Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
The a cappella group Mixed Company will be performing their first concert of the year this Saturday at 8:00 pm at the Friends Meeting House. Their program will include pieces by Sarah McLachlan, Shakira, Dido, and Oasis and will feature the guest group The Oxford Blues.
An eleven member, contemporary music a cappella group, Mixed Company is the oldest coed a cappella group of its kind on campus. They have performed pieces by artists as varied as David Bowie, Guster, and Ernie from Sesame Street, and are promising more surprises for Saturday. Their guest group, The Oxford Blues is an all-girls group from Haverford with a similar focus in repertoire.
The groups will perform a blend of popular music pieces in the Friends Meeting House, a very comfortable, if rarely used, venue for performance purposes. The choice was apparently based on a desire for more space and sitting area compared with last year’s concert location in New Dorm lounge.
Mixed Company will be debuting new pieces and bringing back older ones as well as introducing their newest members: Sarah Burford ’08, Myles Dakan ’10, and Nadja Mencin ’10. The group will also be performing at the annual a cappella concert “Jamboree,” or more familiarly referred to as “Jambo,” bringing together all of the a cappella groups on campus.
The two new songs being presented were arranged by Marina Lima ’09 and Julie Baker ’08. Marina Lima remarks regarding the concert, “It’s really exciting to bring in these new and pieces together in a concert setting, especially as we don’t generally get to showcase new pieces in concerts like this.” She adds, “The show should be a lot of fun, we’ve put a lot of work into it!”