Monika Leininger
mleinin1@uwyo.edu
Black Tie Affair has a joyful evening planned for families, students, faculty members and many other visitors that choose to attend their fall concert this Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Kale Donnelly, senior Economics student and bass singer for Black Tie affair, shares what the group has in store for their audience.
“We have quite the range of songs to share with everyone this upcoming Friday. We’re singing songs performed by The Fray, Shawn Mendes, U2, Walk the Moon and even an original written by one of our own members,” Donnelly said. “Don’t worry Christmas fans, we even have some songs for the holiday season.”
The group was founded as an RSO in the fall semester of 2014 by a small group of students. Five of the original members were once a part of the male a capella group, the UW Happy Jacks. The original five members wanted to do something grander than their male-only ensemble, and sought out to create UW’s first co-ed a capella group.
The newly established RSO has had a successful start and after only one semester on campus, Black Tie Affair was awarded the prestigious accolade of UW’s Best New RSO.
Dylan Ashburn, senior Bioelectrical Engineering student, and tenor singer for the group shares how they came upon the name of Black Tie Affair.
“It’s always about music puns, if you’re an a capella group and a pun is not in your name, you just aren’t cutting it,” Ashburn said. “Our name is ironic because we never wear black ties, but there’s a tie in music, that’s when you connect two notes together.”
The group has an enticing presence on stage and as you are watching the ten members perform, you might take notice to their sense of love and comradeship for one another.
“We just hope to have a good time, smile and laugh and hope everyone does the same thing,” Ashburn said. “It’s a team sport, we are all about supporting each other.”
The group not only blows away listeners with their perfectly harmonized voices but also seek to charm the audience with their audacious personalities.
“We like to crack jokes in between songs. We are not just here to perform, we are here to entertain and develop a relationship with the audience,” Ashburn said. “It’s all about making the folks love it, that’s my favorite part.”
The group also takes steps to interact with the community and inspire passion for young vocalists. Black Tie Affair’s mission statement calls the group to promote vocal music throughout the high school level to both males and females so they can continue singing throughout college. At the Friday concert, the organization will be collecting donations in hopes to eventually travel around the state to interact with a variety of high school students.
“College can be really difficult, and I find that music has been a great outlet for me to express myself,” Ashburn said. “It might be a time commitment but it’s a huge part of your life and a great way to de-stress.”
The UW female-only a capella group, The Bettys will be opening for Black Tie Affair this Friday in the Education Auditorium.
Black Tie Affair takes the stage for fall concert
