The performance, which combined classical sounds with modern percussion, was divided into several sections. The first was a Star Wars orchestral suite, featuring the “Main Title,” “Princess Leia’s Theme,” “The Imperial March” (Darth Vader’s theme), “Yoda’s Theme” and “The Throne Room and End Title.” The next was an original arrangement of the main themes from “My Neighbor Totoro” and “The Wind Rises.” This was followed by “The Dpops Wiirangement,” which included popular “Wii Sports” and “Super Smash Bros: Brawl” sounds. Finally, the group performed “Badtameez Dil” from Bollywood film “Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani.” 

“I started conducting with DPops my sophomore year … it’s opened up so many other musical opportunities and doors since then,” said Maggie Schnyer ’24, a conductor.

According to Helen Zhou ’25, who currently serves as a co-president of the organization, what makes DPops unique is the sense of community that it aims to cultivate.

She emphasized the importance of balancing fun with “high-quality musicianship.” Eric Gan ’25, the club’s other co-president, said, “We have enough enthusiasm from just our members to arrange all the stuff that we do.”

Community-building extends beyond the rehearsal room, with DPops hosting additional social events, board dinners, movie nights, game nights and post-concert after parties. 

This specific concert was open to both members of the Yale community and New Haven residents. Gan reflected on some of the challenges faced, which included communication with local schools.

The performance also included non-traditional elements to appeal to the younger audience members in the crowd. During the “Wiirangement,” there was a projection screen behind the musicians that took the audience through various pre-recorded gameplays to simulate the Nintendo theme. At the end of the performance, children were invited to go onto the Woolsey Hall stage to get a glimpse of the performers’ perspective. Additionally, while presenting the Star Wars theme, conductor Mitchell Dubin ’25 walked in with a lightsaber, engaging in an “altercation” with conductor Eli Gilbert ’24 until Gilbert fell to the ground. Dubin then took over, continuing the symphony.

According to Gan and Zhou, DPops hopes to continue the tradition of performing at Woolsey Hall. Last year marked their first concert there since the “late 2000s [or] early 2010s,” Zhou said.

In the middle of the performance, Gan and Zhou stepped out to give credits to the various individuals and groups that made the performance possible, while also highlighting the importance of music education and community engagement.

Inside the Schwarzman Center, Woolsey Hall is located at 500 College St.

The sounds of the student-run Davenport Pops Orchestra echoed through Woolsey Hall on Feb. 24 for the group’s third concert of the year, “In a Galaxy Far, Far Away.”

The performance, which combined classical sounds with modern percussion, was divided into several sections. The first was a Star Wars orchestral suite, featuring the “Main Title,” “Princess Leia’s Theme,” “The Imperial March” (Darth Vader’s theme), “Yoda’s Theme” and “The Throne Room and End Title.” The next was an original arrangement of the main themes from “My Neighbor Totoro” and “The Wind Rises.” This was followed by “The Dpops Wiirangement,” which included popular “Wii Sports” and “Super Smash Bros: Brawl” sounds. Finally, the group performed “Badtameez Dil” from Bollywood film “Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani.” 

“I started conducting with DPops my sophomore year … it’s opened up so many other musical opportunities and doors since then,” said Maggie Schnyer ’24, a conductor.

According to Helen Zhou ’25, who currently serves as a co-president of the organization, what makes DPops unique is the sense of community that it aims to cultivate.

She emphasized the importance of balancing fun with “high-quality musicianship.” Eric Gan ’25, the club’s other co-president, said, “We have enough enthusiasm from just our members to arrange all the stuff that we do.”

Community-building extends beyond the rehearsal room, with DPops hosting additional social events, board dinners, movie nights, game nights and post-concert after parties. 

This specific concert was open to both members of the Yale community and New Haven residents. Gan reflected on some of the challenges faced, which included communication with local schools.

The performance also included non-traditional elements to appeal to the younger audience members in the crowd. During the “Wiirangement,” there was a projection screen behind the musicians that took the audience through various pre-recorded gameplays to simulate the Nintendo theme. At the end of the performance, children were invited to go onto the Woolsey Hall stage to get a glimpse of the performers’ perspective. Additionally, while presenting the Star Wars theme, conductor Mitchell Dubin ’25 walked in with a lightsaber, engaging in an “altercation” with conductor Eli Gilbert ’24 until Gilbert fell to the ground. Dubin then took over, continuing the symphony.

According to Gan and Zhou, DPops hopes to continue the tradition of performing at Woolsey Hall. Last year marked their first concert there since the “late 2000s [or] early 2010s,” Zhou said.

In the middle of the performance, Gan and Zhou stepped out to give credits to the various individuals and groups that made the performance possible, while also highlighting the importance of music education and community engagement.

Inside the Schwarzman Center, Woolsey Hall is located at 500 College St.

The post DPops at Woolsey: A symphony of Studio Ghibli, Bollywood, Star Wars and Nintendo appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Events are held at different locations, from the Founder’s Suite in Benjamin Franklin College to the historic Luther House, and the music ranges from reggae to 2010s pop. The events are planned and organized by Desmos, a senior society.

Most weekday events have a more nonchalant atmosphere, according to Alex Hoang ’24, while Fridays and Saturdays tend to be busier with more dancing. Given the range of experiences and music that Feb Club offers, it provides an occasion to build class spirit and appreciate student performers. 

