[Event Cancelled] Shades, a Yale A Cappella Group, to Perform at Westover March 22nd

Update, 4:30 p.m. March 13:

Shades cancelled due to a scheduling issue, according to Rich Beebe of Westover School.

Original posting:

Shades, a Yale University a cappella group, will perform at Westover School on Friday, March 22nd, starting at 7:30 pm in the School’s Louise B. Dillingham Performing Arts Center on South Street.

The performance is free and open to the public. Reservations are requested and may be made by calling 203.577.4535. Parking and entrance to the Performing Arts Center are on South Street.

Drawing on the rich ethnic and musical backgrounds of its members, Shades strives to achieve the most dynamic and powerful musical presentation possible, with a focus on African-American music, particularly R&B, gospel, jazz, pop, and traditional music. Shades’ repertoire includes more than 100 songs, approximately 30 of which are sung in any given year.

Shades was started in 1988 by Titilayo Ngwenya, a member of Yale’s Class of 1992, and a small group of other Yale freshmen at a pre-orientation program for students of color now known as Cultural Connections. Performances during the early years of Yale’s youngest singing group took place at the Durfee’s Convenience Store on Yale’s Old Campus.

The group’s repertoire is rooted in music of the African Diaspora, a tradition that until the emergence of Shades had not established itself within Yale’s a cappella community. Currently, Shades presents three annual singing jams on campus. At the beginning of each academic year, the group auditions incoming students and replaces members who have graduated. All Shades members must be full-time undergraduate students at Yale.

Westover is a selective boarding and day school in grades 9-12 with 205 students from 16 states and 17 countries. The School offers its students more than 20 Advanced Placement courses as well as signature programs in science, engineering, art history, and music.