On Thursday, February 14, Westminster students enjoyed a Valentine’s Day concert provided by the school’s men’s and women’s a cappella groups, commonly known as MAC and WAC, in the Pressley Hall foyer. Dressed in red and pink, WAC sang several classics like “I Want You Back” by the Jackson 5, “You Can’t Hurry Love,” and even introduced a new song, “Trouble” by Taylor Swift. MAC, wearing suits, sang several romantic songs including “I Want It That Way,” and of course, crowd favorite “For The Longest Time.”
“MAC sang for Valentine’s Day because we learn a lot of love songs and it’s a great time to perform them,” said junior Michael He. “I like performing ‘Easy’ because [sophomore] Sam Lauten, [senior] Gray Clark, and [sophomore] Robert DeGolian have awesome solos in that song.”
MAC is well known for their rendition of “For The Longest Time,” and especially for the unique way that they perform it. Each soloist chooses a girl to serenade, whether it be a friend, girlfriend, or sister. “Easy” is another crowd pleaser, and received positive reviews from spectators at this year’s concert.
“We wanted to have a Valentine’s Day concert this year because we wanted a chance to let everyone hear our new songs we’ve been working on,” said junior Erica-Marie Sanchez. “And we just wanted to spread the love.”
The Valentine’s Day concert has been a tradition at Westminster for a long time, though the set list changes from year to year.
“It’s a long running tradition for the a cappella groups to sing for Valentine’s Day,” said freshman Jake Smith. “A cappella has become a form of music that represents romance in many ways, so Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to showcase what we’ve been working on.”
Despite the grueling work of learning new songs, the members of the a cappella groups find excitement in numbers to perform.
“Personally,” said Sanchez, “My favorite song to perform has been Trouble by Taylor Swift because Jillian Puskas did an amazing job arranging it and it’s a fun song that everyone loves and can sing-along to.”
This years’ Valentine’s Day concert was highly successful, and both WAC and MAC hint at an upcoming concert this spring, as well as an even more exciting Valentine’s Day in 2014.