“Because of the COVID restrictions during my first year at Yale, we did not have many outlets for meaningful connection,” Hoang, who has participated in Feb Club, said. “During the first night, I realized how long it had been since our class year was last united.”

Hoang recalled not knowing what to expect. He added that there was a lot of anticipation, and everyone seemed excited to come together.

The first night of Feb Club occurred at Luther House on Feb. 1, with three bands performing different genres. 

“I think the most fun gig I’ve done so far is the Feb Club’s opening party in Luther,” said Owen Wheeler ’24, lead singer of the band Public Discourse. “Our goal [as a band] is just to be electric.”

Sameer Sultan ’24, bassist and social media manager of the newly founded band Scerface, recounted his experience performing for Feb Club.

“Our first performance was for Valentine’s Day, and our second performance was yesterday at the senior [masquerade],” Sultan added. “There was a variety of music, and people were dancing. I thought, ‘I haven’t seen this many people in my class in the same place for a while.’”

Themes for Feb Club have included “Caribbean x Afrobeats,” “Techno & Tequila” and “Grad Night.” 

Each event had a photo challenge, which required challengers to complete tasks including posing like a DJ and taking pictures with a senior who would not be graduating in the spring. Those who attend all 29 Feb Club parties will be dubbed “All Stars.”

To ensure student safety, each event had three sober monitors.

The final Feb Club event will take place on Thursday, Feb. 29.

The post Feb Club nears its end appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The concert is part of the Horowitz Piano Series, a series of piano recitals honoring pianist Vladimir Horowitz, who left his papers with the University before he died. 

“Emmanuel Ax is one of the most important masters on the concert stage of today. His repertoire is enormous and constantly expanding, and it is our good fortune that he is a generous friend of Yale,” said Boris Berman, artistic director of the Horowitz Series and head of the piano department at the School of Music.

Ax rocketed to international fame after winning the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in 1974. Since then, Ax has become one of the most celebrated pianists in the world, winning eight out of 20 Grammy nominations and the Avery Fisher Prize — he is a “titanic legend,” said Robert Levinger MUS ’24, and “there is no aspiring young pianist who is unfamiliar with him and his landmark recordings.”

Ax has a long history of ties to Yale — the News’ coverage of the pianist goes back to a performance with celebrated cellist Yo-Yo Ma in Woolsey Hall in 1982 during “their still-young careers.” Ax also recalls performing a “chamber music benefit concert” with Ma, acclaimed violinist Jaimie Laredo and the student-run Yale Bach Society Orchestra in the 1980s, at the time conducted by legendary violinist Isaac Stern’s son, David Stern ’86, he said.

He performed with the Yale Symphony Orchestra in 2000 and has returned regularly to perform on the Horowitz Series since its inception in 2000.

Ax received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Yale in 2007 and is a recipient of the Sanford Medal, an award instituted by Yale in 1972 that honors celebrated concert artists and distinguished members of the music profession.

From 2009 to 2010, the School of Music appointed Ax as a Visiting Professor of Piano. Both of Ax’s children also graduated from Yale — he is a “proud father,” he said.

His concerts at Yale are always “eagerly anticipated,” said Berman, who noted that his performance on Wednesday sold out weeks before the recital.

“I’m always excited to hear Emanuel Ax because he brings a distinct sense of sincerity and humility to everything he plays, a quality that is not always found among superstars of the concert platform,” said Alex Nam ’25, co-president of the Yale Undergraduate Piano Collective.

Ax has garnered a reputation for a “modesty [that] is at the heart of his pianism and personality alike”  according to the New York Times. Though his program on Wednesday consists of pieces he has performed many different times at concert halls throughout the world, he said he is “just working hard and trying to make them better.”

The program alternates between works by Beethoven and Schoenberg, two composers associated with opposite ends of the Viennese music tradition and separated by a century of time.

Ax chose the program because this year is Schoenberg’s 150th birthday, and since the “first Viennese school is Beethoven and the second Viennese school is Schoenberg,” he decided to put the two composers in conversation.

The program will open and close with two of Beethoven’s most well-known piano sonatas: the “Sonata Pathétique” and the “Appassionata” Sonata. In between, Ax will perform three of Schoenberg’s earlier works — the composer’s first forays into atonality — and Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 2 in A Major.

Ahead of Wednesday’s concert, Ax hopes his performance will “be meaningful to everyone,” and he looks forward to seeing old friends, such as Berman and piano professor Robert Blocker, at the School of Music. But he will also be “nervous as usual,” he said, although he is “certain he will enjoy [performing].”

Tickets for the concert start at $31. Yale faculty and staff can purchase tickets for $23, and students can buy them for $12.

The post World-renowned pianist Emanuel Ax to perform Beethoven and Schoenberg appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Last Thursday, NXTHVN organized a free public event entitled “NXTHVN Performs: New Haven Jazz,” honoring the heritage of jazz musicians on Dixwell Street’s former Monetery Club. Residents came together to enjoy soulful music and complimentary wine. 

Rufus Greenlee founded the Monterey Club in 1934, and it became a home for the performances of huge names like Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday and Charles Parker. Unfortunately, the jazz hotspot closed in 1991. The NXTHVN event featured New Haven and Connecticut-based artists, honoring the longstanding Black jazz history of the city. 

