Tuning Up
The quartet was created by the students—"four girls who want to sing," said Donna Maloney, Applied Music Program coordinator at the Department of Music. And these women can deliver. All are music majors or minors, three are members of the College Chamber Singers, and one performs with the female a cappella group the Owl Creeks. "When they sing, it sounds like the angels are singing," Maloney said.
All four students have been involved with music for almost as long as they can remember. "Music has always been there with us," said Joanna, of Laurel, Maryland. She grew up playing piano. Caroline of Peterborough, New Hampshire, and Carling, of Oak Park, Illinois, have always sung in choirs. Nandi of Williamstown, Massachusetts, has been writing, performing, and recording her own music since the third grade.
Caroline and Joanna dreamed about starting something like Colla Voce since their first year at Kenyon. The first imagined themselves as members of a barbershop quartet, and over the years their idea evolved into a unique project focusing on classical and contemporary folk music. The quartet is now in full bloom and excited about showing Kenyon its passion and talent. "We just want to make music for ourselves and for other people," Joanna said. "We all love singing, and we all love each other."
On Halloween, Colla Voce impressed a Kenyon audience with its first public performance, singing Irish Blessing, All the Pretty Horses, and Scarborough Fair, along with works by Samuel Barber and Felix Mendelssohn. The quartet wants to build on this successful event by planning more concerts. Listen to an audio clip of Colla Voce.
By Ellie Norton '10 of Cullowhee, North Carolina.