A Cappella Jams Valentine’s Day with Serenades
CRLS a cappella group Sassafras delivers Singing Valentines.
March 13, 2023
Love. A never-fading, blissful feeling, waved wistfully in front of your face on the best (or worst) day of the year, February 14th, Valentine’s Day. This magical day, named after a romantic saint, is a day filled with emotion. At CRLS, we celebrate the day through the A Cappella program’s Singing Valentines. Students can buy a three-dollar singing telegram for a friend or loved one, with the proceeds going to the Visual and Performing Arts Department. Shahria Basiria ’25, a member of Pitches and Do’s, and Chanho Lee ’25 who represents Note to Self, shared the process that goes into making such an event with the Register Forum. The groups take a month to prepare songs for their Valentine’s Day fundraiser, starting preparations right after their Winter Jam in December. “Yeah, we kind of start right away, to make sure we have enough time,” Basiria said, demonstrating the care these singers have for their craft.
Many students choose to send Singing Valentines as a joke, or utilize it as a means of humiliation for their friends. Therefore, groups also offered sassy breakup songs. For instance, Pitches and Do’s offered an alternate version of “My Girl,” singing “No Girl” throughout the day. These songs embrace the joke, because not many people would actually send their exes a singing telegram.
According to Basiria and Lee, the A Cappella program also helps singers grow. “A Cappella has allowed me to feel more accepting of myself,” Lee explained. Events like Singing Valentines and the Winter and Spring Jams allow singers to become more confident in themselves, both socially and musically. They also explained, on a more technical note, how A Cappella expanded their singing capabilities. Lee described the adjustments, saying, “[A Cappella] … challenged me to do different voice parts that I didn’t originally think I could do, challenged me to hit higher notes, challenged me vocally and made my voice more flexible.” Due to the amount of time and work spent making sure they perfect each song, members are able to grow close with their respective groups, which in turn affects the output of their music. For this specific event, members of A Cappella are able to bond even further all day, shown by the energy that radiates through each heartfelt song. Reflecting back on last year’s Valentine’s Day, Lee told the Register Forum, “It’s a really fun, exhausting day.”
It seems like this year’s Valentine’s Day is going to be action-packed, and you better believe you’re going to be seeing at least one of your friends get embarrassed!
This article also appears in our February 2023 print edition.