“This is amazing because it is two generations of jazz musicians coming together, and the rich history here in New Haven of jazz is incredible,” said Jay Kemp, NXTHVN’s student program manager. “You have all ages coming out for something like this.” 

Drummer Ryan Sands served as the program’s curator. The performance included bassists Eneji Alungbe and Jeff Fuller, drummer Jesse Hameen II, pianist Andrew Wilcox and Haneef N. Nelson on trumpet. These intergenerational jazz artists performed their compositions in a two-part series with a brief intermission. 

The first song performed was Fuller’s “Keep Hope Alive” and following this was Hameen’s “The Mission.” Later on, as a tribute to Valentine’s Day, “My Funny Valentine” was played. The event’s 91 attendants remained lively throughout the programming, clapping and cheering in between songs.  

NXTHVN was founded by Titus Kaphar, an American painter and Yale ART ’06, alongside Jason Price and Jonathan Brand. NXTHVN serves as an incubator for artists and curators nationally, offering a 10-month fellowship program in which creatives are provided quarterly stipends, subsidized housing and exhibition outlets. 

The arts center also provides a third space for New Haven residents through its high school apprenticeship program. Students interested in the arts work alongside the artist to gain professional and technical skills. 

“Apprentices work closely with the artist fellows and the curatorial fellows here at NXTHVN. We also meet together as a cohort and complete an end of year project,” said Lauriann Burt, a student apprentice at NXTHVN. “We’ve been able to meet so many fantastic people and artists from all over the place.”

Burt also told the News this was the organization’s second annual jazz event. 

She hinted at an upcoming spoken word event at the end of February, called “Black History NXT Future: An Open Mic Celebration.”

Kemp said he is focused on engaging young people with art. 

Currently, Kemp is working alongside the students to develop their end-of-year project, a mobile and community interactive exhibition, which will be completed this summer. 

“NXTHVN is the place to be,” said Loretta Tam, who is another student apprentice at NXTHVN. 

NXTHVN is located at 169 Henry St. 

The post Connecticut-based musicians honor Dixwell’s jazz history at NXTHVN  appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Sudler Hall thrummed with the Saturday night conversations of a full house, with latecomers perched on the stairs and crammed into back corners. Over 200 people came to watch Redhot & Blue perform “JAMbushed! A Valentine’s Day Murder Mystery,”  which shifted the typical a cappella spring concert to an experiential event, complete with complimentary Shirley Temples. 

The group’s signature black-and-red ensemble set a tone of what was to come, as they took the stage. As the lights dimmed, the audience was no longer sitting in Sudler Hall but in the Birdland Jazz Club during its open mic night. After the warbles of two songs, the room suddenly went dark and one of Birdland’s regular performers lay dead center stage. The club’s frenzied investigation into the death, fit with quips and one-liners, was interjected by solos and smaller group numbers. 

JAMbushed is not the first themed concert that the group has performed. It is traditional for a cappella groups to add theatrical elements to their spring performances, though not to this scale. In recent years, Redhot & Blue has presented “Gordon JAMsay,” “Disney JAMmel”, “Paper JAM” and “JAM Preserves.” However, these concerts featured a series of skits — detached from the musical work — rather than an integrated story. 

Jade Klacko ’25, the Jam Coordinator and the person responsible for organizing the event beyond musical direction, spoke about this shift. 

“We’ve never had all of [the group] buy in so intensely. I think it was just such a beautiful thing. Everyone was just so excited and had such an energy for all of the details and the whole [performance] because it is like nothing we’ve ever done before,” Klacko said about preparation for the show. “I think it brought a lot of life into our music. ”

An increased narrative role in their performance did not detract focus from their musical set. 

The group performed its entire musical repertoire, including songs by Peggy Lee, Paul McCartney, Britney Spears, Fleetwood Mac, Cole Porter and George Gershwin. As a tradition, each member performs a solo they have not sung before. 

Tradition has a large role in the structure of a “Jam,” though Redhot & Blue introduced both new and archived arrangements. Klacko sang a version of Etta James’ “At Last” — arranged by Jay Mehta ’24 — before the group  performed pieces for the first time in over a decade including “Night and Day” and “That Man.” 

Arranging songs for performance is a meaningful contribution for Redhot & Blue. Each composition in their 26-piece set is an original arrangement by a current or former member. Even if members do not contribute arrangements, they still have opportunities to influence their performance beyond stylistic choices. This was true for Dixon Miller ’27, who acted as a janitorial employee of the jazz club with unfulfilled dreams to sing, disapproved by the club owner for more than 15 years. 

As the performance neared its end, audiences learned that Miller’s festering passion for jazz led him to murder three club singers, by cleaning the microphone with arsenic. In the reveal, he launched into a solo that was littered with maniacal laughter. His proud declaration of guilt was originally intended to be a monologue, though Miller suggested that it would be more impactful if sung. 

“I arranged that little song at the end to sing,” Miller said. “I took part of it from a musical called ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood,’” which is a murder mystery musical. It sort of fit and I thought, ‘Oh, this would be the perfect little song to sing here sort of as a murder reveal!’” 

