Six a cappella groups will perform together on May 30 as part of a concert that will benefit the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation.
LocalTones, the latest installment in an annual concert series that showcases the a cappella groups of UC Davis, will feature performances from The UC Davis Lounge Lizards, The Spokes, The Afterglow, GreekBeats, Jhankaar and The Liquid Hotplates.
“LocalTones is an awesome collaborate a cappella event,” said Rachel Riley, a fourth-year English major who is president of The Spokes. “It’s a chance for the local a cappella community to come together for one event.”
Jaimie Wu, a fourth-year exercise biology major who is president of The Liquid Hotplates feels that Localtones exhibits the strong sense of community among the a cappella groups of UC Davis.
“While LocalTones has changed a lot since my freshman year, the theme of a community effort has been constant,” Wu said. “This year’s going to be the best one yet because we came together and had all the groups host the show as a community. We’re sharing the work in publicizing and selling tickets and it feels way more equal [than in past years]. All the groups were involved in choosing the date, the nonprofit we would donate the proceeds to and how to promote the event. The distribution of work is more even and our effort has gone beyond just changing our profile pictures to the event flyer.”
This year, the event’s profits are going to the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation. This charity has been chosen because the Nool brothers who are members of The Afterglow recently lost their younger brother to this disease.
“I like that I get to support their family,” Wu said. “What’s a better way to be a community than to support someone in the community?”
This is the second LocalTones for GreekBeats which consists of members of sororities and is the newest a cappella group on campus.
GreekBeats formed in January 2013 as a way for members of sororities to have an a cappella group that didn’t require as much of a time commitment.
“We’re definitely more established now,” said Madison Kime, a third-year managerial economics major and a founding member of GreekBeats. “It was a little intimidating being the new group last year.”
LocalTones will occur on Friday, May 30 at 8 p.m. in 123 Science Lecture Hall. Tickets are $5 presale and $7 at the door.
JOHN KESLER can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.