Lucy Park ‘20
Editor’s Note: It’s a cappella concert season here at Cornell! Time to shine a light on the Chorus’ own official a cappella subset, After Eight. For more information on this group and its members, visit https://www.cuaftereight.com/.
On October 27, After Eight performed its Fall Witching Hour concert under the theme of Mint Eye (a spin-off of the popular TV show Queer Eye). It was my second concert in the group, but my first as the Musical Director.
One of my responsibilities is choosing the setlist. I really wanted a compilation that reflected the tastes of the entire group. By selecting songs this way, I believe we were able to really put our all into each piece. The final setlist included songs by Earth, Wind & Fire, Sam Smith, Amy Winehouse, Glass Animals, Marina and the Diamonds, and Queen. We tirelessly rehearsed twice a week until two weeks before the concert, when we kicked into high gear and rehearsed every single day (with a wonderful Twilight concert at a week prior). We also performed every song with choreo, which is a novel achievement for us. It was great to perform for our Glorus family and friends and alumni, and I am so proud of every single one of our members. I’m excited to see how much more we will grow from here.
Since I have most of the rest of the semester off after the concert, I wanted to reflect on and share a few things about my experience being Musical Director. My favorite part of being MD is getting to listen to the comments, concerns, and opinions of each member. After each interaction, I feel like we’ve formed a deeper connection between MD and member, and also, more importantly, as a group of friends who like to sing together. I encourage my peers to step up and speak out, since it isn’t just my voice that matters. The biggest challenge that comes with the position, in my opinion, is pushing and motivating the group when everyone is going through prelims, presentations, late nights, etc., including myself. On those days, I try not to push our voices by running songs over and over again, and instead spend rehearsal time on rhythmic unity or other fundamentals of singing in a group. All in all, I am very grateful to be a leader of such strong talented people, and will strive to be a better leader next semester.
Two weeks after our concert was our brother group the Hangovers’ 50th anniversary fall concert! The artistry and sense of unity and brotherhood were off the charts, and the sea of striped rugbies filling Bailey Hall was an unforgettable sight. I believe I speak for After Eight when I say that we are so proud to have such a talented brother group and that we thoroughly enjoyed every second of that concert. Huge kudos to the Hangs’ exec as well (especially now knowing how much work exec puts in for each concert)!
I would like to thank Robert, Steve, the Glorus, and our supportive family and friends for teaching us and/or dealing with us this semester, and deeply hope you will continue to do so in the coming semesters.
With much glorus love,
Lucy Park