A cappella groups are notified by the Singing Group Council of their “Jam” schedules in September and they focus on preparing new members for the repertoire, throughout the fall semester. The event is their largest in-house performance of the year, featuring alumni reunions and — in the spirit of the murder mystery’s interactive nature — a call for audience participation. 

Before 13 past members of Redhot & Blue took the stage to sing the alumni song — “Man Come Into Egypt” — Klako, who continued her coordinating position into the role of the jazz club owner, asked two audience members to sing at the open microphone. 

Alexander Kayne and his wife Jody Yetzer were approached by Joseph Kayne ’27, another scriptwriter, half an hour before the performance. Kayne did not know that he would be asked to sing when he told his son that he would join the stage during the performance. Backed by group vocals, Kayne and Yetzer offered a few phrases of “Moon River” before they returned to their seats.  

The nontraditional inclusion of family in the performance encapsulated how Redhot & Blue and JAMbushed differ from a typical approach to a cappella. 

Ruthie Weinbaum ’25, who has served as Redhot & Blue’s musical director for nearly two years, spoke to how the group’s departures from stereotypical performance are what makes it meaningful. 

“Redhot has always sort of been my place. This is my last Jam as pitch [music director]. I personally didn’t associate a cappella with jazz when I got to Yale, or jazz with a cappella,” Weinbaum said, “And I feel really proud to be in a group that’s promoting this genre and doing what I think is a lot of really cool things with a cappella music.” 
Redhot & Blue will travel to Colombia in May for their summer performance tour.

The post Jazz strikes a deadly chord at Redhot & Blue’s Murder Mystery Jam appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Kang is a New York City-based singer-songwriter whose discography is full of gentle R&B and dreamy jazz-pop melodies. Her most recognizable song, “Summer is for Falling in Love,” went viral on TikTok, where it has currently amassed over 79,000 uses, and has been featured in Nespresso and LG commercials. 

“When you’re 18, you have this wide-eyed innocence, and you’re naive about the world,” said Kang. “Then post-grad, real life hit, and I became a hopeless cynic. The past five years of my life, I’ve been re-learning what it means to be a hopeless romantic. The whole point of the album that I was writing, and that song in particular, is supposed to follow this journey of feeling jaded about life, but still holding on to hope. And holding on to the people and the moments that remind you that there’s still beauty and there’s still goodness in the world, despite everything else.”

Born in South Korea, Kang moved to the U.S. and grew up in L.A., Chicago and Dallas. She recalled having a sheltered childhood and viewing college as an opportunity to be independent, a chance for “newness,” she said. 

College, however, was far different than Kang’s expectations –– for a variety of reasons. Upon arrival, Kang said that she felt imposter syndrome, as she “definitely felt that everyone was smarter than (her).” Further, her college romance did not resemble the whirlwind, fiery love depicted in the books and movies. For one, when she met Andrew Kang ’13, the man whom she would eventually marry, sparks did not fly.

When Kang was introduced to him during her first Sunday worship at Yale, she said that “it wasn’t like a love at first sight thing” at all. They weren’t even each other’s ideal types. Much like her other realizations about college, Kang has learned that the romance of life is not always grand; more often than not, romance may come in smaller waves of mundane happenings. 

“I think I’m more and more convinced that, yeah, I’m glad I didn’t look for the kind of fiery, immediate attraction type of love?” said Kang. “Which is a perfectly legitimate way to fall in love, too. It just wasn’t for me and Andrew. Because I’m just learning over time, even if we had started out that way, it probably wouldn’t have stayed that way. And what really remains is like our friendship, and it sounds really … not sexy? But our relationship has been friendship and partnering in life.”  

Throughout their relationship, the two have come to resemble each other. In being with Kang, she said that she has learned to be more “outspoken,” while he has become more gentle and aware of his surroundings. Despite these differences, Kang said that they are both “sappy and sentimental” individuals, a dynamic that is playfully highlighted in Kang’s song, “cheezy,” from her first album. 

Their college romance is the backdrop of Kang’s song “about time,” which details a series of their firsts: first encounters, first dates and first kisses. Now entering its 13th year, this relationship, said Kang, has shaped the way she looks back at the past and faces the future. 

“We often have moments like it could just be sitting on a couch at home and we’re watching a movie, where we’ll stop and talk about, like, ‘Ah, this moment is passing. And one day, we’re going to look back on it,’” said Kang. “And Andrew has shaped my perspective of nostalgia and trying to remember moments by reminding me like, ‘Yeah, because this moment is so fleeting, we can be really grateful for it. So let’s just really be present and enjoy it, rather than feel sad about it already.” 

Kang’s music is a fitting soundtrack for student Anh Nguyen ’26 and the current season of love she finds herself in. Nguyen, who has recently entered a relationship, said that Kang’s music stirs up memories of love she has shared with her partner. 

There is a warmth and lightness to her music, Nguyen said, one that inspires listeners to stare out the window while sipping on their coffee. In particular, Nguyen named “Maybe the World is a Beautiful Place” as a song that reminded her of the beauties of the world that continue to exist.

“It’s peaceful, and it’s a much-needed reminder that there are good things in the world, and we should always seek them out,” said Nguyen. “I used to call myself a realist, albeit leaning pessimistic, but this song being my favorite of hers is an indicator of just how much more optimistic I’ve gotten as I’ve gotten older.”

