Courtesy of the A Cappella Council

Last Sunday, Bowdoin’s a cappella groups hopped from one first-year brick to another serenading potential recruits. Singers knocked on dorm room doors to alert residents of their presence before launching into song in the bricks’ common rooms.

An established tradition, Dorm Sing is one of two a cappella performances preceding recruitment week, where students hoping to join a cappella audition for a spot in one of Bowdoin’s six a cappella groups—the Bear Tones, BOKA, the Longfellows, the Meddiebempsters, Miscellania and Ursus Verses.

Recruitment is overseen by the A Cappella Council, a body composed of two council presidents and two or three representatives from each group. After auditions, candidates wait for a callback, and if all goes well, a call on draft night informing them which groups have accepted them. Drafted candidates are then given five minutes to decide who to sing with for the rest of their Bowdoin a cappella careers.

Dorm Sing and last Saturday night’s Recruitment Concert targeted first-year students looking to enter the college a cappella scene. Addressing the priority the council places on first-year recruitment, A Cappella Council co-president and BOKA member Whitney Pellegrino ’27 explained how the council attempts to maintain an equal distribution of class years in each group.

“The priority is definitely [first-years],” Pellegrino said.“I’m trying to build classes evenly, based on them, so you don’t run into situations like how it was my [first year], where [we] were left with only five people.”

Levin Brenner ’29, a member of Ursus Verses and A Cappella Council co-president, highlighted how Dorm Sing gives those unable to attend the Recruitment Concert another chance to engage with Bowdoin a cappella, while also providing each group an additional opportunity to demonstrate their musical range.

“It’s a fun way to go around and introduce ourselves to the first-years who either missed [the] Recruitment Concert or give them another piece of us,” Brenner said.

For Miscellania member Lily Watts ’27, Dorm Sing was her introduction to Bowdoin a cappella and the group she would eventually audition for and join.

“I didn’t make it to the Recruitment Concert my [first year].” Watts said “I only saw the groups perform at Dorm Sing, and I remember being really in love with Miscellania as a group.”

From the perspective of a performer, Watts noted how the more casual setting of Dorm Sing broke down barriers and enabled conversation between a cappella singers and first years interested in auditioning.

“I think Dorm Sing gives a bit more of an informal, casual and relational element of the performance,” Watts said. “For first years, who are not sure what group they want to be in, it gives us a chance to say, ‘we’re friendly and fun,’ and [we] can kind of chat with people in the awkward in-between moments that sometimes happen.”

Getting each group to finish their songs in time to move on to the next brick can prove a logistical challenge. Brenner, who was responsible for scheduling the sequence of performances, shared how he removed breaks between each brick to accelerate the process.

“The biggest thing that we changed from last year is just having the groups go back to back,” Brenner said. “The important thing about that is making sure that everyone sings one song so that there’s no clog.”

Beyond logistical considerations, Brenner also arranged the set list to avoid consecutive performances from groups with similar styles.

“I also split up the types of groups,” he noted. “I put [Miscellania], which is all higher voice parts, and then [the] Longfellows…. That [way] people can get a diverse range as they’re passing through.”

Brenner, who performed a Billie Eilish medley with Ursus Versus, highlighted the audience’s excitement when they recognized the song being performed.

“I liked seeing people’s reactions to what song we were gonna sing,” Brenner said. “We have our little interlude, and it’s maybe not the most clear about what song [it is]. And there are … gasps and [they’re] like, ‘oh, it’s Billie!’”

By bringing a cappella directly to students’ doorsteps, Dorm Sing unites the Bowdoin community through music, holding the potential to win over even the a cappella averse.

“There [are] people who wouldn’t want to come to an a cappella concert, generally, who end up at Dorm Sing,” Watts said. “Maybe that inspires them to come to a cappella later in the future.”