By Sean Crites '22
During the Spring 2021 semester the Nassoons have continued to operate virtually, hosting weekly ’Soon Zooms’ to work on repertoire and build relationships. While many members are living on campus or nearby, the University has maintained its mandate that all student organizations’ activities remain virtual. In this virtual format, we were able to submit a video of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” for the Sing Out for Shelter Benefit Concert hosted by the Augmented 8 to combat homelessness in Washington D.C. this February. We also welcomed students back to campus with a special video of “Going Back."
We are excited to announce the release of a virtual music video for our newest arrangement: “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa. You can check it out on our YouTube here: https://youtu.be/k_R6vqiue3Y. We are proud of this creation because all of the audio and video editing was completed by current undergraduates. Kudos to: former music director TJ Li ‘21 for the arrangement, David Timm ‘22 for the solo, current music director Tim Amarell ‘22 for the audio editing, and Sean Crites ‘22 for video editing.
Beyond music, we have devoted much time and effort to discussing equity, diversity, and inclusion in the Nassoons, specifically looking at barriers that may exist within the auditions process.
The University remains optimistic that most, if not all, students will return to campus in the fall. But there is limited information right now about how student organizations will function. Acaprez has agreed that all a cappella groups will have auditions. Due to the lack of auditions this year, we will open auditions to members of the classes of 2023. 2024 and 2025. We are excited about holding auditions and welcoming a robust cohort of new Nassoons from the classes of ‘23, ‘24, and ‘25!
In other news, Alan Lin ’22, has designed new Nassoon sweatshirts, shirts, and coffee mugs that are now available on our website. We had an online gear store that was active for 2 weeks where interested individuals could purchase items. We will make more such opportunities available in the future.
Two Nassoon seniors will be graduating this year: Michael Yeung ’21 and TJ Li ’21.
Michael is a senior from Hong Kong in the Linguistics department pursuing certificates in Cognitive Science and Translation and Intercultural Communication. He is an active member of the Glee Club, Chamber Choir, Decem, Nassau Weekly, and the Princeton Perspective Project. After graduation, he plans to work at Bain in New York City.
TJ is a senior from Long Island, NY in the Politics department pursuing certificates in Statistics and Machine Learning as well as Music Performance (solo voice). Besides the Nassoons, he’s also in the Glee Club, Chamber Choir, and Trenton Youth Singers. He is also a member of the Cap and Gown eating club. After graduation, he’ll be working in data analytics and consulting at Mastercard.
We hope you all stay well and look forward to seeing you at virtual reunions in May!
(Because there was no PNAA Annual Dinner this year, we did not have the opportunity to personally congratulate Michael and TJ and welcome them into the PNAA. We do so now. Welcome aboard, and best of luck and success to you both!)
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