In addition to her pursuit of change, Kang said she also sought to leave behind her Christian upbringing when she came to Yale. 

For many Korean Americans, the church is both a place of spiritual gathering and cultural community. 

Kang’s experiences of growing up in a Korean American church also meant seeing the complications of this intricate interlinking of faith and community. While Kang said she was cautious not to overgeneralize these communities, she said that these spaces frequently exhibited a pattern of “spiritual unhealth,” one that she saw up close as the daughter of a pastor. 

“People are seeking community because they’re immigrants,” said Kang. “But then, somehow, it brews a lot of gossip and politics. My dad was a pastor, and so I just saw some really ugly things up close, and I think that’s really what led to my spiritual trauma. I just couldn’t believe in a God who was good when all of these people who claim that they love God, I just saw them do awful things… ”  

Grappling with these experiences, Kang said she was ready to leave behind her Christian upbringing. Throughout her first year, she would continue to attend church on Sundays –– just in case her mom called and asked –– but she was determined to stay out of spiritual communities. 

Kang’s plan was rather short-lived, however, as she got “really involved” in Yale’s Christian scene, she said. She joined the United Church of Westville, a student-led, on-campus church and became the musical director of the Christian a cappella group, Living Water, during her four years at Yale. Her religious experiences with her peers helped her heal from her previous spiritual trauma, said Kang. 

“For me, there wasn’t a singular, big moment where I felt like my life was changed, but it was a lot of small things that added up,” said Kang. “I found a lot of healing and experiencing real community … At the very least, I felt like I was around people who were honest about their faith and the questions that they had.” 

As the church heavily influenced her upbringing, Kang’s relationship with her Korean American identity was also one that was riddled with contradictions and complications. While Kang grew up avidly consuming Korean music and television, she said that “to put it bluntly,” she “didn’t really like [the] Korean people” she encountered in her childhood.   

A lot of it, she said, had to do with the hierarchical, Confucian values reflected in her relationships with other Korean people, much of them occurring in the setting of the church. Reclaiming her Korean American identity and processing childhood traumas took time, she said.  

Writing and singing her lyrics in the Korean language, her first language, was a step towards this reclamation, according to Kang. The first words of love she received, Kang said, were Korean words. In telling the stories of her childhood and family, it “just made sense” to write the lyrics in Korean, said Kang.  

“There are certain things that you can say in Korean that just don’t come across in English and for me, personally, don’t evoke the same emotional response,” said Kang. “In ‘goodnight,’ the phrase 수고했어, like you can’t really say that in English. Like, what do you say, ‘you worked hard’? It just doesn’t mean the same thing. For me, it was really important to convey that exact feeling, even though it means a lot of people won’t understand it. But I know that for the people who do understand it, it would mean that much more.” 

Ten years have passed since Kang graduated from Yale. 

When Kang was a sophomore, she approached Shelly Kim ’15 during the summer before Kim’s first year on behalf of a student organization. Kim said she knew immediately that she wanted to befriend Kang. In the 13th year of their friendship, Kim said that Kang’s gentleness and warmth are an unchanged fixture of Kang’s character. 

In fact, not very much has changed. In her time knowing Kang, Kim has “loved” watching her explore new genres, collaborate with different artists and deepen a connection with her fans. Despite these changes, Kim said that there is “no difference between Sarah the friend and Sarah the musician.” Kang is continually truthful, sincere and tender, she said. 

“The way she sings about love, nostalgia, home, and hope is how she sounds when she holds space for her loved ones,” wrote Kim in an email to the News. “One of the greatest blessings in my life is that the same voice that has guided, encouraged, and comforted me all these years is the same voice I hear randomly when I’m at a coffee shop or when I’m driving. Even though we have been living on opposite coasts for the past six years, it feels like my best friend is always near.”

The memories of first kisses on York Street, dances in empty parking lots and the youthfulness that only exists at 18 may be well behind Kang. 

If Kang has learned one thing over the years, however, it’s that romance exists in the world beyond the years of her bright-eyed adolescence. This romance does not have to be grandiose for it to be real and beautiful, said Kang. 

“As a Yalie, there’s this narrative, you’re at one of the best schools in the world, which is a fact,” said Kang. “But two, because of that, you have to become this great person with big dreams, and you’re going to change the world. I wish more people had told me while I was at Yale like, yes, it was a privilege and a blessing to be at such an amazing school, getting the kind of education that you are, but this is not it. It will be better. I wish I wasn’t afraid of graduating and letting go of that part of my life. I treasure it as a really beautiful part of my life, but there’s just so much more to experience afterward.” 

Sarah Kang’s most recent single, “loml” with HOHYUN, was released on Feb. 8. 

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The a cappella group Mixed Company, or Mixed Co., took the stage at SSS, blending music and sketch comedy. The group’s concert marked their 42nd Snow Job, their annual winter concert.

“Saturday’s performance was not only a product of hours of hard work and rehearsals, but also an illustration of friendship and admiration for one another truly coming to life through music,” said Ayannah Obas ’27. 

Along with six others, Obas was tapped to join Mixed Co. in the fall. She said a highlight of the night was hearing everyone showcase both their individual skills and collaborative talent.

Emphasizing that sense of community, Isaac Yu ’24, also a former managing editor of the News, said that preparing for the show was particularly enjoyable because he was able to spend so much time with the group. After rehearsals, he said that members would often stay to study or make food together.

