General Admission continues to evolve
A cappella group united by quirky friendships and passion for music
November 9, 2014
It’s not often that you find a group that sings everything from Bastille to Fun, Neon Trees to Billy Joel, and occasionally closes with a heartfelt rendition of “Shenandoah.” But this is exactly what sets General Admission apart. A group that is known both for their musicality and their incredibly vibrant set of personalities, General Admission has become an institution on campus.
Music Director Thomas Day, ‘15, has been with General Admission since his freshman year, when he got in, not as a singer, but as a “vocal percussionist” – what the average person would call a beatboxer.
“We started as a fairly motley crew my freshman year. It was composed of singers and non-singers. We had everything from University Singers to Glee Club and Cantatrici members to people who had almost no musical experience,” said Day. “As such, we were pretty limited in the complexity and difficulty of the music that we could sing. That left us with a wide disparity in both talent and in interest.”
A lot has changed in those four years. Now, out of the group of twenty, thirteen of the members are also University Singers, and the rest all have extensive musical experience. GA is also the only coed group on campus, which allows for more flexibility in musical selections.
Their passion for music is one of their main uniting elements – they have an extremely wide range of majors, interests, personalities, and ages, lending them vibrancy and diversity, but they all share the same love for both the music and each other.
“It’s difficult to articulate how much not only the music means but the people you sing for and the people you sing with. Often times, you can’t differentiate,” Day said when asked what he loved most about the group.
“You don’t necessarily sing for the love of the music as much as for the love of the people you sing it with. I think that’s what really sets this group apart from the group I was in four years ago,” added Day. “We are singing for each other now. We sing to create art, not just for fun. But at the end of the day, we’re just one big quirky family.”
