During their winter break tour, members of Miscellania returned to a place both familiar and foreign: high school.
Bowdoin's oldest all-female a cappella group performed in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Kent, Connecticut, during the tour. Business manager Wellesley Wilson '08 and Kate Emerson '10 had the opportunity to perform at their high schools: the Maret School in D.C. and the Kent School in Connecticut, respectively.
"I think the best thing was that the last time I had performed at my school was with my high school a cappella group, so it was nice to be able to come back and perform with Miscellania," Wilson said. "Even though it definitely turned out to be a good performance, most of the girls will tell you I was definitely nervous prior to singing."
"I think it was really overwhelming, since you're bombarded with people," said musical director Mary Hartley Platt '07. "You're showing our group to the school and your school to us simultaneously."
Miscellania has toured during Winter Break many times during its 30-year history, the most recent being a tour of Los Angeles in 2004. This year, the singers decided to tour their hometowns.
Along the way, the group took advantage of several Bowdoin connections, including performing for the Bowdoin Club of Philadelphia and taking a guided tour of Philadelphia with Philadelphia native and Orient photo editor Tommy Wilcox '09, a member of Ursus Verses and the Longfellows.
"This tour was the first Miscellania had done in about four years and I think I can say it was a success," Wilson said. "Performing so often really allowed us to become more comfortable with being on stage and performing together, which is something that we have felt we could always work on.
"When you spend 24 hours with a group of people for 10 days straight, it is inevitable that you will become closer," she added.
Wilcox even provided one of the group bonding highlights of the trip, when he took the group to his aunt's roof deck in Philadelphia, which had "the coolest views of the city" according to Wilson.
"It was scenic and we had great conversation," Platt said.
Platt also cited the warm welcome of the Bowdoin Club, saying that "they postponed their holiday party so we could sing there."
Not all the venues that booked the group, however, were as flexible. Certain restaurants cancelled the group's performances on very short notice.
"We actually had a lot that cancelled," Platt said. "It made us sad that people didn't take college students seriously."
Still, the singing experience that the group did have on the tour was positive. Platt said that the benefits of going on tour included exposure for the group, supporting the Bowdoin Club, and allowing singers who were abroad to meet new members.
In the future, Miscellania will perform with the Longfellows for the Val Jam, a Valentine's Day-themed concert. Miscellania will also be holding spring auditions soon after the concert.
"All in all, it's shaping up to be a great spring for us," Wilson said.