Manhattan University Singers at the annual Festival of Lessons and Carols.
@SINGERSSMU / INSTAGRAM
Isaiah Rosario, Senior Writer
Manhattan University’s performing arts groups ended the year with their annual announcements regarding new leadership for the fall.
New presidents of four performing arts groups on campus have been announced. Jason Matute will lead Scatterbomb, while Singers will have co-presidents for the first time: Vanessa Goncalves and Isabella Suero. Dean Corovino is the new president of the Manhattones, and Olivia Bailey returns as president of Players.
Each club’s focus for the upcoming year gives its current members, and potential new ones, a lot to look forward to – whether that be new song choices or doing events with other schools.
“I really want to focus a lot on our repertoire and the kind of music we’re doing,” Suero said. “We’ve done a lot of different kinds of music, but we do tend to stick to fun songs for Christmas and then one really large piece, and I really don’t want to lose that, but I also do want to add in songs that I think are more contemporary, like pop songs, or songs off of Broadway… and I think a lot of people in Singers feel the same way, where they want to also be able to do more fun things.”
Goncalves of Singers mentioned that while personal music growth and expanding membership are important to her, her eye is currently on something bigger. She believes that it is now time for this group to travel to perform.
“I think we’ve grown to the point where we can return to that kind of tradition, where we travel every year, and I want to get us [to get] our foot in the door with that, and bring that excitement to the choir,” Goncalves said. “Part of these other two things, doing challenging things and having people grow as singers, kind of just works its way into that. I would say that’s probably one of my biggest priorities. I want us to go somewhere fun, cute, somewhere warm [and do] something enjoyable that stems outside of just our community.”
For Manhattones, Corovino is looking to become more active on social media, specifically Instagram, by putting songs on the platform that don’t make the cut for concerts. When looking at the larger picture, Corovino wants to make Manhattones more inclusive for all its members.
“I want Manhattones to be a place where people like to sing,” Corovino said. “They can come and they can sing what they like. I know the one thing that I have in mind is that I want all of my members to have a say on what we sing. Right now, the process is more of a board [choosing] a couple of songs, and we have a vote. I think, why not have members just give suggestions, and if a member gives a suggestion with the song that they like, then why not just do that song?”
One of Matute’s biggest goals for Scatterbomb is to expand the club and have more of a social presence. Matute continued by saying that he is working with the social media advisor for Scatterbomb to make sure some of their skits are posted online.
For clubs recruiting on campus, one of the most important aspects is ensuring that students feel welcome and comfortable. Matute says that Scatterbomb truly offers a safe environment for both the students participating and those in the audience.
“I feel like we’re able to captivate the audience by sometimes making niche references that only one person would get, or another time we make popular references, and we offer that safe environment, because we all know college is stressful,” Matute said. “We have finals in two weeks…but it takes off that edge and not just to realize why we’re truly here: not only to get good grades, but also to make lasting connections after college.”