each song with its own inspiration, hurdles, and emotion. She described arranging “Reckless Driving” as “...a labor of love, and it was such a cathartic experience to arrange one of my favorite songs.” whereas she was less familiar with “The Thought of You”. She wanted to play with the negative space in the arrangement using traditional a capella composing techniques like cascades, movement, and harmony on the solo line. For “If I Go”, she sought inspiration from other media like the Fates in Hadestown, the Broadway Musical and other Ella Eyre songs. She also composed the songs with callbacks to one another like “If I Go” having the lines “I’m a reckless driver” and “I’m a careful driver” in the baritone and alto lines. For the group’s preparation, they started preparing in late October. They would learn a lot of music outside of rehearsals so when they got to rehearsal they could focus on “phrasing, dynamics, story, and blend”. They had a few previous ICCA winners come and workshop with the group and in January they had a 3-4 day retreat back at TCNJ where they focused on choreography and the meaning of the set. After a few more weeks of rehearsals and a showcase for family and friends, they performed at the ICCA Mid-Atlantic Quarterfinal on January 27th. At the end of the night, they placed first, meaning they get to advance to semifinals at the Grand Opera House in Wilmington, Delaware. Hope also received a caption award for outstanding arrangement with other Trentones members Leonor Fontanez and Kayla Wason winning a caption for outstanding choreography. In February, we had another vocalist victory for the chapter when sophomore Lauren Holmes competed at the NJ National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Festival for Collegiate Singers and Beyond in Glassboro, NJ. For the competition, she sang three selections: an English art song, and two art songs in different languages. Repertoire selection was a big part of preparing for the competition. Lauren described her process for preparing repertoire. “I prepared for this competition by selecting past repertoire that was well suited for the competition, attended some coaching sessions and practiced a lot!” Throughout the day, in addition to competing, Lauren attended masterclasses where professors would workshop repertoire with students. In addition to receiving feedback from the judges’ comments, Lauren placed second in the Freshman/Sophomore Classical Treble Voice category and received a small scholarship award. SAI Nu Alpha decided to spotlight Hope and Lauren because it shows their passion and dedication to music outside of the chapter in other organizations. Their participation in these groups shows their commitment to our core values by upholding the highest standards of music in every setting. Congratulations to our talented singing sisters!
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Sisters of Nu AlphaThis page is dedicated to showcasing members with personal projects that align with both music and the objectives of Sigma Alpha Iota. Archives
March 2024
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