Symfonics show deadly talent in spring concert

By AERIEL MERILLAT

Symfonics held their spring concert with the theme “Deadly Sinfonics” last Thursday, April 2 in Dodd Auditorium. At the end of each semester, the a cappella group provides an on-campus showcase to share their months of hard work arranging and practicing selected songs.

This year, the concert was free of charge to University of Mary Washington students and the public, but the group held several bake sales, sold CDs and accepted donations in order to help cover the costs of recording and traveling to competitions.

Symfonics is UMW’s oldest co-ed a cappella group, with a long history of bringing good music and soulful voices to the campus. The group was founded in 1991 and has since performed with other a cappella groups across the east coast. The group currently consists of fifteen UMW students of different class ranks.

“Deadly Sinfonics” was a play on the seven deadly sins, and as the lights dimmed on a crowded Dodd Auditorium, the enthusiastic crowd applauded the performers. The night was full of a mixture of indie and pop singles, with everything from artists like Adele, John Newman, Bruno Mars and Dr. Dog.

During the intermission, nationally-ranked beat boxer TylaDubya performed at the concert. TylaDubya has performed at several venues, including at the American Beatbox Championship and serves as beat boxer for Symfonics, going by his everyday name, Tyler Weisbeck.

The night also featured another on-campus group, the Performing Arts Club (PAC), who gave a beautiful showcase of the wide range of dance types that the club performs and added a nice variety to the night of singing.

Several Symfonics’ seniors, including Lisa Johnson, Cassie Sciortino, Sarah Pollard and Jordan Reece, performed their senior solos at the spring concert. Senior alto Sarah Pollard dazzled the crowd with her powerful vocals, choosing to showcase her range in a soulful Adele number.

As the group performed the last song of the night, the crowd filled with family, friends and students alike applauded the group, who then came back on stage for an encore performance.

“The Symfonics concert blew my expectations,” said Lexy Maratellos, a freshman sociology major. “They harmonized so well, and they kept me on the edge of my seat during the whole show. Overall, I really loved the show and the seven deadly sins theme.”