MCQUAD/COURTESY
By Catherine Diakou, Staff Writer
This past week, Manhattan College’s a capella group the Manhattones held auditions for their upcoming semester.
Preceding this semester’s auditions, the group had a total of 13 members on board. After losing many senior members following graduation in the spring of 2023, Manhattones took on a good number of new members this past fall season.
President of the club Landon Scofield began his journey with the small a cappella group in the Fall of 2022.
“I just thought, I’ve never been in a full a capella group, it would be fun to do,” Scofield said.
Joseph Belfoire, secretary for the Manhattones, explained how the group adjusts when taking on new members.
“We really want balance in the group,” Belfoire said. “We try to make sure we have at least one retaining member from each group that can help teach the new people.”
Isabella Kola, vice president of the group, mentioned that one of the main qualities amongst all the members is their love and commitment to the ensemble.
“Everyone who’s here wants to be here,” Kola said. “It’s not just about singing for us. We’re kind of like a family.”
Belfoire further explained that one of his favorite parts of being in the group is knowing everyone on a personal level.
“It’s a smaller group, more community-oriented…you’re not just a face in a crowd,” Belfoire said.
Though previous experience is not a requirement, Scofield, Kola and Belfoire all mentioned that their love for musical performance started long before entering college.
“I love choirs, I love performing arts,” Scofield said. “It was a huge aspect of my life in high school.”
“I’ve been a theater kid since I was seven,” Kola told The Quadrangle.
Kola described some of the challenges she faced while balancing the performing arts with an hour-long commute. She pointed out that joining this group has been a great way to get involved in performing arts and on campus as a commuter student.
“I wasn’t going to audition at first, but the people around me convinced me, and I’m so glad I did because I found such a wonderful community in this club,” Kola said.
The singing group doesn’t confine themselves to one genre, but opens the floor to suggestions from members, allowing members to work on their technique across various genres.
“Definitely the best benefit to Manhattones is that we are very flexible in the songs that we can sing, we can be pretty democratic when it comes to what songs,” Belfoire said. We can actually have the freedom to ask people what they want to do, and then we do them.”
Since the Manhattones perform almost exclusively in concert settings, Scofield says that the group looks forward to performing whenever they get the opportunity.
“I’m looking forward to our biggest event which is the spring concert,” Scofield said. “We get Singers, we get orchestra, we get Music Ministry, any other performing arts group we have, and we all just have a little concert for friends, family and to support the arts in the chapel here.”
While the group does perform in person, they also share their performances on their Instagram account, @mcmanhattones, giving them even more opportunities to showcase their talented group with the Manhattan College community and the surrounding public.