Jessica Brady ’18, Julia Thompson ’16: Bella Voce, a new all female a capella group, will make its debut at the Episcopal Academy this year. Seniors Barbara Maritsis ’15, Emma Smith ’15, and Josie Rider ’15, founded Bella Voce in order to create a female singing group that any girl can take part in. This idea came about last spring and it has come into fruition this year. “We decided to start a female a capella group because Stripes is strictly all male and we felt that the school needed a female presence. I don’t think anyone gave it much thought until now,” said Rider.
Photo courtesy of Lily Zelov ’18
Like its male counterpart, the Stripes, Bella Voce is neither affiliated with the Upper School Choir nor the Vocal Ensemble; it is simply a club for people who love to sing. “While vocal ensemble is fun, it’s very structured, it’s a class, and a lot of the music is classical. So Bella Voce was kind of a chance for us to sing some more pop stuff, and just have more of a say in what the students want to sing,” commented Maritsis. According to Smith, “[The club] mostly consists of girls from Vocal Ensemble, but anyone is allowed to sign up. There is no prerequisite.”
Bella Voce has four different singing levels and groups: Soprano I and II, and Alto I and II. With about six girls in each section, each member will have her own level of experience. “We were surprised at the amount of people interested. We have a lot of sign ups and a lot of people have been very diligent and actually show up to rehearsal which is unexpected but amazing,” recalled Rider.
Joanne Ward, Middle School Music teacher and Bella Voce Faculty Advisor, has been working with the student founders to outline the songs that they would like to sing over the next few months. “We’re looking into songs like ‘Royals’ by Lorde, ‘You Are the New Day’ by King Singers and ‘Hallelujah’ by Jeff Buckley,” elaborated Maritsis. “The music that we’ve chosen isn’t super challenging, so it has opened up a lot of opportunities for girls that would like to sing, but aren’t necessarily vocal ensemble ready.” Smith commented, “We will sing some Chapel songs, but this group gives us the opportunity to sing more modern and fun songs that people can actually get into.”
Photo courtesy of Lily Zelov’18
Bella Voce has started meeting either on Wednesdays or Thursday’s during Domino blocks in the Crawford Campus Center Choir Room. This schedule accommodates every member’s schedule and availability. Bella Voce also plans to work with the Stripes for future a capella collaborations. “I don’t think we are necessarily rivals of the Stripes, but I feel as though there is tension,” said Rider. “The Stripes are great because we can work hard and make sure we remain on their level. But we are supportive of each other and we hope to do some collaborative pieces in the future.”
These talented female singers are practicing their songs in order to prepare for all of their performances, which will be held at Open Mic Night, the Arts Fest, and Chapel. “Once we solidify our repertoire and have more practices we hope to start performing soon during Chapels and Open Mic Nights,” announced Rider. Maritsis added, “Basically anywhere the Stripes are, we’re going to be there too. We’re definitely going to compete with them. Open Mic Night is our prime performance place, and the reason that we were not at the last one was because it crept up on us.”
Soon, the Episcopal Academy community will hear more from this “club of girls who just love to sing.”