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On Friday, March 7, the Granite State Room (GSR) in the Memorial Union Building (MUB) was filled with singing, cheering, and laughing as four a cappella groups performed in their 2025 Spring Invitational.
The Spring Invitational was hosted by one of UNH’s coed a cappella groups, Off the Clef. The group invited two other UNH a cappella groups and one from an outside school to perform. For this invitational UNH’s Off the Clef, Maiden Harmony and New Hampshire Gentlemen shared the GSR stage with Simple Harmonic Motion from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, Massachusetts. For each song there was a soloist and a beatboxer, with the rest of the group on harmonies.
Lizzy, from Off the Clef, said, “We just send out invitations and hope for the best!”
The first group to take the stage was Off the Clef, singing two songs. The first was “Love Runs Out” by One Republic, with Lizzy as the soloist and Barrett as the beatboxer. Their second song was “Hurricane” by Bridgit Mendler, with Katrina as the soloist and Barrett as the beatboxer, ending with the audience clapping in sync.
Maiden Harmony, an all-female a cappella group, was next to take the stage with their two songs. Their first song was “Still Into You” by Paramore, with Kaitlin as the soloist and Harriet as the beatboxer. Their second song was “Oops!... I Did it Again” by Britney Spears with Olivia as the soloist and Sophie as the beatboxer.
After Maiden Harmony left the stage, Off the Clef invited two members from each group for a mini-game called perc off. A perc off is where each person has 10 seconds to show off their best beatboxing skills and the audience votes on who did best with cheering. The contestants were Shaun and Chase from the New Hampshire Gentlemen, Kaitlin and Sam from Maiden Harmony, Barrett and Jackson from Off the Clef, and Krish and Kyle from Simple Harmonic Motion. Krish wowed the audience by incorporating train sounds into his beatboxing.
“Vote for me,” Sam said repeatedly after she finished her beatboxing. After the initial six contestants had a chance, Kyle, Barett and Sam beatboxed for 15 seconds. Barrett introduced a special guest, himself, voicing Kermit the Frog, before starting his beatboxing, and Sam once again ended with repeating “vote for me.” Maiden Harmony cheered the loudest to secure Sam the win.
The New Hampshire Gentlemen, an all-male group, were next to take the stage with their two songs. The first song was “I Want it That Way” by the Backstreet Boys, which included six soloists: Carpenter, Matt, Brennan, Nate, Daniel and Charles, all taking turns at center stage. “I Want it That Way” ended with the crowd clapping in unison after the group sang the iconic guitar riff. The New Hampshire Gentlemen were the only group to not have a beatboxer and only soloists with the rest of the group on harmonies. The second song was “I Get Around” by the Beach Boys with Charles as the soloist again.
MJ Arroyo, president of Acapitches, an all treble group at Lesley University, said, “It was really great to see another show.” She crowned “I Get Around” to be her favorite song.
After the New Hampshire Gentlemen, there was a brief 15-minute intermission that included a bake sale in the back of the room. Members of the groups mingled and talked about their favorite parts of the night up to intermission. The 15 minutes went by quickly, and soon it was time for more singing.
Kira Yingling, a UNH student and friend of an Off the Clef member, said, “ I like the game. I thought it was very fun… I liked “Want it That Way”, it was fun how they all swapped around.”
Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM), an all-male group, was next on stage. The group had just driven two hours from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in a rush since many of the group’s members were finishing their finals. SHM’s first song was “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison, with Kyle as the soloist and Krish as the beatboxer. Following this performance, they sang “50 Ways to Say Goodbye” by Train with Tyler as the soloist and Kyle now as the beatboxer.
“This is the third year in a row that we’ve come up to an invitational here,” said Elliot Reese, a member of SHM. “It’s kind of just a friendship between the groups where we like performing together.”
Before the last performance of the night, one more game was played: the Newlywed Game. Two members from each team came to the stage and took turns answering questions about each other. The teams were Harriet and Olivia from Maiden Harmony, Krish and Tyler from Simple Harmonic Motion, Carpenter and Finn from New Hampshire Gentlemen, and Addie and Jessie from Off the Clef. Between the two, there were five questions asked: what is their zodiac sign, favorite candy, mother’s name, superpower, and dream job. After the rounds, Off the clef won by half a point with a score of 2.5. Maiden Harmony and New Hampshire Gentlemen were tied for second with two points each, and Simple Harmonic Motion came in last with only one point.
Off the Clef closed out the invitational with the final performance of the night. They started with a song that is a staple of the group’s legacy and is performed at all of their shows: “Build me up Buttercup” by the Foundations. The song was performed by the full ensemble with no soloists or beatboxers. They then sang “Cough Syrup” by Young the Giant with Murphy as the soloist and Barrett as the beatboxer. The night ended with the “Story of Us” by Taylor Swift, with Maya as the soloist and, once again, Barrett as the beatboxer. By the final song, the crowd was clapping along and getting into the music. Off the Clef thanked everyone for coming and offered the bake sale once again, where people mingled and congratulated the members of the groups.
