On March 14, the Upper School hosted an assembly featuring Guys’ Gig and the Yale Society of Orpheus and Bacchus, Yale University’s a cappella group.
The assembly was planned by ASB and the administration. The performance opened with senior Alex Najibi’s introduction of the rest of Guys’ Gig, the upper school’s all-male a cappella group.
Guys’s Gig performed hits such as “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay” and the popular Disney tune “Kiss the Girl.” The group interspersed banter and musical puns into their performance.
Next, the Yale Society of Orpheus and Bacchus (SOB) took the stage. The group performed a full set, filled with a mixture of songs including hits from “Jungle Book” and “Aladdin” and songs such as “Hallelujah” and “Feeling Good.”
Between songs, singers participated in quick skits about a spelling bee, belts, and their talents. Jeffrey Hsu (9) thought that some of the jokes were overdone, but he added, “My favorite part was when [SOB] was introducing each of their members and made it funny.”
As part of one of their gags, one of the SOB members claimed to have extrasensory perception and read the mind of an audience volunteer, Matt Bloch (9). He had the opportunity to sit on a human throne while being serenaded.
“I liked [the assembly],” Melody Huang (12) said. “It’s nice to have these assemblies just for entertainment. It makes the day brighter, I think.”
After the group ended their set, they hosted a workshop for all interested in music and a cappella singing during lunch.
SOB member Paul Leo gave some advice to aspiring singers.
“Just make sure that whatever you’re singing, it’s something you enjoy, because it’s only something you’re going to want to improve on if you enjoy what you’re doing,” he said. “And it’s also very important to sing with other people, because you can form great relationships with people just by singing that you wouldn’t be able to form otherwise, it really requires a certain amount of connection that’s kind of rare.”