“I love hanging out with my a cappella group, and tech week is just an excuse to hang out, like, [for] four hours a day,” he said. “It definitely brings us closer as a group.”

During tech week, the group spent three hours rehearsing each night, coupled with additional time devoted to solos and performance details. Before that week, they spent four to five hours rehearsing as a group with another hour dedicated to their vocal section. 

Preparing to perform 20 songs, Mixed Co. began rehearsing in the fall, continuing throughout their winter tour in Florida and during the first few weeks of this semester. 

Yu said that he was particularly excited to arrange music for “Flowers,” a song from “Hadestown.” 

Praising Ian Berlin ’24 and Dania Baig’s ’24 rendition of the song, Eden Feiler ’27 said the two singers “really did it justice.”

Like other a cappella groups on campus, various members of Mixed Co. arrange music to perform instead of using pre-composed songs. Songs the group sings are arranged by members or alumni, and the group performs music across all genres. Once a song is arranged for the group, it becomes part of their repertoire, a diverse setlist from which they can draw songs in the future.

Each year, Mixed Co. selects songs from their repertoire along with new arrangements from current members to perform. According to assistant musical director of the group Everett Tolbert-Schwartz ’26, members fill out a form ranking their top choices for songs they would like to sing. Then, Tolbert-Schwartz works in collaboration with Emily Patrick ’26, the group’s pitch — or musical director, to make sure everyone gets their first or second choice.

“We find that when people are singing the song they really want to sing, everyone sounds better,” Tolbert-Schwartz said of the process.

Once songs are selected, every member of the group learns the background parts, known as “shoes.” Then, members of Mixed Co. who are interested in singing solos practice those parts in their free time. The group’s musical directors work to ensure that all members who would like to perform solos are able to do so at shows.

Along with the music, members of Mixed Co. also collaborate to imbue their concerts with comedic asides, engaging the audience with lighthearted deviations from their music. Michael Cheng ’26 is this year’s “shticktator,” the affectionate term the group uses for the member primarily responsible for planning “shticks.”

On Saturday, Cheng emceed the show and facilitated various bits. The shticks included a time-honored tradition: humorous introductions that set the scene and tone for the rest of the night. Obas jokingly introduced herself as a “public speaking major,” delivering the line in a barely audible whisper.

Another bit later played out with Kenneth Shui ’27 and Kenneth Vo ’27, who both go by “Kenny.” At one point during the concert, they staged a fake fight over whose turn it was to sing. 

Mixed Co. plans special skits for larger concerts like Snow Job, according to Aviv Pinker ’25. While other bits are recurring, the group collaborates to create novel segments for these shows. 

Yu served as the group’s “shticktator” last year. “Most of that is thrown together last minute,” he said. “And I think it makes it funnier because it’s so haphazard.”

For Tolbert-Schwartz, watching alumni in the audience react to the group’s bits is one of his favorite aspects of performing. Tolbert-Schwartz said alumni who are still on campus come to all the group’s shows.

Even former members who have graduated often stay involved with the group, he said, mentioning connecting with alumni in Florida during Mixed Co.’s recent tour. Pinker agreed, lauding the enthusiastic seniors who sat in the front row during Saturday’s concert.

“What makes Snow Job truly special is the support from friends and family in the crowd,” Pinker said. “Performing with them in the crowd is my favorite part of Snow Job.”

Mixed Co. was founded in 1981.

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The group’s name is inspired by the Sanskrit word related to sight and the vision of beholding a sacred object. Two of the trio’s members, Vijay Gupta MUS ’07 and Dominic Cheli MUS ’16, are graduates of the Yale School of Music. During their performance, Gupta played the violin, Cheli the piano and Yoshika Masuda the cello. Their performance was a unique blend of contemporary and classical pieces.

“I thought it was really innovative compared to most classical music these days,” said attendee Alex Moore ’26. “I liked the presentation and the group had good chemistry.”

The Darshan Trio’s performance at the Schwarzman Center was split into four parts, each a unique blend of compositions. The show opened with a quote from “Book of Hours” by Rainer Maria Rilke, saying, “Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.”

The first movement was a blend of contemporary and classic pieces. The opening song was Saans — or “Breath” —- by Reena Esmail. The composition, released in 2017, was delicate and emotional. It was accompanied by soft purple lighting, which matched the tone of the piece. This song then segued into “Piano Trio no.1”, first  movement, by Felix Mendelssohn. The 1839 composition was energetic and full-bodied, with red, warm-toned lighting matching the song. If Saans was the wind of a breath, this piece was the wind of a storm.

The second part of the performance was a blend of three songs. The first was called Mozart-adagio, a 1997 composition by Arvo Pärt. This emotionally subdued piece was performed in complete darkness, the only lighting coming from the soft glow of the performer’s tablets. The lighting then changed to soft warm tones for the 1811 Piano Trio “Archduke,” third movement, by Ludwig van Beethoven. This song was smooth and full of life. The last piece of the performance was “Buresca II”. The 1985 composition by Pēteris Vasks was energetic and lively, fittingly accompanied by magenta lighting. 

“It was very touching,” said attendee Serena Cheng ’24. “Especially how each one was tied to a story.”

