Willow Rodriguez ’26
A&E Editor
Last Friday, Aug. 29, seven of The College of Wooster’s musical arts organizations performed on stage at Scheide Music Center in the Scot Spirit Showcase. Ranging from dance groups to a cappella singers, organizations put on several acts for the purpose of recruiting new members.
The first group to perform was the College’s first co-ed a cappella organization, A Round of Monkeys. This group focuses on humor and silliness within their songs — their set included a cover of a song by the 1960s group, The Monkees, and a dramatic ballad about cows and their effect on the environment.
“Almost the entire group is seniors this year, so we are very excited to bring new members into our group,” said A Round of Monkeys president, Sequoia Hein Byerly ’26.
The next group to perform was the Chasing International Dance Team (Chasing). Their diverse style of dancing and wide variety of music represented their members’ cultural backgrounds. The group opened with a performance of “God is a Woman” by Ariana Grande and dove into several hip-hop songs like “Low” by Flo Rida. Chasing kept the audience’s attention with flowing, creative dance moves.
“We’re really excited about the Culture Show this year and of course, getting new members, as we have about ten to eleven new people [and] we can allow more in the club,” co-captain Adeline Williams ’26 said.“We’re just overall excited to perform for you all.”
The treble-focused a cappella group After These Messages followed the first two performance groups. Complete with jingles, doo-wop, folk rock and pop type-music, this group performed a rendition of “Always Coca-Cola” by Joey Diggs and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon and Garfunkel.
“After These Messages takes pride in building up the confidence in all our members to sing loud, proud and with their own voices,” music director Daphne Canfield ’26 said. “We hope that members joining us for the first time are able to feel just as valued for their unique voice as a solo singer would.”
The Dukes performed next, wearing their emblematic maroon colors. The jazz group performed a finger-snapping rendition of “On the Sunny Side of the Street” by Benny Goodman, which had the audience tapping their feet and nodding to the smooth jazz rhythm.
“We just like jazz, we like singing together, and it’s a good time,” Gianna Hayes ’26, The Dukes president, said. “I’m just so excited to see what kind of magic this year’s gonna bring.”
Next up was the College’s new dance group — Echo Choom K-Pop Dance crew — with their performance of several K-Pop hits. The group performed songs from the recent hit film “K-Pop Demon Hunters” including the songs “Soda Pop” and “Golden.” This group struck excitement into the audience with their bold poses and fast-paced dance routines that had an idol-like flair.
“We focus mostly on K-Pop dance styles. I think BTS, BLACKPINK — all those kinds of groups,” Keara Wiley ’26, president of Echo Choom, said. “We take members of any dance level.”
Another group included in the showcase was the queer-run COWBelles with an all-treble performance of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso”, a brand new arrangement for the group. After their initial song, the COWBelles also sang a rendition of “Back Pocket” by Vulfpeck, encouraging audience members to join in with rhythmic clapping as they sang.
“I came to college wanting to sing… I just like never got around to joining Wooster Chorus, and COWBelles just feels like the perfect amount of I can sing,” COWBelle’s president Grace Pryor ’26 said. “I can make music with people, and I’m having fun and I’m not stressed out.”
The last group to perform was the College’s well-loved group Merry Kuween of Skots. With rhythmic basses, flowing tenors and balancing baritones, Merry Kuween of Skots performed an iconic rendition of “Scotland the Brave” by Cliff Hanley. The group also performed a lively version of “Copacabana (At the Copa)” by Barry Manilow with soloists Ethan Juhasz ’27 and Joe Russo ’26 singing vivaciously about Lola and Rico’s tragic love story.
“We sing a lot of great stuff, everything from Elton John to Boyz II Men, video game music and everything in between,” Merry Kuween of Skots president Ben Rozner ’27 said. “We love to not just make music but really have fun together.”
Overall, the showcase was an amazing and fun way to start the semester with a fun-loving and entertaining vibe, and it will be exciting to see what every group has in store for the College!