The final blend of songs included only two composers: Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms. 

This medley included a distinct story-telling aspect, as dictated by the projected quotes from Brahms and the diaries of Schumann and his wife Clara. 

The third act opened with a quote by Schumann to his wife from 1838 saying, “We will lead a life of poetry and blossom, and we will play and compose together like angels and bring gladness to mankind.” This quote introduced the first Schumann song — Kinderszenen, “Dreaming” — which then blended into another work in the same 1848 Kinderszenen series: “The Poet Speaks.” 

These first two songs featured a lighter, gentler tone, which was appropriate considering the musician was inspired to compose them after watching his children play outside.

The last two pieces of the third act were both by Brahms. The trio played the third and fourth movements of the 1854 Piano Trio No. 1.

The third act started with delicate notes, then transitioned to a more somber tone — fitting with Clara’s mourning of her husband — and ended with a piece that was a passionate celebration of life. The third act was the musical embodiment of the story of Schumann and Brahms. The two composers were good friends, Brahms being mentored by Schumann and — supposedly — falling in love with his daughter Clara. 

The trio took time at the end of their performance to celebrate Clara Schumann, who was a skilled composer but unable to express her love for music due to societal norms. The fourth performance of Clara Schumann’s 1846 Piano Trio — the third movement — was accompanied by a quote from Clara saying, “My imagination can picture fairer happiness than to continue living for art.” 

“I loved their inclusion and celebration of Clara Schumann’s work,” said Alliese Bonner ’27 who attended the event. “She’s probably the most famous female composer.”

The fourth piece was loving but somber, much like the composer’s relationship with music.

The trio came back out on stage after a lengthy applause for an encore performance. The room was filled with bright pink lighting as they played the 2019 Piano Trio, Scherzo, by Reena Esmail. The energetic song was filled with staccato and falsetto notes, creating a fairy-like atmosphere that ended the trio’s performance on a joyful note.

The trio has only been playing as a group since the pandemic but each member of the trio also boasts individual claims to fame. 

Cheli has performed nationally with orchestras including the San Diego Symphony, Colburn Orchestra and Adrian Symphony. He has played at the Mostly Mozart and Ravinia Festival and is scheduled to make his fourth appearance at Carnegie Hall.

Masuda is an internationally renowned cellist and was awarded the YAMAHA Music Foundation of Europe String Award. He has worked with several celebrated composers and musicians, including Leonard Cohen and David Geringas. He was also newly appointed to the role of Assistant Professor of Cello and Director of String Studies at the Chapman University Hall-Musco Conservatory of Music. 

Gupta played for the Los Angeles Philharmonic for 12 years as a member of the first violin section. He has worked with groups like the Kronos Quartet and the Philharmonia Orchestra of London. 

Not only is each member of the trio an acclaimed musician, but all of them are also social justice advocates. 

Gupta is the founder and Artistic Director of Street Symphony, which is an organization that provides musical experiences for people recovering from addiction, homelessness and incarceration in the Los Angeles area. Cheli curates programs for and performs at schools and retirement homes in his surrounding community. Masuda is dedicated to teaching music to the next generation of artists, as exemplified by his history as a professor at California Lutheran University and his current position at Chapman University. 

For all of their pieces, the Darshan Trio performed with passion and vigor. Their energy was not only noticeable through the music they were playing, but also through their body language and facial expressions. Gupta played with so much liveliness that a few strings on his bow even snapped off during the performance. 

Reena Esmail MUS ’11 MUS ’14 MUS ’18 — the composer of two of the Trio’s performances — is a graduate of the Yale School of Music.

Correction, Feb. 12: This article has been updated to reflect that Robert is Clara’s husband, not her dad.

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Holley and M[A]B performed their set of entirely new material in Yale’s Whitney Humanities Center as part of the Collaborative Arts and Media Sound Art Series. After the concert, Holley spoke with Ross Wightman, CCAM technical manager and series curator, and audience members about his life and art, even showcasing his recent wire sculpture depicting the faces and bodies of a multi-generational family.

“Lonnie is definitely the lead,” explained RA Washington, who performs on beat samplers for M[A]B, “but it’s all improvisational. Any background music or vocals that are created are created by us, Mourning [A] BLKstar.”

Holley found his calling for art while making sandstone graves for his nephew and niece after they passed away in a house fire. When Holley’s sister couldn’t afford tombstones, Holley used his grandfather’s cross-cut saw to carve the memorials himself. Ever since, Holley has integrated themes of compassion and investigated the human condition, as evidenced by the recurring motifs and subjects present throughout his creative work.

While he has made songs on his keyboard and microphone for a large part of his life, it took until 2012 for Holley to release his debut album “Just Before Music.”

Formed in Cleveland in 2015, M[A]B is a label-defying Black music collective. M[A]B members met Holley through his student and guitarist, Lee Bains, and connected with his passion for his art. The group never rehearsed with Holley prior to their performances. Now, they’re traveling on a concert tour together.

Washington said about the power of M[A]B and Holley’s collaboration: “There have been experiences that’ve been so spiritually powerful that it’s surprising, because that doesn’t happen. It does happen, but it doesn’t happen to this degree that it has on this particular tour.”

The concert was part of CCAM’s Sound Art Series, led by Wightman. Founded in 2020, the Sound Art Series, which existed online through the pandemic, is focused on highlighting the sonic arts by bringing on a diversity of guest artists who experiment with sound and performance. Sound Art Series shows are free and open to the public, including open discussions, inviting audience members to further engage in the presented art and artists.

“It’s about the performance, as much as it is about the art, as much as it is about the sound,” said Wightman, expressing his intention to showcase artists experimenting with sound in a broader way.

Holley began his set with the phrase, “Thank you, time,” establishing the auditory theme for the following composition. Many of the songs started with Holley feeding M[A]B single lines and piano chords to inspire their instrumentation. 

This call-response style of music composition created a dynamic on-stage interaction where band members responded naturally to their own sounds. Every few minutes, the instrumentation would die down, allowing Holley to speak to the audience directly before moving on to his next sonic idea. 

“It’s always a little bit of a clean slate,” said Latoya Kent, a vocalist for M[A]B. “It feels like every time a song leaves, then it’s gone. Now it’s a new clean slate, and we’re starting from that clean slate.

Members of M[A]B spoke highly of Holley and talked extensively about the trust they all have in each other musically. 

When Holley gave out the instruction “no keys” during their performance, instantly, the keyboard responded. Such feedback was prevalent throughout the show, verbally and nonverbally as the musicians used their crafts to honor the greater performance. 

“You never realize how divided your mind is until you meet a person like Lonnie,” said Washington. “So focused, he’s pure art — pure. Every inch of him bleeds through the prism of art, no matter what it is.”

Holley reciprocated admiration for the artists around him in a conversation with the News. 

He spent time before his performance with students of the School of Art and the School of Architecture.

“What artists have in common is that we are all now being driven by spiritual emotions,” Holley said. “We may not even know it. We think that we have to get out and earn this and earn that, but everything that we’re trying to ‘re-earn’ has already been paid [for] by our ancestors’ sacrifice.”

Holley’s lyrics explore themes of resilience through hardship, the importance of heritage and the unavoidable passage of time. His journey to artistic prominence from an early life marked with adversity has given Holley many stories, thoughts and feelings to relay through his sculptural and musical work.

Holley and M[A]B have garnered cultural and critical acclaim for their work, as their music reflects the perspectives of unique life experiences. Their CCAM Sound Art Series performance gave attendees the opportunity to see a creative spin on what musical performances can be and witness how artists can react to their work as it is composed.

“There is nothing that I could write,” sings Holley in a song, pausing as if waiting for inspiration to strike again. When it does, he continues, “to make a wrong right.”

Lonnie Holley’s latest release, 2023’s “Oh Me Oh My,” was given a nine out of ten score from internet music critic, Anthony Fantano.

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This concert, slated to start at 7:30 p.m., will feature the winner of the School of Music’s Woolsey Hall Concerto Competition, pianist Hyojin Shin MUS ’22. The program consists of Smetana’s overture from “The Bartered Bride”; Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no 4 in G major, Op. 58; and Shostakovich’s Symphony no 6 in B Minor.

The performance is meant to serve as “a cleansing, type of musical experience that connects to a deeper level emotionally,” Milanov said. 

According to his website, Milanov is currently the music director of the Columbus Symphony, Chautauqua Symphony and Princeton Symphony orchestras — and chief conductor of the Slovenian RTV Orchestra in Ljubljana. 

He has taken positions throughout the United States as well as in Spain and Bulgaria. His career has seen collaborations and work with artists like Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell and Hillary Hahn. 

Yale Philharmonia violinist Oliver Leitner ’23 MUS ’25 described Milanov as “a great educator” who “explains the pieces in ways that are great for us [the Yale Philharmonia],” he said. 

Milanov noted both similarities and contrasts between each of the three pieces for the concert. According to Orrin Howard of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Smetana himself transcribed the overture from his first second opera, also called “The Bartered Bride.” Drawn from the finale of the second act, the music of the overture is drawn from the scene when the protagonist signs a contract voluntarily giving up his claim to his fiancee while townspeople watch. Milanov said the work can be described as “really cheerful,” mirroring the last movement of the Shostakovich, the program finale.

Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto was written in 1807 and is the second-to-last concerto the composer wrote. Many admirers of Beethoven noted its unique qualities. Davis Morgenstern ’26, an undergraduate pianist, said that he views the concerto as reminiscent of “older-style Beethoven.” 

Shostakovich’s Symphony No.6 was written in 1939, and according to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, symbolizes Shostakovich’s complicated relationship with composing for the Soviet Union while opposing Stalinist practices. 

While Milanov said that Shostakovich is rarely heard in concert halls, he said that it “demands an incredible power and virtuosity.” 

Milanov said that his background growing up in Bulgaria was crucial to his interpretation of the piece. Growing up with family members who fought in both World Wars and experiencing the Iron Curtain first-hand, Milanov cited a personal connection to Shostakovich. 

Milanov explained that the Shostakovich has a “dual meaning,” as some listeners may hear “hear a march,” while others may hear “oppression.” 

“Half of the symphony is a very introspective movement that deals with our most private fears and hopes,” Milanov said. “That very intimate world gets shattered and exposed to bright daylight with a lot of sarcasm. One asks itself “What is real? What is inside us?”

The Yale Philharmonia is the largest performing group at the School of Music. 

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